Italy, Mbappe, Spain, Ronaldo: What To Look Out For In Euro 2024 Qualifying

Three months on from Argentina's dramatic World Cup final victory over France, international football returns this week as Euro 2024 qualifying gets underway. Germany, as hosts, are exempt from the qualifying process but the rest of Europe's heavyweights begin the process this week.

AFP Sport picks out some of the storylines to follow.

- Italy back -

Italy were the highest-profile nation to miss out on the World Cup in Qatar. They now begin their defence of the European Championship trophy with a mouthwatering showdown against England in a repeat of the Euro 2020 final which the Azzurri won on penalties at Wembley.

Roberto Mancini remains in charge despite the failed World Cup qualifying campaign, but there are some new faces in his squad.

One man to look out for will be Mateo Retegui, a 23-year-old Argentina-born forward who was the top scorer in the Argentinian league with Tigre last year.

"Years ago they used to say that to play for the national team you needed to be born in Italy. But the world has changed and all national teams have players who are naturalised or come from other nations," Mancini said.

Italy will be expected to advance from qualifying Group C along with England given the top two teams in each section go through. However, Ukraine may cause those sides some problems -- they play England away on Sunday.

- Mbappe takes the armband -

France coach Didier Deschamps needed a new captain after long-serving skipper Hugo Lloris retired following the World Cup.

He has opted to give the armband to Kylian Mbappe, deciding that the superstar Paris Saint-Germain forward is ready for the role at the age of 24.

"Kylian ticked all the boxes to have that extra responsibility," said Deschamps of the player who scored