🎤 Tomasz Kuszczak Interview and Euro 2024 Predictions

Tomasz Kuszczak Gives his Predictions for Euro 2024

In this interview, Tomasz Kuszczak discusses top contenders for the Golden Ball, Euro 2024 predictions, potential Golden Boot and Glove winners, Poland's chances, impactful players, passionate fans, and fond memories of playing with Louis Saha.

🏆 Tomasz Kuszczak's Euro 2024 Predictions! 🏆

⚽ Golden Ball Contender: Jude Bellingham is performing exceptionally well at Real Madrid.

🏆 Euro 2024 Predictions: Kuszczak expects a tough competition between France, England, and Croatia, given their World Cup performances.

👟 Golden Boot Aspirants: Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe are highlighted.

🧤 Golden Glove Favorites: Kuszczak mentions Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manuel Neuer, Dominik Livakovic, Wojciech Szczesny, and Jordan Pickford as strong candidates.

🇵🇱 Poland as Dark Horses: Although Poland had a challenging qualification, Kuszczak remains hopeful about their performance.

🦁 England's Prospects: Kuszczak supports England and believes they have the talent to win Euro 2024.

🥅 Match Predictions:

  - Poland vs Netherlands: Predicts a 1-1 draw.

  - Poland vs Austria: Predicts a 2-1 win for Poland.

  - Poland vs France: Anticipates a 2-0 loss for Poland, hoping for favourable circumstances.

Tomasz Kuszczak Euro 2024 Predictions

Tomas Kuszczak

11 International Caps for Poland

Q: Who is going to win Euro 2024?

TK: “You think it's that simple to answer this question, but it isn't really! It's going to be between France, England and Croatia. 

“I think we're looking at teams who did well in the World Cup. I would love to see England there after so many years. It’s hard to pick between England, France and Croatia.”

EURO2024 Betting Odds

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Q: Who is going to win the Golden Boot?

TK: “We've got Cristiano Ronaldo there, I would love to see him do it again. Kylian Mbappe as well who is hot at the moment, scoring a lot of goals for club and country. The World Cup final showed his capacity for goals. So it could well be him.”

EURO2024 Golden Boot Betting Odds

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Q: Who will win the Golden Ball, is Jude Bellingham in with a chance?

TK: “Jude Bellingham is doing amazingly. I had the chance to train with him, believe it or not, when I was at Birmingham City. He was very young and it was difficult to say how well he would’ve done so quickly.

“The way he is growing and the way he plays, taking all the pressure on his shoulders at Real Madrid. I would love to see him win this kind of trophy.

“But we can't forget about the many, many good players like Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo still.”

Kylian Mbappé is a popular choice among our interviewees for both golden ball and golden boot awards.

Q: Who will win the Golden Glove?

TK: “It's difficult to say because there are plenty of good goalkeepers. I'm not going to lie here. We still have the same big names in Gianlugi Donnaruma and Manuel Neuer.

“I think the Golden Glove will go to someone who competes to win the tournament, maybe Dominik Livakovic. We can't forget about Wojciech Szczesny as well from the Polish national team. 

“I hope they're going to do that as well as they did in 2016 and challenge themselves to get out of the group stages. Wojciech did very well in the World Cup. amazingly well, I love to see him. doing well.

“England also have Jordan Pickford, another great goalkeeper. The best goalkeeper will have to be someone who at least reaches the semi-finals.”

Q: Who are your dark horses for Euro 2024?

TK: “We don’t have to look far for my dark horses. Poland, we qualified in a very dramatic way after struggling in qualification but we finally got there after penalties against Wales. I love to see Poland doing well, but they have a horrendous group.

“There are no easy groups in the European Championships but Poland have to play France and Holland, our record is not the best against them.

“Maybe someone like Ukraine could do well, we saw back in 2004 that Greece won it, it can sometimes happen. But it’s usually the favorites who do well, you need experience and quality players. We can’t forget that.”

Q: How far will Poland get at the tournament?

TK: “To get out of the group, Poland will definitely have to win at least one game. Our record against Holland is difficult, losing in 2022.

“We faced France in the World Cup and lost, we have to win a game and hope for a draw to get out of the group, it happened in 2016 when we got to the quarter-finals.

“We lost against Portugal in a very tight game, maybe we can get that far again. We have Robert Lewandowski and Nikola Zalewski, who just proved he is an extremely big talent.

“We are a team that no one is going to put money on but if we manage to find consistency, then we can cause a shock.”

Q: How far will England get at Euro 2024?

TK: “To be honest, it's always the same question for the last 15 years. I'm a big fan of the English team and I always support England as well as Poland.

“A long part of my life I spent in England, my children were born there and they are very supportive as well, I think England more as Poland at the moment!

“I would love to see England win it. The World Cup wasn’t bad and they have fantastic players, just look at Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, they have good defenders too.

“They have everything they need to win but I just don’t know. Maybe it will be this tournament, I would love to see it and they 100% have the capacity.”

Q: What can we expect from Polish fans at Euro 2024?

Piotr Drabik from Poland, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

TK: “Polish fans are very supportive and this is a big event for Poland being so close to home. From Berlin to Poland is about an hour and a half drive, I can’t tell you how many ticket requests I’ve had for games, I have to tell people that I don’t have access!

“The Poland fans are friendly, they have proved that in the past. They are well dressed and quite loud, but not as loud as the English fans.

“I can see people in Poland getting excited despite there being disappointments across qualification, but fans are so happy to have Poland there.”

Q: What do you think of the new Nike Poland kits?

TK: “We're going back to the roots. There are less complications on the shirt and that’s better. The shirt is not playing, the player is playing.”

Q: What do you predict for Poland vs Netherlands?

TK: “I would go for a draw. Something which is going to give us some chance to get out of the group. This is the game which we have to do well. I’d go for 1 -1.”

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Q: What do you predict for Poland vs Austria?

TK: “We've got a record against Austria, better than against the Netherlands. We have to win this. And I think it’s within our reach I would say 2 -1.”

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Q: What do you predict for Poland vs France?

TK: “I don’t wish bad things on players, but I’m hoping that we see a bad tackle and France get a red card so Poland can play against 10 men. But in football you never know, I think we will lose. 2-0.”

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Q: Louis Saha predicted the same score, what was he like to play with?

TK: “Oh my God, Louis Saha was amazing. Such a powerful man but unfortunately had a lot of injuries. We always said that he's got too much energy for his muscles even though his muscles were amazing.

“A very friendly man, always laughing, always smiling, always happy. A he was a good soul for the team at the time, in a fantastic team in United. 

“It was a pleasure to play with him and train with him. I would say the same to all my colleagues at the time because we've been a big family.

“Even though I haven’t spoken with him for years, it would be good to see him.”

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Tomasz Kuszczak Profile

Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak (born 20 March 1982) is a retired Polish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Kuszczak is most well known for his time with international clubs including Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion in England, Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, and Hertha BSC in Germany. He closed his professional football career in 2019 after 15 years, playing for Birmingham City. After his playing career, he served briefly as a goalkeeping coach for the Poland national team.

Club Career

Kuszczak initially played for Hertha BSC and KFC Uerdingen 05 in Germany before moving to England in 2004 to play for West Bromwich Albion. In 2006, he transferred to Manchester United and as a backup goalkeeper won multiple titles including the Premier League, the League Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Champions League. In 2012, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion but was released in 2014. He then played for Wolverhampton Wanderers and subsequently for Birmingham City from 2015 till his retirement in 2019. 

International Career 

Internationally, Kuszczak represented Poland, making 14 appearances for the national under-21 side, and earning 11 caps at the senior level. He was part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. His international debut was in December 2003, in a match against Malta that Poland won 4-0. 

Post-playing Career

Post-retirement, Kuszczak has ventured into business, creating a construction company in his native Poland, while also graduating college majoring in sports journalism. He also briefly served as a goalkeeping coach for the Poland national team in 2023.

Interview May 2024

Speaking exclusively to OLBG, Tomasz Kuszczak has explained why Cristiano Ronaldo is disrespected in the Lionel Messi debate. The former Manchester United stopper has also explained why Robert Lewandowski would still be an asset for his former club at the age of 35 ahead of Euro 2024. Kuszczak has also admitted that he couldn’t have predicted the rise of Jude Bellingham after training with the future Real Madrid star at Birmingham City.

Q: Has Cristiano Ronaldo been disrespected?

TK: “I do think that Cristiano Ronaldo has been disrespected, there is all this talk regarding who is better between him and Lionel Messi.

“I had the chance to train with him and play with him for a couple of years, he has proved everything in football wherever he has been.

“He has always been effective and shown he can be a leader, he deserves 100% respect but it is difficult to say what he is like now because the Saudi Pro League is not a top league.

“But Ronaldo is Ronaldo. For his country, he has been amazing over the years.  I think he is an icon which you can afford to leave out. It’s as simple as that. 

“As a Portugal team at the tournament he will give you an extra spark, even though he is reaching an age where he might start speaking about retirement, but look at the way he looks even now.

“He can keep going another couple of years. I'm sure he's going to be prepared for the tournament this summer. Being back in the European football spotlight, it’s going to be massive motivation for him.”

Q: Would Robert Lewandowski still be an asset for Manchester United now?

TK: “If Robert Lewandowski came now he would do the same as he does in any country. In Germany or in Spain now. He would be a big asset. I mean, he's an exciting player. Maybe technically he's not that tricky, but his finishing skills and his personality and strength, he's an extremely strong man. 

“He could do it, I would love to see him at Manchester United but I think he is a little bit short on time, being 35 at the moment and obviously he is very happy in Barcelona and Spain.

“The chances that he is going to join one of the English clubs are getting smaller. But yeah, why not? He would be great for the league as well.”