World Cup’s ‘sexiest fan’ Ivana Knoll reveals heartbreak over Jack Grealish’s omission from England’s Euro 2024 squad… and insists his absence will be good for Croatia
- Jack Grealish’s English criticism caused shock among the players and supporters
- Ivana Knoll turned heads with her outfits during the 2022 World Cup
- LISTEN to It All Begins! It’s not a ‘free hit’ for Scotland… this German team is not a juggernaut
The World Cup’s ‘sexiest fan’ Ivana Knoll has spoken out about her devastation following the news that Jack Grealish will not be part of the England squad for the 2024 European Championship.
The former Miss Croatia became an internet sensation during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after several photos of her in revealing outfits in the country’s colors went viral during the tournament.
The former Miss Croatia has three million followers on Instagram and has been pictured with some of the sport’s biggest names, including Erling Haaland, Shaquille O’Neal and ex-Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso.
She claimed she was upset to see the Three Lions at the tournament without the Manchester City star, but insisted his absence would give Croatia an advantage in Germany.
“I think it’s a shame that England didn’t select the best team, but as a Croatia fan I’m happy.” Knoll said The sun. ‘Of [Kylian] Mbappé is not playing and all those other big players are not playing, then we have a better chance.’
Jack Grealish was left out of Gareth Southgate’s final 26-man squad for the European Championship
World Cup ‘sexiest fan’ Ivana Knoll has revealed her heartbreak at Grealish over being left out of the England squad
The Croatian model became an internet sensation during the 2022 World Cup as she supported her team
Grealish paid the price for a disappointing season at the Etihad. His negligence was met with shock among his English colleagues in the camp.
England start their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday evening, while Croatia start with a tough match against Spain on Saturday evening.
Earlier this month, 26-year-old Knoll – who has flown to Germany to support Zlatko Dalic’s side – revealed she is now single after a split from her boyfriend of ten years.
She told German newspaper Bild: ‘I had a boyfriend who I was with for ten years. We broke up last year. Now I’m single, but right now I’m not looking for a new man.’
At the World Cup in Qatar, Knoll attracted a lot of publicity, which was helped by Croatia going all the way to the semi-finals, where they were defeated by winners Argentina.
Knoll’s outfits will likely attract a lot of attention again during the competition.
She added: “I don’t know exactly which one I’m going to wear yet. I will probably have spontaneous ideas. Then I either quickly have something custom made. Or I stick the Croatian flag on clothes I like. That’s what I did in Qatar.’
One perhaps surprising aspect about her is that she is a techno DJ and hopes to play a number of events in Berlin during her time in Germany.
About her plans after the tournament, she said: ‘I am going on a world tour as a DJ and will be playing in Greece, Morocco, Montenegro and Croatia.
The model and DJ revealed earlier this month that she had split from her boyfriend of 10 years
She has previously been pictured posing for photos with sports stars including Erling Haaland
‘Then I’ll fly back to Miami. I have been living in the US for two years and have a work visa there. I’ll spend the winter in Florida, and then I’ll come back to Europe in the summer.”
Knoll has also expressed her desire to become a television presenter in Germany covering the Bundesliga, revealing that she was a Bayer Leverkusen fan growing up.