Sporting KC winger Marinos Tzionis to join Cyprus for Euro 2024 qualifying
Sporting Kansas City forward Marinos Tzionis has been called up to the Cyprus men’s national team for the start of UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers in Europe.
Tzionis and Cyprus will open their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on March 25, visiting Scotland in a 9am CT competition at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. The Cypriots will then travel to a friendly against Armenia on March 28 at 10am CT at Yerevan’s Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium.
Tzionis will join Cyprus following Sporting’s regular-season game at FC Dallas on Saturday, which is scheduled for 7:30pm CT Free on Apple TV.
Cyprus timetable: International window in March
At the age of 21, Tzionis has already established himself as a regular for Cyprus. He has 20 caps and scored two goals for his home country while participating in UEFA Nations League and FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He made his senior debut in 2020 and opened his Cypriot goalscoring tally in March 2022 when he bagged the opener in the 2-0 Nations League win over Estonia. Tzionis scored another goal in the competition in a surprise 1-0 win over regional rivals Greece last September.
At the start of the international match in March, Cyprus are aiming to qualify for the UEFA European Championship for the first time in their history. 24 teams will take part in Euro 2024, including the top two from 10 qualifying groups, hosts Germany and three other nations that will progress through a play-off round. Cyprus were placed in Group A along with Scotland, Georgia, world champions Spain and Norway with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. All group stage matches will take place from March to November this year, while the Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs will be played in March 2024.
Tzionis has made 32 appearances for Sporting in all competitions since arriving in early 2022. He has played in each of the club’s first three games this season, including a start in the 0-0 tie against Colorado Rapids on March 4 and two substitute cameos on the wing. Tzionis scored his first Sporting goal in dramatic fashion on May 10, 2022 when he equalized in the 98th minute against FC Dallas to force extra time, resulting in a wild 4-2 comeback win in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Four days later, the Cypriot scored his first MLS goal in an away loss to Portland Timbers.
Tzionis previously represented Cyprus at U-17 and U-19 youth levels – and took part in qualifying competitions for the 2018 European U-17 Championship and the 2019 European Under-19 Championship – before being promoted to the senior team in September 2020 . In the two months that followed, he started five times and made six appearances in total in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League as the Cypriots finished with a 1-4-1 record. Tzionis started four out of six appearances in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying throughout 2021 and then scored twice in last year’s 2022/23 UEFA Nations League.
Tzionis joined Sporting after a strong spell at hometown club Omonia Nicosia, where he scored 15 goals in 88 games from 2018 until his departure to Kansas City. During his time at Omonia he won a Cypriot First Division title and featured in 18 games in Europe’s three most prestigious club tournaments: the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.