This is the first episode of ‘The Mental Edge’, a mini-series looking at the psychology behind elite performance at this summer’s football European Championships.

Dr Francesca Champ and Dr Gillian Cook are lecturers in sport and psychology in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University.

In this first episode, they discuss some of the factors that will shape a team’s performance at the Euros, from motivation and relationships, to home advantage and the impact of COVID.