The UEFA Euro 2024 was a competition to remember, as most of its 51 matches were nerve-wracking thrillers, producing 117 goals at an average of 2.29 goals per match. There could have been only one winner at the end of it all, and the trophy is rightfully headed to Spain, who played a superbly stylish brand of football to win all of their seven matches.
Let us now have a look at the best XI of the tournament:
Goalkeeper – Mike Maignan
Considering they started this tournament as the favorites, France’s performances were disappointing, especially because their star-studded attacking unit could only score one goal from open play.
Mike Maignan was an amazing last line of defense for Les Blues as the AC Milan goalkeeper kept 4 clean sheets, which is the most by any goalkeeper in the tournament. Besides that, he made 15 saves from 18 shots on target, meaning he had a superb save percentage of 88.9%. In this regard, he was the joint-best goalkeeper alongside Ukraine’s Anatoly Trubin.
Defenders – Ferdi Kadioglu, Riccardo Calafiori, Marc Guehi, Marc Cucurella
Being placed in a tough group alongside 2016 champions Portugal and 2020 quarter-finalists Czechia, Turkey was not considered among the favorites to progress from Group F. Not only were they successful in doing so, but they also beat a well-oiled Austrian team in the Round of 16 before going down fighting against the Netherlands in the quarter-final.
One of the main reasons behind their progress was full-back Ferdi Kadioglu, whose performances have earned him interest from Manchester United. Kadioglu had 22 progressive carries, which was the most by any Turkish player. Moreover, he made 18 tackles and 12 of those were successful, making him second in this regard behind only England’s Declan Rice.
Like France, defending champions Italy could not live up to the expectations either, although they got a fine talent for the future in Riccardo Calafiori. Although a central defender, he will be remembered for the sprint he made in the dying stages of the match against Croatia before finding Mattia Zaccagni, leading to Italy’s survival. He had 6 interceptions, which is second-highest among Italians.
Marc Guehi was a revelation at the heart of England’s resolute defense
There were doubts among English fans about Marc Guehi’s selection in the starting XI, given that he does not play for a Top 6 club in the Premier League but the central defender was the best English defender in the tournament.
The Crystal Palace defender made 11 blocks, which is the joint second-highest overall and highest among Englishmen. Besides that, he made 13 clearances, which is the second-highest among Gareth Southgate’s players. To top it all off, he also assisted Jude Bellingham’s equalizer in the match against Slovakia in the Round of 16.
The most surprising inclusion on this list might be Marc Cucurella, who was not expected to start for Spain in the first place as he had a pretty ordinary season for Chelsea while fellow left-back Alex Grimaldo won the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.
Once given an opportunity, Cucurella was all over the pitch, both in defense and in attack. He made 16 progressive carries, won the most tackles for Spain (9), had the most blocks (9) and also the most interceptions (8). The Chelsea left-back also provided the assist which led to Mikel Oyarzabal’s winning goal in the final.
Midfielders – Dani Olmo, Rodri, Jude Bellingham
One could say that Spain winning the Euro 2024 was written in the stars, because a major reason behind their win was Dani Olmo, who would not even have played had it not been for Pedri’s injury during the quarter-final against Germany.
He is this tournament’s joint-highest goal-scorer with three goals, having scored against Georgia in the Round of 16, Germany in the quarter-final and France in the semi-final. Apart from the attacking contributions, Olmo also made a crucial last-minute goal-line clearance to maintain Spain’s lead in the final against England.
The Lamine Yamals and Nico Williams’ made the headlines for Spain and rightfully so, as La Roja scored the most goals (14). But a big factor in their dynamic attacking performances was the defensive stability which was provided by the double pivot of Fabian Ruiz and Rodri.
In particular, Rodri was impressive as he worked as the bridge between the backline and the frontline. He made 13 tackles, most by a Spanish player, but also had 40 progressive carries. He made 7 blocks but also scored the equalizer in the Round of 16 match against Georgia. Rodri won the Player of the Tournament award.
Once again it was not meant to be for him, but Jude Bellingham can be proud of his performances. The English prodigy was his team’s second-highest goal-scorer with 2 goals, scoring a last-minute equalizer against Slovakia, and earlier on the winner in the opening game against Serbia. He also gave an assist, had 36 progressive carries, and to highlight his defensive game, he made 15 tackles and had 7 blocks.
Forwards – Lamine Yamal, Georges Mikautadze, Cody Gakpo
Lamine Yamal first became the youngest player to play in the continental competition and then became the youngest player to lift the trophy
Yamal started this tournament as a 16-year-old wonderkid but ended it as a 17-year-old next big thing of international football. The youngest player to play in a Euro match ever, beating the record of Poland’s Kacper Kozlowski, Yamal scored arguably the best goal of the tournament in the semi-final against France.
But more importantly, he had the most assists by any player in this tournament (4), one of which set up Williams’ opener in the final. To think Yamal was all about attack would be wrong because he also made 11 tackles, which is the most by any Spanish attacker.
Absolutely no one except the Georgians expected Georgia to qualify for the Round of 16 in their maiden Euro appearance but the minnows pulled off a miraculous win against Portugal. A major reason behind their progress was striker Georges Mikautadze, who finished as the joint-highest goal-scorer with three goals. The Metz striker scored in all three of Georgia’s group matches – against Turkey, Czechia and Portugal.
The Netherlands can be proud to have made it to the semi-finals after a Round of 16 exit in 2020 and failure to qualify in 2016. They have plenty of positives to look forward to, the most notable of them being winger Cody Gakpo.
Alongside plenty of others, Gakpo is also the joint-highest scorer with three goals. He found the back of the net against Poland and Austria in the group stage, and then against Romania in the Round of 16. Like Mikautadze, he too got an assist besides the goals.
Substitutes: Jordan Pickford, Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Fabian Ruiz, Kobbie Mainoo, Jamal Musiala, Nico Williams, Harry Kane, Ivan Schranz.