The UEFA European Championship 2024 in Germany culminated with a dramatic final, where a late winner saw Spain defeat England to take the crown for the fourth time. No other team now has as many Euro titles as Sunday’s winners. The Euro 2024 produced fireworks right from the opening day of the tournament until its final whistle, making it one memorable edition for the fans.
There have been many pulsating fixtures that kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the match, but here are our five picks for the best matches of UEFA Euro 2024.
#5 Spain 2 – 1 England (Final)
The first 45 minutes of the final proved to be a dull affair, but once the players returned to the pitch for the second half, the match was lit up instantly. Nico Williams scored two minutes after the resumption and they nearly doubled their lead in the following minutes, denied only by Jordan Pickford’s brilliance. Lamine Yamal got close to scoring a little later as well, but again, Pickford stood up with a terrific save.
Gareth Southgate made some brave changes, which included taking off skipper Harry Kane for Ollie Watkins. Fortunately for them, the ploy worked off, as Cole Palmer caressed an equaliser from outside of the box to lift the English spirits.
Spain won the Euro Championship for the fourth time
Luis de la Fuente’s team did not lose their nerve and handled the next few minutes well before a golden opportunity presented itself. A little defensive lapse towards the end saw Mikel Oyarzabal, another super sub, score for Spain and it proved to be the title-winner for La Roja. Dani Olmo made one stunning goal-line clearance in the added time and after that, they expertly played out the remaining minutes.
#4 Spain 2 – 1 Germany (Quarter-final)
Spain and Germany played out many incredible matches over the years, including the 2008 final. The hosts entered this contest as not the favourites, as Spain had a terrific group stage and were the team in better form. Germany were on the back foot for a long period against a well-oiled Spanish team. The first half didn’t have much separating both teams, though, with no goals scored heading into the break.
Dani Olmo, however, broke the deadlock early in the second-half goal and seemed to have taken Spain over the line nearly, but a late twist arrived from the hosts. Florian Wirtz scored a terrific 89th minute goal to take the match into extra-time and both sides were nearly preparing for penalties.
That’s when an unlikely hero in Mikel Merino stepped up for the Spaniards. With only a minute left in the extra time, he netted a winner that broke the home supporters’ hearts and wheeled away with a celebration which his father once pulled off at the same venue.
#3 England 2 – 1 Slovakia (AET) (Round of 16)
England didn’t turn up in the best of ways against Slovakia in the round of 16 fixture. To add further misery to Southgate’s team, Ivan Schranz scored a first-half goal to give Slovakia an unlikely lead. The team defended bravely over the next 60 minutes and were preparing for their victory parade, but some late English drama prevented their ambitions.
Jude Bellingham rose to the occasion for England with an outrageous equaliser in the 95th minute against Slovakia
Jude Bellingham rose to the occasion for the Three Lions, as he did on multiple occasions last season for Real Madrid, and scored with an outrageous overhead kick to equalise in the 95th minute. It turned out to be the last piece of action in normal time and 30 minutes were added to decide a winner.
England rode on the momentum of Bellingham’s goal and took next to no time to get the eventual winning goal. Only one minute into extra-time, Ivan Toney and Harry Kane combined in the box as the English skipper netted from close range. The Three Lions did well to close the game out and under dramatic circumstances, made it to the next stage.
#2 Turkiye 3 – 1 Georgia (Group F)
In an age of tiki-taka football, Turkiye and Georgia produced some old-school footballing genius on the pitch when they faced each other in a Group F battle. Both teams threw the kitchen sink at it to get those three points and eventually produced one of the matches of the year.
Turkiye took the early lead from Mert Mulder, but the pressure from Georgia too was relentless. Just before the first half ended, Georges Mikautadze got on the score sheet and there was no separating both teams at the break.
Nearly an hour into the game, Turkiye’s young sensation Arda Guler, produced a moment of magic from outside the box to give them the lead again. Guler curled it from a long distance with perfection, scoring one of the goals of the season.
In the following moments and until the very end, Georgia kept attacking with venom. In the dying moments, Mert Gunok made a magnificent save to deny Georgia a certain equaliser. In the corner that followed, Georgia had committed everyone to find an equaliser, including the goalkeeper. Once the ball fell to Muhammed Akturkoglu, he ran into space and rolled the third goal into an open netting to seal three points for Turkiye.
#1 Netherlands 2 – 3 Austria (Group D)
With two former champions Netherlands and France present in Group D, nobody gave Austria a chance, but Ralf Rangnick’s team stunned the footballing world by topping that group. After a hard-fought performance against France, they toppled Poland comfortably and a big result was required in their final group game against the Netherlands to reach the knockout stages.
In what turned out to be the most pulsating game of the tournament, Austria kept shocking the Dutch right from the outset and their high-tempo football took the 1988 champions by surprise. Austria took the early lead with a Donnyell Malen own goal and went into a half-time break with that lead.
However, the Dutch struck back with Cody Gakpo in the second half. Austria took the lead again, this time through Romano Schmid who scored his first international goal but the advantage was soon cancelled by Memphis Depay.
The Netherlands had the momentum this time, having come back from behind twice in the match. However, Austria had one final surprise left in them and it came from skipper Marcel Sabitzer. Some terrific combination play on the left allowed them to attack a space inside the box and he beat the Dutch keeper from an acute angle to make it 3-2. This time, they held onto the lead and made headlines all over the footballing world.