The dust has quickly settled following Euro 2024 and already fans and players will have consigned the action to the memory banks (or in some cases tried not to). Gareth Southgate has already left his post as England manager and supporters everywhere have turned their attention to their clubs and all the latest transfer gossip.
After a month of action we know that Spain are the champions and England’s long wait for a major trophy goes on. The Spanish were worthy winners and were clearly the best team in the tournament. But as well as the Henri Delaunay Trophy for the winning nation, UEFA, the organisers of the Euros, also hand out various awards recognising individual excellence. In this article, we take a look at what those awards are and – crucially – who won them.
What Awards were up for Grabs?
- Player of the Tournament
- Young Player of the Tournament
- Top Goalscorer
- Goal of the Tournament
- Fans’ Goal of the Tournament
- Team of the Tournament
Rodri Somewhat Surprising Winner of Top Player Award
Many of the awards, including this one, were judged by UEFA’s technical observers, a group of football experts who watch much of the action. As well as deciding which players deserve recognition, they are also looking out for tactical and technical trends and influences, to consider how the game is evolving.
They decided to recognise Spain’s key midfielder in 2024, with Rodri following in the footsteps of other surprise winners, such as Matthias Sammer in 1996 and Theodoros Zagorakis in 2004. As all Premier League fans know, Rodri is a truly outstanding player, probably the best defensive midfielder in the world but also capable of beating a man, playing incisive passes and scoring goals.
However, although he scored a goal at the European Championship, and had a pass-completion rate of almost 94%, we still believe he was somewhat strange pick. He didn’t have a huge impact on any game in particular, especially the final where he was withdrawn injured at half time. Only 36 of his passes were completed into the final third, his goal was his only shot on target and he registered no assists.
We are not suggesting that Declan Rice should have been Player of the Tournament – there were many other outstanding options – but Rodri compared unfavourably to the England man in a number of areas. Despite critics of England’s sideways and backwards passing, Rodri passed the ball backwards more times than Rice, despite playing fewer minutes and completing fewer passes overall.
Defensively speaking, the Arsenal man made more than double the tackles achieved by the Man City player, winning over three times as many tackles in the process. He made about 50% more ball recoveries, committed fewer fouls and picked up no yellow cards, compared to three for the Spaniard. We can’t help but feel that Rodri won the award based on his performances over the past few seasons, rather than in Germany alone. Nonetheless, the Man City lynchpin won the tournament’s most prestigious honour.
Young Yamal the Only Winner
If Rodri was a surprise winner of the main word, it is safe to say it would have been a cataclysmic shock if his teammate Lamine Yamal did not win the Young Player Award. The Barcelona attacker, who turned 17 the day before the final, set so many incredible records at Euro 2024, becoming the youngest player to feature at the tournament, the youngest goalscorer by over a year, and the youngest to manage a goal involvement (in his case an assist) in any major international tournament final.
He was a joy to watch and his pace, directness, intent, intelligence and skill lit up the tournament. He played all seven games, and whilst he only scored one goal he made four assists, more than any other player, creating several excellent chances as well. It will be exciting to see how his career unfolds in the years ahead.
Six-way Top Scorer Tie
The top scorer award at Euro 2024 was once again won with relatively few goals but unlike in tournaments past, there were no tie-breaking mechanisms used to separate players who jointly scored the most goals. Two goals won the award in the first three editions of the tournament, with three enough in 1980, 1992 and 2012, and once again here in 2024.
In 2012, when three players all scored three times, first assists, and then fewer minutes played, were used to crown Fernando Torres as the Top Scorer. However, 12 years on, all six players who netted three times across the tournament were jointly anointed as prize winners. That means the following shared the “Golden Boot” (it was not officially called this):
- Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)
- Harry Kane (England)
- Georges Mikautadze (Georgia)
- Jamal Musiala (Germany)
- Dani Olmo (Spain)
- Ivan Schranz (Slovakia)
Team of the Tournament
Making the Team of the Tournament is a huge honour for an individual. This is again chosen by the UEFA technical team, and since 2016 has featured 11 players, rather than years gone by where it was more of a “squad of the tournament”, with between 18 and 23 players honoured. The 11 chosen tend to form a fair approximation of a genuine team, which is to say there is a balance of attacking and defensive talent, rather than just the 11 best players.
For 2024 the chose team was:
- Mike Maignan
- Kyle Walker
- William Saliba
- Manuel Akanji
- Marc Cucurella
- Rodri
- Dani Olmo
- Fabian Ruiz
- Jamal Musiala
- Lamine Yamal
- Nico Williams
With six representatives, Spain easily had the most players in the chosen XI.
Goal of the Tournament
Rather strangely there are two awards for the best goal of the Euros. The first of these was chosen by the UEFA observers and they selected Yamal’s beautiful curling effort in the semi-final against France. Given the importance and historical significance of this goal, plus its brilliance, it was an obvious pick.
Goal of the Tournament MK II
There is a second award, however, which is chosen by the voting public. The technical committee selected an initial list of 10 goals but then the public decided which of these should win via an online vote. Turkish defender Mert Müldür won this award with his stunning volley from the edge of the area in the group phase against Georgia.