The Euro 2024 tournament has finally come and gone.
This year’s European championship made memories that will last a lifetime among football fans.
The Euro 2024 also brought new players and teams to the fore to the delight of many.
While Spain were crowned champions of Europe, many other players and teams made a great impact during the tournament in Germany which lasted for a month.
La Roja defeated England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday night, thanks to goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer scored the Three Lions’ only goal of the encounter.
DAILY POST took a look back at Euro 2024 and brings you in-depth of what you need to know about the tournament after Spain’s triumph.
New talents that were discovered:
Some new players were discovered based on their impressive performances during the tournament.
Lamine Yamal –
The Spain youngster was a revelation during the tournament. He made several records and eventually won the Young Player of the Tournament award at the age of 17 years.
Against Croatia, Yamal became the youngest player ever to appear in a European Championship match at the age of 16 years and 338 days.
He broke the previous record held by Poland’s Kacper Kozlowski, who was 17 years and 246 days old when he appeared at Euro 2020.
Yamal also became the youngest ever player to feature in the final of a Euro.
The Barcelona winger ended the Euro 2024 with one goal and four assists.
Nico Williams –
Just like his Spain team-mate Lamine Yamal, Williams was also a revelation at Euro 2024.
The 22-year-old scored two goals and provided one assist during the tournament, playing a key role for Luis de la Fuente’s side.
The Athletic Bilbao winger scored a goal in Spain’s 2-1 win against England in the Euro 2024 final.
Jamal Musiala –
The Germany international left a lasting impression on football fans with his effortless performances for the hosts.
The Bayern Munich star netted three goals before his country were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-final stage at the hands of Spain.
Marc Guéhi –
The England defender had an impressive outing in his first major tournament for the Three Lions.
The Crystal Palace star replaced injured Harry Maguire in manager, Gareth Southgate’s squad and played extremely well alongside defender John Stones at the back.
Kobbie Mainoo –
The 19-year-old midfielder made England’s Euro 2024 list based on performances beyond his years.
The Manchester United youngster was impressive for England in the midfield with both his defensive cover and progressive know-how to move the ball up the field.
He did well against the Netherlands in the semi-final and proved a real difference maker as Southgate’s men reached a second consecutive Euros final.
Big players that didn’t live up to expectations:
Cristiano Ronaldo –
The Portugal captain struggled during the tournament.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to live up to expectations of many.
The former Manchester United and Juventus star didn’t score a goal at Euro 2024 as Portugal crashed out of the tournament after losing to France via penalties in the quarter-final.
The Al-Nassr forward also missed a penalty against Slovenia in the Round of 16 and was slammed as unprofessional by many.
At 39, Ronaldo had been hoping to claim the oldest goalscorer record for himself, but he failed to achieve the feat after missing a penalty against Slovenia.
His former Real Madrid team-mate, Croatia’s Luka Modric, ended up becoming the oldest goalscorer at 38 years and 289 days old, breaking the record set by Austrian Ivica Vastic in 2008 by 32 days.
Kylian Mbappe –
The France captain gave a brutally honest appraisal of his Euro 2024 campaign after his country’s semi-final defeat to Spain.
The new Real Madrid player only scored just one goal during the tournament.
He said after France’s elimination from the tournament, “I wasn’t good. My Euro was a failure.”
Harry Kane –
The England captain remains trophy-less in his career following The Three Lions’ defeat to Spain.
The Bayern Munich striker performed quite so poorly in Germany. Kane was still fit enough to start all seven of England’s games even though the calls for the 30-year-old to be dropped started long before the final.
His quality obviously can’t be questioned, but despite scoring three goals and leading Gareth Southgate’s side to the final, the Euro 2024 has been one long struggle for the former Tottenham Hotspur hitman.
Use of Video Assistant Referee, VAR, at Euro 2024:
There are still big question marks over VAR’s impact on football in general.
Football fans witnessed some drama regarding the use of VAR at Euro 2024.
From the penalty Scotland should have had in their decisive group match against Hungary to the one England were awarded against the Netherlands during the tournament, there were many controversies.
UEFA sent Argentinian official Facundo Tello and his VAR assistant Alejandro Hernandez home after the group stages for their error on the Scotland penalty.
Fastest ever goal scored at European Championship:
Albania’s Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest-ever goal at a European championship when he netted a goal after just 23 seconds in his country’s 2-1 opening game defeat against Italy.
Bajrami broke the previous Euro record for the fastest goal of 67 seconds by Russia’s Dmitri Kirichenko against Greece back in 2004.
Meanwhile, Merih Demiral of Turkey later scored the second-fastest goal in the history of Euros after finding the net against Austria in the last-16 stage after just 57 seconds.
Speaking with DAILY POST on Monday, Charles Ogundiya of New Telegraph, gave his verdict on Spain winning this year’s Euro over England.
“Looking at Spain and what they have achieved at Euro 2024, it’s obvious that they played as a team unlike England who played individually.
“They have some of their players who didn’t really come up to the table. Yes, they played well for them to get to the final and played as much as they did against Spain, who played as a team.
“It was a good one for them and so disappointing that they didn’t win the trophy. But the kind of performance coming from Spain, it shows that they have a kind of philosophy that is going for them for so long.
“Their technical director in the person of Fernando Ruiz Hierro, it’s like he is instilling a playing pattern in this team, so obviously they have been having the same playing pattern from their under-age teams to the national team. Even their female team, they played the same pattern.
“No matter the coach that is coming in, he is already aware of the pattern of the team, so they don’t bring in a coach that is going to change the pattern of the team.
“If you look at the final, despite the fact that England was trying to play, they continued to press and that gave them the victory despite the fact that England got the equalizer. For me, that has been the thing going on for Spain.”
Ogundiya also advised England on what to do going forward after losing back-back Euros finals against Spain and Italy, respectively, within four years.
“England should do something about bringing their team together. If you look at their team they have [big] names, but they are not playing together as a team. The important thing is to make them play together as a team.
“Having a good performance for your club doesn’t mean you would have the best performance for your national team.
“The same thing that happened to the Nigeria national team [Super Eagles]. They have players playing well for their clubs and coming to the national team they are not achieving the same thing.
“So the best thing is for them to come together and work together as a team.
“Look at the German team, look at Spain, they played as a team. So that is the only thing England needs,” he further stated.