Euro 2024 Awards: Best moment, player, goal and more | OneFootball

Euro 2024 concluded as perhaps it should, with the best team in the tournament crowned champions as Spain beat England in Berlin.

Following the tournament we’ve handed out our Euro 2024 awards, celebrating the best and worst of the summer action in Germany.

Best Moment

Lamine Yamal took tournament football in his stride this summer with the Spanish starlet lighting up Euro 2024. His record-breaking moment in the semi-final is our Moment of the Tournament, as Yamal’s spectacular strike brought Spain level against France.

It was a moment of magic out of nothing from the teenager, who became the European Championship’s youngest goalscorer with his fabulous finish against the French. Spain trailed before Yamal’s arced effort into the top corner from distance, a glorious goal that settled Spanish nerves after Randal Kolo Muani’s early opener.

A reminder that Yamal is a seriously special talent. Not that it was needed.

Best Player

Rodri took home the official Player of the Tournament award and certainly has a compelling case among a collection of Spain’s victorious squad. Our award, however, is handed to Dani Olmo.

The midfielder started the tournament out of the Spain team but took his chance to play a decisive role in the latter rounds. Olmo ended the tournament as the joint-winner of the Golden Boot and with two assists, while he became the first Spaniard to score in three consecutive knockout games at a major tournament.

In the quarter-final win over Germany he came off the bench to score and assist in a match-winning performance, before a sublime semi-final winner against France. His attacking impact in the final was less prominent but a goal-saving clearance from underneath his own crossbar denied England an equaliser and was celebrated just as wildly as any of his strikes beforehand. When Spain’s tournament is looked back on, Olmo was central to the big moments.

Best Young Player

We’ve already mentioned him but it’s impossible to look past Lamine Yamal. The teenager has set records at Euro 2024 that are unlikely to be beaten, dazzling on the biggest stage.

Yamal only celebrated his 17th birthday on the eve of the final before he assisted the opening goal of the final win over England. No player assisted more goals (4) or created more chances (19) than Yamal this summer, in a tournament that underlined his limitless potential. If Yamal’s tournament had been produced by a player 10 years his senior the plaudits would still be just. For a player to perform as he has, at this age, is simply frightening.

Best Goal

It’s the Lamine Yamal Awards at this stage, isn’t it? We’ve already honoured his fabulous finish at France which is a fitting winner of our Goal of the Tournament.

Honourable mentions for Turkey’s Arda Güler and Mert Müldür, who each hit stunners in their 3-1 win over Georgia in the group stage.

Best Game

Euro 2024 was short on genuine classics but a quartet of teams – Georgia, Turkey, Austria and Spain – were often involved in the best games. Spain’s semi-final with France was one of huge quality, while Austria’s entertaining affair to beat the Dutch in the group stage was brilliant viewing.

For us, however, it was the match-up between debutants Georgia and dark horses Turkey. The unsavoury scenes in the stands were unwanted but when combined with an electric atmosphere, torrential rain, glorious goals and unfathomably open football, it made some spectacle. As group games go, and amid the setting of Dortmund’s iconic Westfalenstadion, it was superb.

Breakout Player

Nico Williams has started a scramble for his services with the winger part of Spain’s swashbuckling side. The 21-year-old entered the tournament after an impressive campaign at Athletic Bilbao that delivered 19 assists in all competitions but proved at Euro 2024 that he is ready for the Champions League stage.

Williams scored twice – including the opener in a man-of-the-match performance in the final against England – and provided an assist, while his adventurous brand of dribbling made the Spaniard one of Euro 2024’s most watchable players. Barcelona are leading the chase for his services, though face strong competition from the Premier League. A release clause in the region of £46m looks like real value for a player of Williams’ quality.

Elsewhere, Georges Mikautadze took home a share of the Golden Boot. The Georgian had a tough time after signing for Ajax last summer but carried on his form from loan return at Metz to fire the tournament debutants into the last 16. Three goals for the 23-year-old have placed him in the shop window with AS Monaco set to sign the forward,

Best Save

Turkey and Austria predictably provided a captivating contest as two of the tournament’s most entertaining teams went head-to-head.

In the closing seconds of the game, Mert Gunok’s 95th-minute stop denied Austria an equaliser and saved Turkey. It has been branded one of the greatest saves in European Championship history.

Biggest Disappointment

For all the fanfare, Euro 2024 was a tournament in which the marquee men disappointed. Pre-tournament favourites France and England might have reached the latter stages but neither did so with much conviction, with Kylian Mbappe’s only goal coming from the penalty spot and England’s cast of attacking talent failing to click.

Meanwhile, Portugal’s campaign ended in the quarter-finals despite boasting a squad capable of taking the title. The continued focus around/reliance upon/refusal to move on from Cristiano Ronaldo counted against Roberto Martinez’s men, as the 39-year-old went goallless.

Biggest Gripe

It has to be the 24-team tournament. Sure, the additional teams give a greater chance to ‘lesser nations’ of qualifying and the likes of Georgia, Turkey and Austria were brilliant but the format needs adjusting.

The best third-placed teams qualification method has become farcical, ruining some of the final group game jeopardy and making it complicated to work out who will play who in the knockout rounds. An increase or decrease in participating teams is needed.

Read – Four key moments from the Euro 2024 final as Spain beat England

See more – Tweets of the Week: England deep fakes, Darwin Nunez fights fans, and it’s coming home?

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