EURO 2024 took place very excitingly across German cities, however, the tournament’s brightest stars such as Ronaldo , Mbappe, Foden… could not have the expected performances.
Ronaldo only had 1 assist in the group stage for Bruno to score. Photo: UEFA
The impact of injuries, unstable form, and bad luck caused many top European stars to not play impressively in the group stage.
Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who is playing in his sixth EURO, has yet to score in three appearances.
Kylian Mbappe , the best player in the world, has only scored 1 goal from the penalty spot, in a disappointing 1-1 draw between France and Poland. Before that, he missed good opportunities in the 1-0 win over Austria, then was absent from the match against the Netherlands due to a broken nose.
Poland star Robert Lewandowski missed the 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands with a thigh problem, and then had a poor performance as a substitute in the 3-1 defeat to Austria. He scored a penalty in the 1-1 draw with France, but it was not enough to help his team qualify.
England star duo Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane each scored just one goal in the group stage, despite showing excellent form for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich last season.
“Not every player will shine in every match,” England coach Southgate shared about the performance of his two students.
Mbappe has only scored 1 goal in this year’s tournament. Photo: UEFA
Two other stars, France’s Antoine Griezmann and England’s Phil Foden, also failed to score a goal in the group stage, after impressive seasons for Atletico Madrid and Manchester City.
Belgium’s all-time top scorer Romelu Lukaku also failed to score in the group stage, working hard but being unlucky to have three goals in the net that were all ruled out by VAR.
Veteran Luka Modric, 38, a key player in Croatia’s impressive achievements in recent years, scored a goal against Italy. However, overall, he did not leave much of an impression, thereby helping Croatia to be eliminated early.
Notably, through 36 matches in the EURO 2024 group stage, there were 7 own goals, accounting for 26% of the 27 own goals in the history of the tournament.
In the context of the biggest stars not shining, many unexpected names have left a strong mark in the EURO 2024 group stage.
N’Golo Kante is proving to be a key player for the French team despite moving to Saudi Arabia a year ago, while talented young player Jamal Musiala has become a shining star for the German team before veteran stars Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan and Kai Havertz.
Striker Niclas Fuellkrug scored 2 goals for the German team like Musiala, helping the home team finish first in Group A, thereby avoiding strong teams in the 1/8 round. In addition, striker Ivan Schranz of Slovakia, Razvan Marin of Romania and Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands also scored 2 goals each at this year’s EURO.
The tournament’s current top scorer is Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze with three goals, two of which were from the penalty spot.
Or like Spain, they are the only team to win all the group stages and are considered strong candidates for the championship. However, their two best players from the beginning of the tournament, Fabian Ruiz and Marc Cucurella, were not highly rated before the tournament.
With 15 remaining matches at EURO 2024, starting from the 1/8 round, fans are still waiting for the biggest stars to create memorable performances.
