Sensational Spain

Euro 2024 -Top 20 moments

A compelling tournament from start to finish, Euro 2024 conjured a succession of storylines and saw several records broken with an outstanding Spain coming out on top. Stephen Donovan reflects on how it all unfolded.

International football has always been the greatest showcase for the saying that individual talent only gets you so far, and the outcome of Euro 2024 did little to dispel that notion. Right from the outset when they kicked off against Croatia in their opening match, Spain ticked all the boxes. Yes, they had the flair of the outstanding Nico Williams and prodigious teenager Lamine Yamal, plus the indomitable midfield presence of Rodri, but from back to front La Roja were a fully functioning team in which every player slotted in seamlessly and fired on all possible cylinders.

They caught the eye immediately, putting three past the Croats and then putting in a dominant display to overcome defending champions Italy. That marked them out as the team to beat, especially with some of the other fancied sides yet to spark into life. And there were bigger tests to come. Hosts Germany pushed them all the way, only for Spain to show the mental fortitude to find a winner late in extra time. They then fell behind against pre-tournament favourites France, a side noted for its game management, but again came up with the answers.

Compare that with England. Expected to overwhelm opponents with their long list of attacking stars, the Three Lions scratched and scraped their way to the final with moments of individual magic salvaging largely disjointed performances and sparing them from an ignominious exit. There was credit for the character they showed to hang in there, but the luck eventually ran out in the final as Spain ran out worthy champions. Back on top of the podium for the first time since Euro 2012, Luis de la Fuente’s side were the best team at Euro 2024, and by an emphatically wide margin.

Indeed, a lot of the favourites underperformed yet still made it deep into the tournament. Aside from England’s bumpy road to the runners-up spot, France were a major letdown despite reaching the last four, while the Netherlands and Portugal both blew hot and cold on their way to the semi-finals and quarter-finals respectively. Germany were bright and the home fans had hope of a famous success, only to eventually fall short.

Many of the less fancied nations put in strong, competitive performances – with Georgia getting a special mention on their tournament debut, but there was a disappointing lack of knockout stage upsets with some underdogs threatening to cause a shock only to fail to get over the line. However, Euro 2024 was never short on entertainment and the right team came out on top.

Here, Soccer 360 looks back on the competition’s top 20 moments.

The opening game
After a long and frenzied build-up, the excitement of Euro 2024 finally got underway with an intriguing clash as hosts Germany met Scotland in Munich. There was cautious optimism among the home supporters while the Tartan Army quietly fancied their side’s hopes of springing a surprise, but the match itself was embarrassingly one-sided as Germany immediately marked themselves out as contenders with a crushing 5-1 victory. The front three of Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, and Kai Havertz were all among the scorers in a formidable performance.

Rapid Bajrami
Defending champions Italy were stunned in a dramatic start to their tournament opener against unfancied Albania as they fell behind after only 23 seconds. Nedim Bajrami seized on a poor throw-in by Federico Dimarco and smashed a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post to score the fastest ever Euros goal. The Azzurri soon recovered and eventually won 2-1, but Sassuolo midfielder Bajrami etched his name into the record books.

Belgium stung by Slovakia
There was a gap of 45 places in the FIFA rankings between Belgium and Slovakia when they met in Frankfurt, but Francisco Calzona’s side defied their status to claim the first shock result of Euro 2024. Ivan Schranz’s early goal was enough to settle the outcome as a misfiring Belgium were frustrated by poor finishing, committed defending, and having two goals disallowed. It left the Red Devils under serious pressure and with work to do in order to reach the knockout stages.

Thrilling Turkey triumph
Few may have seen it coming, but Turkey’s opening Group F encounter with debutants Georgia was easily one of the games of the tournament. Both teams threw caution to the wind and amid the chaos, delivered eye-catching football and some special goals. Mert Muldur’s fantastic volley opened the scoring for Turkey, only for the impressive Georges Mikautadze to equalise. The second half was more of the same with Arda Guler restoring the Crescent-Stars’ lead with a beautiful curling effort, and they survived a late onslaught before scoring a breakaway third goal to seal an enthralling 3-1 victory.

England under fire
One of the standout favourites to lift Euro 2024, England unconvincingly came through their opening match against Serbia with a 1-0 win, but their performance against Denmark in their second Group C outing set alarm bells ringing for Three Lions fans. While they escaped with a 1-1 draw that was enough to secure a last 16 place, a disjointed display riddled with errors was met with fury from the stands and criticism towards coach Gareth Southgate as a team full of world-class attacking players struggled to find a spark.

Spain make a statement
The meeting of Spain and Italy was one of the most eagerly awaited match-ups of the group stage, and nobody expected it to be so one-sided. Spain had already laid down a marker with a clinical 3-0 win over Croatia in their opening game, but they produced an even more dominant performance to sink the holders as they controlled the midfield battle throughout and winger Nico Williams starred. The only surprise in the end was that they only won 1-0, thanks to an own goal from Riccardo Calafiori.

A sad end for Scotland
A battling draw with Switzerland gave Scotland a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time when they entered their final group match against Hungary. But as they chased the win they desperately needed, Steve Clarke’s side were to suffer agony at the end of a largely tense and cagey affair as they were caught on the counter attack in the 10th and final minute of stoppage time with Kevin Csoboth scoring a dramatic goal. Despite the win, Hungary also failed to make the last 16 having lost their opening two games.

Zaccagni leaves Croatia crestfallen
After only picking up one point from their first two Group B games, perennial dark horses Croatia knew they had to overcome holders Italy in Leipzig to reach the last 16. They seemed set to advance when national team legend Luka Modric scored to make amends for his penalty miss just moments earlier, but their hearts were broken with the very last play of the game as Mattia Zaccagni curled a sweet finish past Dominik Livakovic to snatch second place for the Azzurri.
Austria hit the top

Austria were expected to be a dangerous opponent at Euro 2024 under the wise guidance of highly respected coach Ralf Rangnick, but not many would have tipped them to top a very strong looking Group D. However, a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in the final round of games saw them finish in first place ahead of the Dutch and tournament favourites France, who were struggling to find their rhythm. Their hopes would ultimately be ended by Turkey in the last 16.

Group E deadlock
For the first time in European Championship history, all four teams in Group E finished locked on the same number of points after three fascinating rounds of matches. With head-to-head records cancelled out, the task of separating them came down to goal difference and Ukraine were the painfully unlucky side to miss out on the last 16 due to their opening 3-0 defeat to Romania, who in turn advanced as group winners. Belgium finished second, while Slovakia also went through as one of the best third placed teams.

Georgia’s greatest night
Simply qualifying for Euro 2024 was a famous achievement for Georgia, but reaching the knockout stages was something far more remarkable. Having already caught the eye with their courageous performances and showed no shortage of quality in attack, the tournament’s lowest ranked team took on Portugal in their final group game needing a win to reach the last 16. Against one of the favourites, they produced the greatest night in the nation’s footballing history to prevail 2-0 with goals from Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze. Although their run was subsequently ended by Spain, they went home as heroes.

Stylish Switzerland end Italy’s reign
As the knockout stage began in Berlin, it was very hard to predict a winner between Switzerland and Italy with many expecting a close game. The reality couldn’t have been more different, as Murat Yakin’s impressive Swiss team bossed proceedings throughout with their intricate, attractive passing game. Remo Freuler finished off a lovely team move for the opener before Ruben Vargas curled in a beauty at the start of the second half, with a subdued Italy seeing the defence of their crown end with a whimper.

Bellingham from the brink
There was still no improvement to be seen from England and their tournament seemed set to end in calamitous fashion as another goal from Ivan Schranz had Slovakia on the verge of pulling off an almighty shock in the last 16. The Three Lions had long run out of ideas, but with only seconds remaining their star player produced a world class moment as Jude Bellingham’s brilliant bicycle kick dramatically forced extra time, where Harry Kane’s header sent them to the quarter-finals.

Ronaldo roller coaster
After failing to score in the group stage, Cristiano Ronaldo was totally desperate to find the net in Portugal’s last 16 clash with Slovenia. He ended up going on an emotional roller coaster, missing chances in normal time before seeing a penalty superbly saved by Jan Oblak in extra time, and he couldn’t hold back the tears. Underdogs Slovenia battled all the way to the end, but Ronaldo put his disappointment behind him to score in the penalty shootout as Portugal eventually prevailed.

Hosts suffer extra time heartache
The opening quarter-final encounter between Spain and Germany promised a lot, and it truly delivered as two of the tournament’s outstanding teams went at each other punch for punch during a thrilling 120 minutes of action. Dani Olmo’s classy finish put Spain ahead only for the hosts to battle back with Florian Wirtz’s late goal forcing extra time, where things got considerably more tense. It looked like it could go either way, but with penalties looming Mikel Merino’s header sent a joyous La Roja through and ended the dreams of the home crowd.

France scrape into semis
For all the quality and pedigree in their squad, France were incredibly underwhelming at Euro 2024 but still managed to scrape their way to the semi-finals despite only scoring with a penalty and two own goals over the course of five matches. Kylian Mbappe and co. were poor again in a heavyweight clash with Portugal but still had enough defensive resolve to force a penalty shootout, where they converted all of their kicks to gain some revenge for their painful loss in the Euro 2016 final.

England’s perfect penalties
England are infamous for their many heartbreaking penalty shootout defeats over the years, but their current side showed that those failures might just be a thing of the past as they scored five exquisite spot-kicks to overcome Switzerland in their quarter-final. After a closely fought 1-1 draw, the ice-cool quartet of Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all finished unerringly, while Bakayo Saka did likewise to help banish some of the memories from his fateful miss in the Euro 2020 final shootout. It was harsh on Switzerland – one of the best teams in the competition – but England marched on.

Yamal makes history
Spain set the standard throughout Euro 2024, and making headline after headline along the way was Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal. Already the youngest player to appear in a men’s European Championship and many other records besides, the 16-year-old produced an unforgettable moment of history with a wonderful equalising goal in the semi-final against France as his curling strike from outside the penalty area flew in off the post. It made him the youngest ever scorer in a major tournament, and Spain went on to book their place in the final through Dani Olmo’s winner.

Watkins winner
After a succession of indifferent performances, England finally showed what they are capable of as they recovered to beat the Netherlands in another tense semi-final. With the game locked at 1-1 after Harry Kane’s controversial penalty, substitute Ollie Watkins conjured a magical moment with extra time seemingly on the cards. The Aston Villa striker had barely a half-chance as he collected Cole Palmer’s pass, but turned and fired a razor-like finish to send England through to their second straight Euros final.

Ole for Oyarzabal
There were countless storylines attached to the Euro 2024 final as Spain, easily the standout team in Germany coming into the showpiece, looked to return to the summit of European football against an England side who hadn’t lived up to their billing performance-wise but were within touching distance of lifting a first major tournament for 58 years. After a tense, goalless first half at the Olympiastadion, the real action began just after half-time when the remarkable Lamine Yamal set up opposite winger Nico Williams for a powerful low finish.

But far from lying down, the Three Lions then showed their class with a well-worked team goal of their own to equalise; Jude Bellingham setting up Cole Palmer to shoot low past Unai Simon with 17 minutes to go. At that stage it appeared the final could go either way, but Spain found another gear and their undoubted superiority was rewarded when Mikel Oyarzabal ran on to Marc Cucurella’s low cross to slide in the winner.

It sealed a famous achievement for Luis de la Fuente’s team, whose thoroughly deserved success gave them a record fourth Euros crown. For England, the interminable wait goes on following coach Gareth Southgate’s last stand.