Euro 2024 Wrap Up

Written by Luke Cirianni

Published on July 19, 2024

The Euro 2024 tournament will go down in FIFA history. From Georgia qualifying for the first time and getting out of the group stage, to Albania scoring in the first 23 seconds the quickest goal in Euro history, there was so much to take in these four weeks. Germany hosted the tournament and did not disappoint. Fans were seen celebrating in the streets of the ten German host cities. A young German man named Andre Schnura went viral on social media, playing famous songs on his saxophone in the street. The Netherlands had the “orange wall,” with fans parading for miles on their march to the stadium to support their country. The atmosphere did its part to make the Euro 2024 special.

A common theme of this Euros was own goals. There were ten own goals recorded in Euro 2024, adding to the 30 all-time in the tournament’s history. Along with this, the golden boot or highest scorer had a six-player tie at three goals.

Italy, the winner of the last Euros, was eliminated by Switzerland in the Round of 16, giving one of the 15 remaining nations a chance to become the new defending champions. This left England nearly alone on one side of the bracket, while many of the “tournament favorites,” were on the other side. Spain was put to the test in the quarterfinals against Germany, playing at home. In a game that was a minute away from going to penalties, substitute Mikel Merino scored the winner in the 119’ to send the Spaniards through.

This set up a semifinals of France vs. Spain, and England vs. Netherlands. France started off with an early goal in the first ten minutes, but Spain responded quickly. Lamine Yamal scored a near-impossible goal to tie it up, which afterwards got voted goal of the tournament. Yamal, the newly turned seventeen year old, logged one goal and four assists against the world’s best. Dani Olmo scored a few minutes later, punching Spain’s ticket to the final. On the other side of the bracket, Xavi Simons scored from far out to give the Dutch an early lead. About twelve minutes later, England was awarded a penalty, and captain Harry Kane put it away to equalize. Ollie Watkins was the hero off the bench for England, scoring in the last minute to send England to the final.

The final ended with Spain securing a 2-1 win over England in Berlin. All three goals came in the second half of the game. The first was Nico Williams, who blossomed into a top player this summer. England manager Gareth Southgate then made a crucial sub, bringing in Chelsea star Cole Palmer, who scored an incredible goal from outside the box. It felt like the game would move on to extra time, but Mikel Oyarzabal scored in the 86’ to bring Spain their fourth European Championship, the most in history. Spain won their sixth international trophy, while England’s drought continues from their 1966 World Cup victory.

This Euros was pivotal for many players, as the “golden generation” of players thinned out even more at the international level. Cristiano Ronaldo plans on playing in the 2026 World Cup, but we likely saw his last Euro appearance. Toni Kroos played his last-ever career game in the quarterfinals for Germany, falling short to Spain. We saw the last of Olivier Giroud for his country, who was a 2018 World Cup champion with France.

The 2024 Euros had a lot of twists and turns but lived up to expectations. We got to see what the new generation has to offer to their country, while saying goodbye to some legends. The goals that were scored, the tears that were shed, and the passion on the field reminds the world why soccer is so important to so many people.

 

Featured image by Luke Cirianni