Every Player of the Match at Euro 2024

With a whole host of top talents on display, Euro 2024 is shaping up to be one of the most competitive tournaments ever. From the favourites such as England, France and Portugal, to dark horses like Austria and Switzerland, every team has at least one player capable of turning the tide of a game in their favour.

As is always the case, football is a team game where the eleven on the pitch have to come together in order to find victory. Match by match, though, one individual will inevitably stand out above the rest. With that in mind, these are all the players to have picked up a Player of the Match award in this summer’s competition, as per UEFA.

Matchday One

Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala headline

The tournament kicked off with a record-breaking 5-1 win for the hosts Germany against a sorry Scotland side. The three-time European champions laid down a marker with their performance, led by Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala who proved exactly why he is one of the best midfielders in the entire championships.

Granit Xhaka continued his excellent club form with Bayer Leverkusen for his national team, as Switzerland put in an impressive performance over an underrated Hungary side led by Dominik Szoboszlai. This was followed up by Fabian Ruiz’s spectacular display for one of the teams of the tournament in Spain against Croatia. The other match in Group B saw Federico Chiesa help drag the Italians to victory after they conceded the quickest goal in European Championship history against Albania.

Cody Gakpo got on the scoresheet as the Netherlands scraped past a Robert Lewandowski-less Poland. Later that day, Christian Eriksen completed a fairytale story, scoring in his first game back in the competition he nearly lost his life in three years prior. Another midfielder stole the show after, as Jude Bellingham forced an unconvincing England over the line against Serbia.

Romania managed one of their best ever performances in a 3-0 drubbing of Ukraine, with Nicolae Stanciu the pick of the bunch that afternoon. This was followed by the shock of the tournament as an excellent Stanislav Lobotka guided Slovakia to a surprise 1-0 victory over Belgium.

N’Golo Kante showed that he hadn’t missed a beat as he steered France to a hard-fought win over Austria. Real Madrid sensation Arda Guler scored one of the goals of the tournament as Turkey overcame Georgia and PSG star Vitinha marshalled the midfield as Portugal came from behind to make a triumphant start against the Czech Republic.

Matchday 2

Kevin De Bruyne steered Belgium back on track after a stuttering start

Croatia’s all-action draw with Albania saw Andrej Kamaric pick up the Player of the Match award as the forward made himself a nuisance to turn the tie around. Germany then secured their qualification to the knock-out stages in no small part due to Ilkay Gundogan’s fabulous captain’s performance. The other game in their group saw Manuel Akanji scoop up the award, with Manchester City’s mathematician putting on a stern display against Scotland.

Zan Karnicnik and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg took the honours from the two Group C stalemates, as Nico Williams claimed the award as Spain secured one of the most dominant 1–0 wins you are ever likely to see versus Italy. Mykola Shaparenko inspired an emotional Ukraine turnaround against Slovakia and Christoph Baumgartner fought back after a costly miss against France to show true character and pick up the award against Poland.

Kante made it two Player of the Match awards in as many games as France’s game against the Netherlands ended goalless.

Giorgi Mamardashvili had to be on top form to prevent more than just the one goal in Georgia’s net against the Czech’s, whilst Bernardo Silva was at his best, opening the scoresheet as Portugal dispatched Turkey. Finally, Kevin De Bruyne helped his case for player of the tournament as he helped Belgium to a 2-0 win over Romania.

Matchday 3

Luka Modric rolled back the years in what could be his final Croatia Game

Granit Xhaka won his second player of the match award of the group phase as his performance nearly saw Switzerland almost produce an almighty upset to top Group A over Germany, denied only by a stoppage time Niclas Fullkrug leveller. Roland Sallai’s performance in the group’s other game was key in sending Scotland packing from the tournament in what was an emotional night for Hungary given the injury suffered by striker Barnabas Varga.

Luka Modric was in inspired form as the 38-year-old became the oldest goalscorer in Euros history. Like the Germans did a day before though, a stoppage time equaliser from Italy meant that Croatia were all but confirmed to be eliminated from the competition. This same can be said of Albania, who were ousted by a much changed Spain team led by their goalscorer and star man on the night, Ferran Torres.