Spain dominate Opta's Euro 2024 Team of the Tournament after Sunday's 2-1 final victory over England, a result that clinched a record-breaking fourth European crown. (More Football News)
Five Roja players find themselves in Opta's stats-based XI, but they also contribute the most surprising omission, wit💞h Player of the 𓄧Tournament Rodri missing out.
England only have one repr🌼esentative despite reaching their first tournament final on foreign soil, with Harry Kane's share of the Golden Boot and Jude Bellingham's stunning overhead kick versus Slovakia not enough to warrant a place.
Here, we run through those that did make the cut, highlighting a couple of standout stats for each p𓆏layer.
Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia)
Georgia shot-stopper Mamardashvili conceded more goals than any other p✃layer at the tournament (eight), but four of those came in a l♛ast-16 defeat to the eventual champions, and he finds his way in between the sticks.
Starring as Georgia surprisingly escaped Group F, Mamardashvili made 30 saves and prevented🐽 4.76 goals according to Opta's expected goals on target (xGoT) model – the best figure at the tournament.
Joshua Kimmich (Germany)
Germany were dumped out in the last e♒ight by Spain, and winning their group via a last-gasp Niclas Fullkrug goal versus Switzerland may actually have harmed the hosts as they wound up on the more challenging s𓂃ide of the draw.
Kimmi꧙ch was fielded at right-ꦦback by Julian Nagelsmann and was instrumental going forward. In fact, only Lamine Yamal (17) bettered his 16 chances created from open play in just five games.
Manuel Akanji (Switzerland)
Akanji's tournament ended in despair as he was denied by Jordan Pickford in Switzerland's quarter-final penalty shoot-out defeat to England, but he was c𝓡rucial for one of the competition's best defences.
Switzerland faced just 2.4 shots on target per game at Euro 2024, fewer than any other side, and conceded less than one expected goal pe♏r game (0.95).
Marc Guehi (England)
England's lon💙e representative is a man who most would have deemed unlikely to start before the tournament began, Crystal Palace centr🦩e-back Guehi.
In for the injured Harry Maguire, Guehi contested (29) and won (13) more aeria▨l duels throughout the tournament tha🦩n any other England player and completed 93.5% of his passes.
Marc Cucurella (Spain)
When Luis de la Fuente named Cucurella in Spain's starting lineup for their opening game versus Croatia, there were 🦩plenty left open-mouthed by the exclusion of Bayer Leverkusen star Alex Grimaldo.
However, just three defenders were involved in more open-play attacking sequences🤡 than Cucurella's 31, and it was his low cross that led to the tournament's decisive moment; Mikal Oyarzabal's 86th-minute final winner versus England.
Toni Kroos (Germany)
Kroos may not have enjoyed a dream send-ꦍoff ahead of hi🅘s retirement, but a series of metronomic midfield displays left many fans wishing he would extend his career.
He made the most line-breaking passes (141) of any player at th൩e tournament, also completing 94.3% of his passes⛎ under pressure, the best rate of any player (minimum 100 passes attempted).
Fabian Ruiz (Spain)
Fab💜ian contributed two goals and two assists throughout the tournament, his driving runs from midfield making him the perfect foil for enforcer Rodri and silky playmaker Dani Olmo.
No player won possession mo🦩re often than the Paris Saint-G💞ermain man (46 times), while he also recovered the ball seven times in the final third, setting the tone for De la Fuente's high press.
Lamine Yamal (Spain)
The Young Player of the Tournament, Yamal recorded four assists to go with 🥂his semi-final stunner againstℱ France, with no player on record (since 1980) ever teeing up more goals at a single edition of the European Championships.
One day after his 17th birthday, he surpassed Pele (17 yeaꦰrs, 239 days) as the youngest player to play in a Euros or World Cup final, and he made his mark despite some solid work from England leftཧ-back Luke Shaw, teeing up Nico Williams' 47th-minute opener.
Dani Olmo (Spain)
Olmo is ♊entitled to feel a little miffed at UEFA's de𒅌cision to share the Golden Boot between all six players that managed three goals. Under the old tie-breaking method, his two assists would have earned him the prize outright.
His most telling contribution,𓄧 like that of Yamal, came in the last four, a sumptuous first touch setting him up to finish across Mike Maignan fไor Spain's winner.
Five goal involvements is the joint-most by a Spain player at a Euro๊pean Championship, along with David Silva in 2012, and all the more rema꧃rkable is the fact he only started three games.
Nico Williams (Spain)
The final Spanish representative, Will🐬iams opened the scoring in the final to become the second-youngest player to net in a Euros showpiece match (22 years, two days, behind Italy's Pietro Anastasi in 1968 at 20 years, 64 days).
Williams posted a higher expected assists (xA) total than any other player (2.06), and was La Roja's standout attacker when it mattered ꩵmost against England.
Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)
The Netherlands may have suffere♍d 90th-minute heartbreak against England in the semi-finals, but it was largely thanks to Gakpo that they made it that far.
Only Olmo and Yamal (five each🦂) bettered his four goal involvements (three goals, one assi🃏st) as he earned a share of the Golden Boot. Only Yamal (15) and Kylian Mbappe (11), meanwhile, bettered his 10 chances created following a ball carry.
