Euro 2024 group stage concludes with dramatic matches, record-breaking performances

The Euro 2024 group stage concluded on Thursday with thrilling matches. In a rollercoaster game, Türkiye secured a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic thanks to Cenk Tosun’s last-minute goal in the 94th minute, finishing second in Group F and advancing to the next round.

Highlights and key statistics

Advancing teams

Group winners: Germany, Spain, England, Austria, Romania and Portugal

Group runners-up: Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, France, Belgium and Türkiye

Best third-placed teams: Slovenia, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Georgia

Eliminated teams: Hungary, Scotland, Croatia, Albania, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

Notable performances

Spain stood out as the only undefeated team in the group stage, collecting nine points and keeping a clean sheet in all three matches.

Germany was the highest-scoring team with eight goals and conceded only two, boasting the best goal difference.

Türkiye, with five goals, was the third-highest-scoring team.

Germany led in goal attempts (57), followed by Portugal (53) and Türkiye (50).

Record-breaking moments:

Germany’s five-goal haul against Scotland made them the highest-scoring team of the opening round.

Arda Guler became the youngest player to score in his debut match at the European Championship at just 19 years and 114 days old, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous record of 19 years and 128 days.

Julian Nagelsmann, at 36 years and 327 days, became the youngest manager in European Championship history, surpassing Srecko Katanec’s record from Euro 2000.

Spain’s Lamine Yamal, aged 16 years and 338 days, became the youngest player to ever compete in the tournament, breaking the record previously held by Poland’s Kacper Kozlowski.

Portugal’s Pepe, at 41 years old, is the oldest player in the tournament.

Croatia’s Luka Modric, at 38 years and 289 days old, became the oldest goal scorer.

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first and only player to participate in six European Championships.

Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai became the youngest captain in the history of the European Championships at 23 years and 234 days old.

Albania’s Nedim Bajrami set a new record for the fastest goal in European Championship history, scoring just 23 seconds into the match against Italy, breaking Dmitri Kirichenko’s previous record of 67 seconds from Euro 2004.

Group stage insights

• Low-point advancements: Romania, Belgium, and Slovakia each advanced with 4 points in Group E.
• Goals: A total of 81 goals were scored in 36 matches, averaging 2.25 goals per match, or one goal every 40 minutes. 74 goals were scored by 67 different players, with 7 own goals.
• Timing: The most goals were scored between the 16th and 30th minutes (17 goals), while the least were scored in injury time (3 goals). Notably, 11 goals were scored in the second halves of matches during added time.

Group comparisons

• Highest-scoring groups: Groups A and F (17 goals each).
• Lowest-scoring group: Group C (7 goals).
• Possession and passing: Germany had the highest possession percentage (64.3%) and pass accuracy (93%).

Physical play

• Tackles: Georgia (52) and Austria (51) had the most tackles, with Georgia winning the most (25).
• Saves: Georgia made the most saves (20).
• Fouls and cards: Austria committed the most fouls (49). Türkiye received the most yellow cards (16), with 12 in their match against the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic received 7 yellow cards and 2 red cards in that game, with referee Istvan Kovacs showing the most cards in the group stage.

Round of 16 matchups

• Sat 29/06 – Switzerland vs Italy
• Sat 29/06 – Germany vs Denmark
• Sun 30/06 – England vs Slovakia
• Sun 30/06 – Spain vs Georgia
• Mon 1/07 – France vs Belgium
• Mon 1/07 – Portugal vs Slovenia
• Tue 2/07 – Romania vs Netherlands
• Tue 2/07 – Austria vs Türkiye

Individual statistics:

• Top scorer: Georges Mikautadze (Georgia) with 3 goals.
• Top assist providers: Orkun Kökçü (Türkiye), Dennis Man (Romania), and Remo Freuler (Switzerland) with 2 assists each.
• Most goal attempts: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) with 12 attempts.
• Most shots on target: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) with seven.
• Most successful passes: Tony Kroos (Germany) with 326 successful passes.
• Most offsides: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) with five.
• Most goals conceded: Angus Gunn (Scotland) with seven, followed by Dominik Livakovic (Croatia) with six.
• Fastest player: Benjamin Sesko (Slovenia) at 35.9 kilometer per hour, followed by Valentin Mihaila (Romania) at 35.8 km/h. Baris Alper Yilmaz reached 34.7 km/h, making him the fastest player in the Turkish national team.
• Most distance covered: Ylber Ramadani with 37.5 kilometers.

Stay tuned for more updates as we head into the knockout stages of Euro 2024!