Introduction
With the summer of soccer, beautiful football having come to an end, let’s dive into some team and player statistics and assay the tournament. I have collected various stats and facts, and organized them into a digestible format as a tribute to the fantastic players and the tournament. In this post, I’ll cover some of the key aspects and share some interesting observations.
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UEFA EURO 2024 TOURNAMENT OUTCOME
Player of the Final match: Nico Williams Jr.
Best players awards
NOTE: 6 players from Spain in this list!
2024 FIFA rankings and actual performance comparisons
See the Comment column for my observation/opinion.
NOTE: The rankings have been updated by FIFA on June 20, 2024, during the Euro and Copa America tournaments. The next update will be on July 17, 2024, after the Euro 2024 championship. The above rankings shown are what the ranking was at the start of the Euro 2024 championship. As we can see the rankings are not always a solid indicator of actual performance!
UPDATE: The latest FIFA Men’s ranking is released on 18 July 2024 (after Euro and Copa America tournaments concluded). Highlights: Spain have moved up to 5 spots to 3rd. Turkiye moved up whopping 16 points to 26th. Georgia moved up 4 spots to 70th. Switzerland have moved up 4 spots to 15th. Germany up by 3 spots to 13th. England moved up 1 spot to 4th. Belgium lost 3 spots down to 6th. Portugal lost 2 spots now at 8th. Czechia lost 13 spots downgraded to 47th.
Attendance
Highest attendance recorded: NED x TUR 70,000+
Lowest attendance: AUT x TUR 38,300+
Average attendance throughout the tournament: 52,574
Euro 2024 squads’ average heights: All nations
Selected Players’ Heights, Weights, BMIs
Top scorers Mikautadze of Georgia, and Schranz of Slovakia are not shown above due to their unpublished data on height and weight.
Highest scoring matches not including PK shootouts: Top 3
Combined goals shown on left.
Highest goals differential in a match: Top 3
Goal differentials shown on left. All goal differentials tied at 3 shown.
Most wins throughout the tournament
Turkiye was certainly the dark-horse in this collection.
Win:Loss Ratio of Quarter-finalists throughout the tournament
These losses are across all stages. W:L ratio of 4 or above was required to reach the Finals this Euro tournament.
Netherlands entered the Semi-finals with the lowest W:L ratio (1.5) whereas the other semi-finalists were at 3 or better ratio. Netherlands lost to England in SF (1-2).
Attempts & Accuracy
Total attempts at goal in columns. Accuracy (i.e. shot of target) is shown as a line. Most attempts at goal were made by Spain (123) with 34% accuracy. Most accurate were Switzerland at 36% but their total attempts were only 58. Shot on target does not equate to a goal, rather it means the shot was on target that may or may not have been saved. The Y-axis on the right side shows the accuracy scale in percentage. A balance of large number of attempts in high accuracy are most impactful as Spain’s numbers show.
Possession %
For teams that reached QFs (8 teams). Average over all matches played.
While possession is a key and meaningful tactic, what matters is what’s done with that possession, such as number of attempts and accuracy thereof. I call it the conversion rate, as we may have numerous impressions of an ad, but what really counts is how many of those impressions actually turn into an eventual sale. This analogy applies to soccer when you think of the possession time converted to goals. Spain has one of the top-most possession rate, and when combined with high accuracy and attempts, they translate to more goals.
Passing Accuracy %
For teams that reached QFs. Average over all matches played.
Crosses Accuracy %
For teams that reached QFs. Average over all matches played.
Total goals scored & conceded by the finalists throughout the tournament
Includes PK shootout goals: 5 goals for England; 3 goals conceded by England in the shootout vs Switzerland. Spain did not have any PK shootouts.
Most saves by goal-keepers
Clean sheets by team (number of matches with no goals conceded) – Top 3
This is despite Portugal in a PK shootout against Slovenia where Portugal won 3-0 without conceding any.
Goals scoring timing
Most goals were scored in the first half and after 15 minutes. However, the total goals between halves tell a different story because the second-half actually yielded more goals (64) than the first-half (51).
Most cards (yellow cards, red cards): Top 3, and Top Least cards
Most red cards recipients were Czechia (2), while Ukraine got the least amount of cards (only 3 yellow cards).
How goals were scored – total across all teams
Of the left-footed goals, most were scored by Spain.
Striking distance
Goals scored from inside penalty area (including five-meter box): 98
Goals scored from outside penalty area: 19
Goals scored from penalty awards (not PK shootouts): 9
Total penalties awarded: 12 (3 saved. 0 missed).
Goals from direct free-kick: 0 [Ronaldo’s wish was denied]
Top Assists
Attacks: Top 3
Corners: Top 3
Offsides: Top 3
Fastest: Top 3
Players with most goals
All these players scored 3 goals, which is the most for a player in the tournament.
Most right-footed goals by team
Most left-footed goals by team
Most header goals by a team: 2
Youngest & Oldest Players
Additional interesting facts
Tournament average time to first goal: 30 minutes
Tournament average goals per match: 2.29 [in Euro 2020/21 it was a record 2.78]
There were 3 penalty shootouts in the tournament:
> 1-July in Last 16 KO round. POR X SLV [Portugal won 3-0]
> 5-July in QF round. FRA X POR [France won 5-3]
> 6-July in QF round. ENG X SWI [England won 5-3]
Country with most Euro wins: Spain (4x champions) 
Most spot kicks saved in a match: 3. Diogo Costa (Portugal) saved 3 penalty kicks in a shoot-out beating Slovenia in the Last 16 KO stage.
Highest save rate by a goalie: 78.9%. Mert Günok (Turkiye) 
Fastest goal scored in the tournament: 23 seconds. Nedim Bajrami (Albania) vs Italy in Group stage.
Own goals: 10 total in the tournament.
1. Germany: Antonio Rudiger (vs. Scotland)
2. Austria: Maximilian Wöber (vs. France)
3. Czechia: Robin Hranac (vs. Portugal)
4. Albania: Klaus Gjasula (vs. Croatia)
5. Italy: Riccardo Calafiori (vs. Spain)
6. Turkiye: Samet Akaydin (vs. Portugal)
7. Netherlands: Donyell Malen (vs. Austria)
8. Spain: Robin Le Normand (vs. Georgia)
9. Belgium: Jan Vertonghen (vs. France)
10. Turkiye: Mert Muldur (vs. Netherlands)
Streaks: Longest winning streak: SPA (7 matches)
Teams with 0 wins in the tournament: SLV, DEN, CRO, SER, CZE, ALB, SCO, POL
Teams with highest number of Draws in the tournament: SLV (4), ENG (3), FRA (3), SWI (3), DEN (3).
Team that didn’t Win any, didn’t Draw any: Slovenia (all 4 matches drawn). 
What set Spain team apart from the rest of the Euro 2024 teams?
Spain’s victory at Euro 2024 was a testament to their exceptional performance across several key areas:
Youthful exuberance combined with experience: The Spanish squad boasted a perfect blend of young, dynamic talents like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, alongside seasoned campaigners who brought stability and leadership.
Tactical mastery: Spain’s possession-based, attacking football was a hallmark of their play. They dominated midfield, created numerous chances, and were clinical in front of goal.
Defensive solidity: While their offensive prowess was evident, Spain also showcased a strong defensive structure, conceding only two goals throughout the tournament.
Mental fortitude: The team displayed incredible resilience and composure, particularly in high-pressure situations like the final against England.
Team cohesion: The Spanish players demonstrated excellent understanding and chemistry on the pitch, which translated into fluid and effective team play.
Total attempts at goals: Spain made most attempts to goals than any other team (123) with a high attempts accuracy (34%). Only Switzerland and Germany had higher accuracy (36%, 35% respectively), however, their total attempts were much lower (58, 94 respectively).
Passing accuracy: Spain had also one of the highest passing accuracy at 90%. Only Germany was higher at 91%.
Crossing accuracy: 29% crossing accuracy is not an easy feat. Only Germany and Turkey had higher crossing accuracy (31%, 30% respectively).
Possession: Spain love to control the pace and hold possession. While 58% possession is not the highest, it is indeed at the top tier. Portugal had an impressive 65% possession through the tournament, which is the most.
Noteworthy that Spain did not have the tallest or the fastest players, but they had exceptionally athletic, quick, efficient, and effective players.
In fact, we see most of the tallest teams did not go that far in the tournament (Serbia, Czechia, Denmark being the top 3 tallest squads).
In my opinion, the key to their amazing unbeaten path to success was the right balance in the above-mentioned areas. When the applications across those areas are consistently applied it creates a devastatingly efficient squad.
Their genuine dedication and passion for their country were unbeatable, ineffable.
Their chemistry and organization form a beautiful orchestra, a harmonious, rhythmic dance on the pitch that was beautiful to behold for fans of the game.
And that’s only what is obvious to us as casual observers. Certainly, the management and coaching play a big part into the chess-game of preparation, real-time adjustments, and overall strategy. We saw Spain were consistently in the top-3 in areas of possession, attacks, accuracy of passing and crossing, shots of target, along with defensive plays. The “secret sauce” as to how that can be achieved is the holy grail of all coaches world-wide.
Congratulations, Spain on a well-deserved championship!
GLOSSARY
I hope you have enjoyed the tournament as much as I did, and enjoyed my summary in this post. Until next big tournament (World Cup, Euro), stay safe and well. Thanks for reading!
Credits
Data sources: cbssports.com, uefa.com, espn.com, sportingnews.com, fifa.com
Photo credits: UEFA.com, alamy.com
Tools used: Microsoft Excel for formulas (data extraction, filters, shaping, metrics), tables and charts (Stacked bar, Stacked column, Clustered bar, Clustered column, Funnel, Doughnut, Pie, XY scatter, Line chart, Combo chart, Data bars, Color scales, bespoke elements), Microsoft Paint, Paint.NET, GIMP for graphics.
Enjoy the snapshot of mementos…
Shocked England manager G. Southgate after a lethal shot by Spain.
