Tips

News

Blogs

Videos

Betting Sites

The Top 3 Players at the Euros so far
Blogs

The Top 3 Players at the Euros so far

19/06/24 13:01

The Top 3 players at the Euros so far

With Matchday One of EURO 2024 complete, we’ve seen some fantastic individual performances. Here’s a look at three of the standout performers at the Championship so far.

3. N’Golo Kante

Since his departure from the Premier League to Al-Ittihad, we haven’t heard much from the two-time English top flight champion, but low and behold he still has the same quality we have seen over the years.

The 33-year-old had been omitted from the national squad for two years prior to the tournament, and his recall to the side came as a big shock. Despite his call up, it was not expected that he would play as pivotal of a role as he did back in Russia in the 2018 World Cup, with France now having the likes of Aurelin Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Warren Zaire-Emery on their books. However, he still seems to be at full fitness and was running to his heart’s content in France’s 1-0 victory over Austria on Monday.

Winning man-of-the-match and winning the most interceptions (2), blocking the most passes (3) and creating the most chances (2) of anyone on the pitch, we got to see a classic N’Golo Kante performance. The Al-Ittihad man could play a vital role in how far Les Bleus get into this tournament.

2. Lamine Yamal

At just 16 years old Lamine Yamal has become the youngest player to ever play in a men’s EUROs Championship. Yamal made his international tournament debut in Spain’s impressive 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday, where the Barcelona starlet stood out as he dominated the right flank.

After such an incredible performance, he would’ve received his plaudits even if he was in his mid-twenties, but the fact that he is only 16 shows how much potential Yamal has to be a stronghold in La Roja’s squad for the next 20 years or so. While the teenager was unlucky to not score a goal in the clash on Saturday, he did put in a perfect cross for Dani Carvajal to make it 3-0 to Spain just before the break. We will hope to see more of the young man’s skills in matches to come, and hopefully he will be able to get on the scoresheet.

Yamal wasn’t even slightly phased about coming up against Premier League champion Josko Gvardiol, running at him constantly throughout the 90 minutes. This sort of confidence is exactly what you need in players if you want to win international tournaments. Not only did he create the most chances of the match (3), he also had an 83% passing accuracy (15/18), which could prove to be crucial for Spain going forward in this competition.

3. Jamal Musiala

After a man-of-the-match performance in the tournament opener which saw Germany thrash Scotland 5-1, Jamal Musiala showed his class and talent from start to finish. Tipped to be one of the stars of the tournament, the 21-year-old did not disappoint.

The midfielder scored Die Mannschaft’s second goal of the match, with a fantastic finish into the top left corner of the goal after the ball was laid off to him by Kai Havertz. The sheer quality the German side showed in this match is something for other teams to fear going forward. This squad is clearly firing on all cylinders and Musiala is at the forefront of that. With matches coming up against Hungary and Switzerland, you would expect the Bayern Munich star to grab a couple more goals and assists, and perform at his top level into the knockout stages.

​​

Musiala showed great experience and composure throughout the clash with the Tartan Army as he displayed a passing accuracy of 100% (32/32) and completed five successful dribbles, the second most out of any player at the tournament so far, joint with Cody Gakpo, and only one behind Jeremy Doku who has six. Regardless of the fact that this was Musiala’s first ever appearance at a EUROs, he showed all the experience of someone who has been around for years, and is set to shine for the rest of the tournament and in future ones for Die Mannschaft.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Lily Perrill

Writer

Join our newsletter

Become a part of our community and never miss an update from Football Park.