EURO 2024 Flashscore Awards: Spain and Turkey headline accolades
Our Flashscore team voted on their favourite moments of the competition - here are the results.
Team of the tournament: Spain
No surprises with our first pick - Spain were not only the winners of the European Championships, but they also played the best football, beating hosts Germany and World Cup finalists France on the way.
Under Luis de la Fuente, they played attacking and direct football and no one could touch them along the way. A staggering 93.3% of our writers voted for them, and this is surely one decision no one can disagree with.
Player of the tournament: Lamine Yamal
The beauty of tournament football is the narratives that get woven along the way. Not many people would have said teenager Lamine Yamal would be the star of the show, but he played above expectation throughout Spain’s title win, leading the line alongside Nico Williams and producing moments of magic throughout the competition.
With such a strong showing, he undoubtedly will be leading Spain for many years to come.
Alongside will be the likes of Dani Olmo, who despite not starting until later in the tournament, was voted second by our writers, whilst Fabian Ruiz finished third - showing the depth of Spain’s side.
Goal of the tournament: Lamine Yamal vs France
A now multiple award-winner, Yamal’s strike against France was one of the stand-out moments of the tournament. His strike from distance found the only spot to beat Mike Maignan and level the game up for Spain after they had gone a goal down.
It was his first goal in a major tournament, and there haven’t been many better.
The strike garnered nearly 47% of the vote, with Jude Bellingham game-saving overhead kick for England against Slovakia came second, whilst Arda Guler’s thunderbolt for Turkey against Georgia was third.
Game of the tournament: Turkey 3-1 Georgia
Under a fierce storm in Dortmund, Turkey and Georgia put on a show that lit up the group stage. A game played at high pace with some incredible goals to boot, this kick-started the competition in a game that went down to the wire.
This was a closely-fought contest though, with Netherlands and Austria’s five-goal thriller coming in second - Spain’s win over France in the semi-final coming third.
Flop of the tournament: Cristiano Ronaldo
After a career full of success with trophies and accolades aplenty, it was a month to forget for Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite starting every game for Portugal as the lone striker, Ronaldo was more a hindrance than a help.
He failed to score and was unable to make any impact, missing a penalty against Slovenia and taking set-pieces that led to nothing. He did score twice in penalty shootouts, but as he left the pitch for the final time, it was away from his teammates. His final action in a major tournament, finished with a whimper.
Our writers also voted for Kylian Mbappe, who finished second in the voting, but he was hampered by his broken nose in a tournament that he will not remember fondly.
Feel-good moment of the tournament: Georgia
Despite their lowly ranking and the fact that they got to the tournament through the Nations League rather than direct qualifying, Georgia were a breath of fresh air in their first-ever major tournament.
They had the game of the tournament as discussed earlier, got out of the group thanks to a stunning 2-0 win over Portugal, before giving Spain something to think about in the round of 16.
They bowed out at that stage, but they had their heads held high, applauded off the pitch by their army of supporters having made memories to last generations.
Save of the tournament: Mert Gunok vs Austria
Some moments in tournaments defy belief and that was what happened in Turkey’s round of 16 clash with Austria.
With a slender lead going into the dying seconds, and with Austria pushing for a leveller, Mert Gunok produced a Gordon Banks-esque save to deny Christoph Baumgartner. The reflexes on show to react to the close-range header were exceptional and it ensured Turkey’s passage into the last eight.
Second in our voting was Diogo Costa’s performance in the penalty shootout against Slovenia.