Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane among biggest flops of Euro 2024
With Euro 2024 done and dusted, we take a look back at those that flattered to deceive in Germany this summer. With such high expectations heading into the tournament, we run through the biggest flops of the Euros, with Portugal, England, France and Germany stars all making the cut.
Without doubt the biggest flop of all at Euro 2024. Only Kylian Mbappe had more shots than Cristiano Ronaldo (23) at the tournament, while the Portugal captain himself underperformed his xG by 3.52, the biggest underperformance at Euro 2024, as he failed to score in his five outings. Portugal were ultimately hamstrung by their decision to supplement Ronaldo as they wasted a huge opportunity to claim their second European Championship.
France scored just one goal from open play at Euro 2024, that coming in their 2-1 semi-final loss to eventual winners Spain with Kylian Mbappe struggling to have the impact supporters had hoped. Mbappe had more shots (24) than any other player at the Euros with his only goal coming from the penalty spot. No player completed more dribbles than the France captain (17) but this was a tournament to forget for the Real Madrid star.
It may seem odd to include a player who scored three times at the Euros in the list of flops but Harry Kane's immobility didn't aid England at Euro 2024. The Three Lions captain looked to be carrying an injury at the tournament, and this impacted his performances. However, it was Kane's performance in Sunday's final loss to Spain that proved the biggest disappointment. The Bayern star had more touches in the England box than the Spain box in Berlin and while the way Gareth Southgate set his side up didn't aid the 30-year-old; he still looked cumbersome in the final third.
Romelu Lukaku was unfortunate not to score at Euro 2024. The Belgian hitman saw three goals disallowed following VAR intervention, but even so; only Kai Havertz (7) missed more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities than Lukaku (6) at the tournament. It was a similar story at the 2022 World Cup, where despite registering just 54 minutes of game time, the striker missed the third most big chances (4). While he shone in qualifying, Lukaku again struggled on the grand stage.
All things considered, Italy put in a limp defence of their Euros crown. It took a late Mattia Zaccagni strike to secure the Azzurri's spot in the last-16 of Euro 2024 as they then faltered against Switzerland to crash out of the tournament. As the holder for Italy, Jorginho was poor in Luciano Spalletti's favoured 4-3-3 setup. While solid on the ball, the 32-year-old was beaten far too easily having been dribbled past 1.7 times per game, that more than any Italy player.
While he hardly pulled up any trees in his debut Premier League season, Danes had every reason to expect plenty from Rasmus Hojlund at Euro 2024. The Manchester United striker impressed in qualifying but he, like Lukaku, failed to transfer that form to the tournament itself. Indeed, Hojlund failed to score at the Euros and fired off just six shots in four appearances. To compound a miserable tournament, Hojlund managed just one more shot on target (4) than he was caught offside (3) up to Denmark's last-16 exit.
With expectations high in the Scotland camp heading into Euro 2024, their hopes of making an impact were quickly extinguished as they fell to an opening 5-1 loss to hosts Germany. The Tartan Army never really recovered from that defeat, drawing 1-1 with Switzerland before losing 1-0 to Hungary late on to drop out of the competition at the group stage. Scotland ended Euro 2024 with a lower WhoScored rating (6.24) than any other team in the tournament.
The poster boy for Hungarian football was excellent in qualifying for Euro 2024 but was unable to transfer that form to the tournament proper. Dominik Szoboszlai registered one assist in his three outings in Germany yet his sub-par form this calendar year continued as Hungary exited the tournament at the group stages. While he can't do everything himself for the Magyars, the captain failed to step up.
To some, Ukraine were dark horses at Euro 2024 and while they were unfortunate not to progress from Group E with all four teams finishing level on four points, supporters were left frustrated by Artem Dovbyk's performances at the tournament. Having won the Pichichi trophy with 24 goals and eight assists, Dovbyk failed to hit the target, let alone score, with any of his six efforts in Ukraine's three group stage games. Following a superb La Liga campaign, fans had come to expect more from the 27-year-old.
Leroy Sane ended the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign with a WhoScored rating of 7.68, that the third highest in the division. While the German winger was never in line to start for the national team at Euro 2024, with Julian Nagelsmann initially preferring Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz out wide, Sane was not able to convince the Germany boss that he warranted to keep his spot in the side. Indeed, the Bayern man was withdrawn for Wirtz at half time of their eventual quarter-final exit at the hands of Spain with the 28-year-old failing to take his chance.
