UEFA EURO 2024: Best players of the tournament so far

Could a goalkeeper once again be crowned the best player at a UEFA EURO tournament?

Last time round, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was crowned the best player of the tournament, for his mammoth part in Italy’s triumph at EURO 2020.

This time round, we could very well see the same, with goalkeepers grabbing the headlines throughout the tournament.

On Tuesday night, Türkiye goalkeeper Mert Günok produced a stunning save at the death in their 2-1 win over Austria to reach the quarterfinals.

And the night before, Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa produced arguably one of the best goalkeeping performances at a EUROs ever to win Portugal’s penalty shootout against Slovenia.

This week Showmax takes a look at some of the players who have shined the brightest at this year’s EUROs so far.

Mert Günok

• Goalkeeper
• Country: Türkiye
• Club: Besiktas

Mert Günok’s remarkable, last-minute stop against Austria has been hailed as “one of the greatest saves” after the Turkey goalkeeper’s vital intervention at Euro 2024.

Gunok leapt to his left to somehow keep out Christoph Baumgartner’s header right at the death in Leipzig to help Turkey hold on to a 2-1 lead.

The veteran shot-stopper ensured that his side set up a last-eight clash with the Netherlands, and drew immediate comparisons to a famous save from Gordon Banks at the 1970 World Cup. Günok is ahead of Altay Bayindir and Uğurcan Çakır in the pecking order for Turkey. The Besiktas goalkeeper has been in immense form the entire tournament and all eyes will be on him during their clash against the Netherlands.

Diogo Costa

• Goalkeeper
• Country: Portugal
• Club: FC Porto

Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa says he had the best game of his life against Slovenia on Monday night as he saved three penalties to send his team into the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.

After a goalless draw over 120 minutes of the last 16 clash in Frankfurt, Porto goalkeeper Costa produced three saves to thwart Slovenia’s three takers as his team claimed a 3-0 shoot-out win.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a penalty in extra-time, converted in the shoot-out along with Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva for Portugal, who face France on Friday in the last eight.

Costa also thwarted Slovenia striker Benjamin Sesko in the dying minutes of extra time, denying Slovenia a late winner which would have likely knocked Portugal out of the tournament.

Nico Williams

• Forward
• Country: Spain
• Club: Athletic Bilbao

The Athletic Bilbao winger gave us what was arguably the performance of the tournament so far with an eclectic display in Spain’s 1-0 victory over Italy, which secured top spot with a game to spare.

With such a direct and dynamic attacker in their forward line, plus young Lamine Yamal on the opposite flank, Spain look to have unlocked a new dimension. The two youngsters earned a well-earned rest for Spain’s dead rubber 1-0 win over Albania but will return to the starting XI against Georgia.

Giorgi Mamardashvili

• Goalkeeper
• Country: Georgia
• Club: Valencia

Georgia’s great performances at this year’s EUROs can partly be put down to some heroic goalkeeping from Valencia’s Mamardashvili, who has made more saves than any other ‘keeper at Euro 2024 and undoubtedly been the standout player in his position.

Georges Mikautadze

• Forward
• Country: Georgia
• Club: Club Metz

Mikautadze was the early Golden Boot frontrunner with three goals prior to being eliminated, having scored in every match so far, and has twice as many goal contributions as any other player, having also assisted Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with a perfectly weighted pass for the early sucker punch against Portugal.

N’Golo Kante

• Midfielder
• Country: France
• Club:Al-Ittihad

The European Championship is the only thing missing from Kante’s glittering CV and he looks in a determined mood to complete the set.

Les Bleus have stuttered in the group stage, failing to score themselves from open play and limping to underwhelming draws against the Netherlands and already-eliminated Poland. That resulted in them failing to top their group at a major tournament for the first time in the Didier Deschamps era, ending up in the tougher half of the draw.

They’ve been largely very solid at the back, thanks to Kante rolling back the years by scuttling back to protect the defence in vintage style.

Jude Bellingham

• Midfielder
• Country: England
• Club: Real Madrid.

In England’s opener against Serbia, Bellingham was the talisman, doing as he’s done so often for Real Madrid this season by throwing himself at the ball with a classic No.9’s header for the match-winning goal. It was a standout moment in an all-round exceptional individual display that earned him a man-of-the-match award.

He then topped that moment with an equaliser in the dying minutes of the game against Slovenia to save England’s blushes.

His sublime bicycle kick ensured that England took the game to extra time where they won 2-1 and progressed to the quarterfinals.

Should Bellingham and England go all the way, he will be a strong contender for the Ballon D’Or.

Jamal Musiala

• Forward
• Country: Germany
• Club: Bayern Munich

The German youngster started the tournament off with a bang opening his EURO account with a stunner against Scotland. He now has scored in three in four of Germany’s games at the EURO’s with his latest goal coming against Denmark in their 2-0 win in the last 16 round.

Musiala might just be Euro 2024’s most entertaining player and remains in the race for the Golden Boot.

Rodri

• Midfielder
• Country: Spain
• Club: Manchester City

The Manchester City midfielder was a little fortunate the penalty he gave away ultimately failed to result in Spain getting punished in the opener against Croatia. But he was otherwise pretty much flawless in the 3-0 victory before maintaining those outrageous standards in the 1-0 victory over Italy, arguably the best and most complete performance from any team so far.

Pulling the strings in midfield like that, it’s no wonder that Rodri (almost) never loses. He’s probably Spain’s most important player and the one inarguably world-class, best-in-his-position individual that they’ve got in their squad.

Toni Kroos

• Midfielder
• Country: Germany
• Club: Real Madrid

He may be one of the oldest players at this year’s EUROs, but he remains one of the best.

The era-defining midfielder boasts an irresistible narrative element that few players in the tournament can compete with. Kroos already enjoyed the perfect send-off to his club career by winning yet another Champions League and it could yet get even better.

Germany looking a completely different proposition with the 34-year-old back dictating the tempo. Julian Nagelsmann’s decision to convince him to come back for one last job could be the masterstroke of EURO 2024.

He comfortably leads the tournament for touches, passes completed and passes into the final third. Germany have a supremely tricky route to glory but if there’s one player that’s shown himself capable of stepping up on the big occasion – having done so in no fewer than six Champions League finals – it’s Kroos.

Cody Gakpo

• Forward
• Country: Netherlands
• Club: Liverpool FC

Gakpo was once again tremendous for the Netherlands in their last 16 game against Romania, opening the scoring and then assisting a goal in the second half. He epitomises the intensity, the purpose in playing and has scored his sixth goal in nine major tournament games. He had three goals in the 2022 World Cup. He’s now got three goals in Euro 2024.

Granit Xhaka

• Midfielder
• Country: Switzerland
• Club: Bayer Leverkusen

Switzerland will be desperately hoping Xhaka is fit for Saturday’s quarter-final with England as he has been in fine form at Euro 2024. The former Arsenal captain has been voted man of the match in two of Switzerland’s four matches, while he also shone in the win over Italy.

Lamine Yamal

• Forward
• Country: Spain
• Club: Barcelona FC

Lamine Yamal became the youngest Euros player ever when making his debut in the 3-0 win over Croatia, aged 16 years and 338 days.

Yamal also became the youngest player to lay on a Euros assist in that match and impressed against Italy, before starting from the bench versus Albania.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente said he was trying to ease the burden on the young star. Yet in the same press conference he said Yamal had been “touched by God’s magic wand”.

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