Spain clinched the European Championship title for a record fourth time on Sunday as the La Roja beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Nico Willians and Mikel Oyarzabal scored defining second half goals for Spain, and although England fought back with an equaliser from Cole Palmer in the 73rd minute, Spain were in control of the majority of the match.
Spain have been a side in transition over the last few years and it seems like the team’s efforts in producing young and exciting talents have paid off. Having said that, quite a few awards were given out to the standout performers of this edition of the European Championship. Lamine Yamal, who only turned 17 years old on Saturday, was named the Euro 2024 Young Player of the Tournament, whereas Rodri, another Spaniard, won the Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament award.
🇪🇸 Spain are champions of Europe 🏆#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/Ch0AF0iPWl
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) July 14, 2024
Yamal, who plays for Barcelona in the Spanish LaLiga, assisted four times in Euro 2024, while scoring Spain’s opening goal in the semi-final against France. With that goal against France, Yamal, who was 16 at that time, became the youngest-ever scorer in the history of the Euros.
As far as the Golden Boot award is concerned, six players were tied on three goals each and it was confirmed that each of the six players would share the Golden Boot. These players are England’s Harry Kane, Spain’s Dani Olmo, Cody Gakpo of Netherlands, Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze, Germany’s Jamal Musiala and Ivan Schranz of Slovakia.
At Euro 2020, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo had won the Golden Boot despite being tied with Czechia’s Patrik Schick on five goals. This was because Ronaldo had scored an assist whereas Schick had failed to do so during the tournament. The rule of awarding Golden Boot to a player with most assists if he is tied with other players on goals was scrapped by the tournament organisers, with UEFA confirming on Friday that the award would be shared in case of a tie.
Here’s a quick look at the full list of Euro 2024 award winners:
Golden Boot (Shared): Harry Kane (England), Dani Olmo (Spain), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Jamal Musiala (Germany) and Ivan Schranz (Slovakia) — Three goals each
Golden Glove: Mike Maignan (France)
Euro 2024 Young Player of the Tournament: Lamine Yamal (Spain)
Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament: Rodri (Spain)
Euro 2024 Player of the Final: Nico Williams (Spain)