Euro 2024 was a strange tournament in many ways. It started with a bang, fell to a hush midway through and built its way back to a crescendo, with Spain overcoming England in the final. The best team won and we can’t always say that about major tournaments.
The hosts kicked things off in Munich by beating Scotland 5-1 (still the highest-scoring game), but other pre-tournament favourites struggled to get going. France, blessed with the most talented squad and regular finalists in recent years, were not nearly as exciting as Georgia, the lowest-ranked team of the 24. England, the other great contenders before a ball was kicked, were dreadfully dreary at times and yet also gave us some of the tournament’s most memorable moments: Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick, Jordan Pickford’s bottle-assisted penalty save and Ollie Watkins’ late winner against the Netherlands.
It was certainly unpredictable. Who had Austria v Turkey down as an instant classic? Who thought there would be 10 own goals? Who foresaw a 16-year-old scoring the goal of the tournament? And who expected Watkins to win the player-of-the match award in a semi-final having touched the ball just four times? Gareth Southgate was booed by his own fans during the group stage but was touted to become a knight of the realm before the final.
For all the great moments, the football felt pedestrian at times. The best players often looked tired, perhaps drained by the relentless schedule. Harry Kane sums it up: he looked exhausted throughout yet won a share of the Golden Boot.
Did you enjoy it? Was the football high-quality? Were there too many teams and too many games? Where will Euro 2024 rank in comparison to other major tournaments of the past? Does any of that even matter, or did you only care about the end result for your team?
If you were in Germany, we would love to hear about your experiences on the road. There were spectacular scenes – Dutch fans brought the colour in their street parties and bright orange doubledecker bus – but there were also issues, with fans brawling and the authorities struggling to cope with the numbers of supporters. Perhaps the problems around fan behaviour and local infrastructure did not deter you from travelling to the final. If you made a last-minute dash to Berlin, we want to hear from you.
And, if you could sum up this tournament in one word, what would it be?
