This is how the Golden Boy winners performed in the Euro 2024
The Euro 2024 is now over, and the champions of Europe is Spain. Spain was also the best team overall, playing attractive and offensive football, and there is no doubt that everyone can agree that they are a worthy winner. This was their fourth European Championship title, and they are now the country that has most tournament titles.
Here we will go through how our previous Golden Boy award winners performed during this championship, and we will also take a look at how the candidates to win the award this year did as well (and they did do good!).
Golden Boy award winner’s performances in the Euro 2024
Below is our ranking of how all the previous award winners did in Germany, along with comments and some statistics.
Pedri, Spain - award winner 2023
The best performing Golden Boy were without a doubt Spain's Pedri. Not only was he part of the best team in the tournament, but he also played an important role in Spain’s success. In the first match, a 3-0 win against Croatia, Pedri assisted the 2-0 goal scored by Fabián Ruiz, and in the second match he was a starting player as Spain kind of humiliated Italy, even though they only won with 1-0. As Spain had already secured the group win, Spain let the substitutes play against Albania in the last group match, and Pedri was benched the whole match.
In the round of sixteen against Georgia he was back in the starting eleven again and played a good match as Spain won with 4-1 in the end. He was also a starting player in the quarterfinal against Germany, but unfortunately, he was injured there already in the eight minute when Toni Kroos tackled him hard. The knee injury he suffered from this made him miss the rest of the tournament, and it is still unclear how long he will be out.
Even though Pedri could not play the final matches for Spain in this tournament he was an important part of the team up to his injury. In total Pedri played 190 minutes, didn’t score but had assisted to one goal.
Jude Bellingham, England - award winner 2023
England made it all the way to the final, even though they didn’t really play that well, but they wouldn’t have made it there without Jude Bellingham. The expectations on the Real Madrid star were sky high ahead of the start of the tournament, but to be honest he didn’t really live up to those expectations, but he did score two very important goals for England.
His first goal was the winning goal in the first group stage match against Serbia, the only goal of the match. His second goal was even more important though. In the round of sixteen England really struggled with Slovakia and were losing 0-1 and looking to be eliminated when Bellingham stroke with a bicycle kick in the 95th minute(!), bringing the game to extra time where England won after a goal by Harry Kane.
However, apart from scoring those important goals for England, Jude Bellingham was not as good as everyone expected and English fans hoped for. He did also have an assist to Cole Palmer’s equaliser in the final against Spain but still everyone expected so much more from Bellingham.
Kylian Mbappé, France - award winner 2017
Another player entering this tournament with enormous expectations on him was Kylian Mbappé, but he also did not do that well, compared to expectations at least. Mbappé is a bit excused though since he broke his nose in the first group stage match against Austria, something that inhibited him later in the tournament.
Because of the broken nose Mbappé rested in the second match against the Netherlands, but he was back wearing a mask to protect his nose in the third match against Poland. It was also in this match that he scored his only goal in this tournament on penalty.
Apart from the penalty goal against Poland Mbappé also had two assists in the tournament, but he never reached the heights we are used to see him on. And neither did France as a team. Even though they made it all the way to the semifinal, where they lost against Spain, France was not playing well in this tournament. Defensively they were strong, but offensively they were kind of awful to be truthful, and a big reason for that was that Mbappé underperformed.
João Felix, Portugal - award winner 2019
This was not a tournament to remember for João Felix. Due to fierce competition among the attacking players Felix did not get much time on the pitch, and when he was on it, he didn’t leave any mark to remember. In total he came on as a substitute in two matches and played 105 minutes in total. Portugal was knocked out on penalties in the quarterfinal against France.
Matthijs de Ligt, Netherlands - award winner 2018
Unfortunately for Matthijs de Ligt he didn’t get a single minute playing time in this tournament, despite that the Netherlands made it all the way to the semifinals, where they lost against England. It is of course not easy to out compete defenders like Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Aké, but surely de Ligt had hoped for some playing time.
Performances of the candidates to win Golden Boy award this year
As one can see above there were none of the previous Golden Boy award winners that outperformed in this European Championship, and the fact is that some of the players nominated for this year’s award actually were better. We go through them all here, ranking them by performance.
Lamine Yamal, Spain
Spains Lamine Yamal was 16 years old when the tournament started and turned 17 the day before the final, and what is remarkable is that he was one of the very best players in this Euro championship. He did win the Young Player of the Tournament award handed out by UEFA, and even though his teammate Rodri won the Player of the Tournament he must for sure have been in the discussions for that award too.
Yamal scored one goal in this tournament, in the semifinal against France, and as he scored he was only 16 years and 362 days old, thus by far being the youngest player ever to score in a European Championship. Apart from his goal he also assisted to four goals, more than any Spanish player have done in a Euro ever before.
He started the match in six matches, the only one he didn’t start in was the last group stage match but came in as a substitute in that match instead. Yamal’s achievement in this tournament has been remarkable, and only the god knows how good this player can become. One thing is for certain though, he has drastically improved his chances to grab the Golden Boy award already this year, despite his young age.
Arda Güler, Türkiye
It wasn’t sure if the Real Madrid player Arda Güler would be a starting player in the Turkish team ahead of the tournament, he did however get a chance in the starting lineup against Georgia in the first group stage match and boy did he grab his opportunity. Not only did he score a beautiful goal, he also was awarded the Player of the Match award. Despite this he was not in the starting eleven in the second match against Portugal, a match they lost with 0-3, but he was a starting player in the rest of the matches.
Türkiye was one of the biggest positive surprises in this tournament with a very attractive and fast-paced football, and Arda Güler was one of the big reasons they could do that. In total he played 342 minutes and apart from his goal, he also assisted to two others. Simply a great tournament for Güler and he is only 19. He has been considered a super-talent for a while now, and surely the bigger football crowd could see why in this tournament.
Kobbie Mainoo, England
19-year-old Englishman Kobbie Mainoo was not expected to be a starting player in this tournament for England, and he was also benched in the group stage. He did come on as a substitute in the opening match against Serbia without making any major impression.
However, as England struggled through the group stage with getting their attacking game to function, he did a splendid job when he came on as a substitute in the final group stage match against Slovenia. His performance there earned him a starting eleven spot all through the knock-out phase matches, including the final.
Sure, Mainoo neither scored or assisted in the tournament, but it was clear to see that this guy will be an important part of England’s midfield in the future.
Kenan Yıldız, Türkiye
We continue with another Turkish player, the forward Kenan Yıldız. As well as with Arda Güler, it wasn’t certain that he would be a starting player, but he did get his chance in the opening game against Georgia. Same as for Güler, he was benched against Portugal but came on as a substitute, and then was a starting player in the rest of the matches.
Yıldız neither scored nor assisted to any goals, but he played all matches and a total of 347 minutes, and despite not being directly involved in any goals, everyone could see what a talented player he is. With the two 19-year old talents in Güler and Yıldız, it is clear that Turkish football has a bright future.
The others…
As reported in our article ahead of the Euro, both Frenchman Warren Zaïre-Emery and Belgian Arthur Vermeeren where part of their countries squads, but neither of them got any playing time in this tournament.