There is no doubt that the latest edition of the European Championship was unique for many different reasons. Understandably, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the tournament since UEFA decided to expand the number of teams allowed and there could be an argument for both sides as to how effective this has been.
On one side, it has given the opportunity for, perhaps ‘lesser’ teams to be able to showcase their ability, when they maybe would not have been able to do so and, at the same time, there is an argument that this has led to ‘less exciting’ football on display, due to the defensive brand of football that the countries of a lower profile would play, thus making it harder for countries of a higher profile.
Nevertheless, the European 2024 Championship made headlines for many reasons, with multiple record being set, which, if you carry on reading, you will learn more about!
Youngest Player & Goalscorer: Yamal Is Your Man
Coming into the tournament, Barcelona’s 16-year-old teenage sensation was seen as a bit of a ‘secret weapon’, however, he was a regular starter for eventual winners Spain, scoring a wonder goal on their way to final, becoming the youngest player to score in the tournament at 16 years and 362 days.
Lamine Yamal is the youngest player ever to feature in a EURO final at 17 years and 1 day ❤️💛#EURO2024 | #ESPENG pic.twitter.com/miSclGW5vZ
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 14, 2024
However, he had already set a previous record in Germany a couple of weeks earlier, becoming the youngest player to score in the tournament at 16 years and 338 days.
Oldest Player: Evergreen Pepe Pulls Up Roots
At 41 years and 130 days, Portugal and Porto centre-back, Pepe became the oldest ever player to appear at the tournament, in addition to being a regular and, still important starter in the heart of his country’s defence.
Even at his age, he showed that he can still compete at the best and kept some of the most feared attackers in the world in check as his country only just came up short against France in the last eight, losing on penalties.
Oldest Goalscorer: Mod Strikes Rich For Croatia
At an amazing 38 years and 289 days, Croatia’s talisman, Luka Modric became his country’s oldest goalscorer during ‘Euro 2024’, proving that he can still do it at the highest level.
🇭🇷 Luka Modrić makes it again… going to Euro 2024 with Croatia.
🏆 2006 World Cup
🏆 Euro 2008
🏆 Euro 2012
🏆 2014 World Cup
🏆 Euro 2016
🏆 2018 World Cup
🏆 Euro 2020
🏆 2022 World Cup
↪️🏆 Euro 2024Legend of the game. pic.twitter.com/nUSl4sZF8U
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 22, 2023
While Croatia were some way off from nearing their accomplishments in previous recent international tournaments, Modric gave an excellent account of himself and his goal against a tough Italy side shows he really does not have anything left to prove.
No Penalties Required
For the first time in tournament history, an impressive Spain side became the first team to not need a penalty shootout to win the trophy, having won in 90 minutes against England after taking the lead, before being levelled against and then sealing the win in the last 10 minutes.
Most Cards In A Match: Czech Mate
The group game between the Czech Republic and Turkey produced the highest number of cards of any previous tournament, with 17 yellow and two red cards being issued, as Turkey went on to win 2-1, with the deciding goal coming in the fourth minute of second-half injury time.
As such, five yellow and two red cards were issued to the Czech Republic along with 11 in total to Turkey.
Fastest Goal: Balkan Brisk
In just 23 seconds, Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest-ever goal to be scored in the history of the tournament for Albania in their group game against Italy, taking advantage of a weak throw from Federico Dimarco to Alessandro Bastoni to pounce and score against a bewildered Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Bastoni equalised 10 minutes later, before Nicolo Barella added what turned out to be the winner on the 16th minute as Italy took all three points.
Record Attendance: It’s A Bit Crowded In Here
The latest edition of the tournament also set the record of having the highest number of people to attend games, with 2,681,288 fans turning out over 51 matches, which translates to 52,574 per game.
What should be factored in here though, is that compared to the vast majority of other tournaments, is that there was a higher number of teams, while also, being held in Germany (central Europe), it could well be that it was easier for a larger number of people to get to.
In addition to this, the country is well-renowned for having one of the best infrastructures in Europe. At the same time, it is also considerably sizeable in terms of land-mass and perfectly capable of hosting a major international football tournament, as it showed during the 2006 World Cup.
Goals Galore
Having scored 15 goals throughout the tournament, winners Spain, who were easily the best team to watch consistently, achieved the record of the highest number of goals ever scored in the tournament and, from a record number of contributors, which came to 10 players. They included Álvaro Morata, Dani Carvajal, Dani Olmo, Fabián Ruiz, Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, Mikel Merino, Mikel Oyarzabal, Nico Williams and Rodri.
As such, it was a 24-year-old record held by the Euro 2000 winners France who had a total of nine.
This underlined the highly impressive strength of the winners, who many people had written off prior to the tournament, though showcased their talent in supreme style throughout.
Stalemate Surprise
What may have become apparent to most people during the tournament is that the football wasn’t exactly the most exciting (Spain, and perhaps hosts, Germany being an exception) and this may not come as much of a surprise.
In fact, Italy, who won it previously, became the record holder for the highest number of draws from a team in the tournament, with 19, while England is in second place with 16 stalemates.
Winning Streak
It may not come as a surprise to most, though Spain became the record tournament winners this time around, with four now under their belt.
It will be interesting to see how this young side performs in four years’ time, with clearly a lot of promise throughout the squad, while the World Cup in two years will also be a great test.