Euro 2024 has been a tournament of ups and downs for many reasons. On the one hand, it has been a thrilling rollercoaster of drama and entertainment, with underdog stories, rising stars and goals galore. But on the other, many view this tournament as one to forget due to underperformance and fatigue.
The group stage of Euro 2024 was non-stop thrills, with upsets happening pretty much every day. Plus, the emergence of fan favourites Romania and Georgia added to proceedings, meaning even traditionally ‘worse’ games had an added element of interest due the form of the teams.
But England’s Group C was the lowest-scoring group in Euros history, while France also struggled to dazzle fans and scored only one goal in open play.
With that in mind, here are NetBet’s biggest let downs of the tournament…
5 – Scotland
Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army were confident coming into the tournament despite a difficult group. Spirits were high and their talented roster of players had hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage for the time in their history.
But an opening 5-1 defeat to Germany brought them back down to earth with a thud and they never really picked up from there. An impressive draw with in-form Switzerland followed but in their final group game, Scotland were condemned to finish rock bottom after a Hungary winner in the 10th minute of added time.
It was a real shame for the Scottish fans who deserve recognition, as always, for their devoted support. But we feel confident that Scotland will bounce back in the near future.
4 – Belgium
Looking to recover from the perceived failure of their ‘Golden Generation’, a fresh-faced and rebuilt Belgium side aimed to compete for the Euro 2024 title. However, new manager Dominic Tedesco seemingly did not have the time to imprint his tactics on the squad as the Red Devils exited the tournament in the last 16 with only one win and two goals to their name.
Key players such as Premier League stars Leandro Trossard and Jeremy Doku failed to make the desired impact, while record scorer Romelu Lukaku did not have luck on his side either, scoring three goals which were all disallowed by VAR. Captain Kevin De Bruyne tried his best to drag the team over the line, but even he could not galvanise his colleagues.
It leaves us thinking if Belgium really had a ‘Golden Generation’. Or was it just primarily down to having a prime Eden Hazard?
3 – Portugal
Many people’s favourites to win the tournament after the group stage, Portugal crashed out in disappointing fashion after losing to France on penalties. In what will likely be the last Euros in which Cristiano Ronaldo plays, so many fans were rooting for them to go all the way.
However, they seemingly could not find the gear needed to live up to pre-tournament expectations. Manager Roberto Martinez will despair as he watches the potential of yet another country’s ‘Golden Generation’ go unfulfilled.
We are sure they will be back stronger but we expected big things from this Portugal team, as so many did.
2 – Kylian Mbappe
It is tough to call probably the world’s best player a flop, especially as we are big fans of Mbappe. But this time around it seemed that his head was somewhere else and the competition did not have his full focus.
His recent transfer to Real Madrid may have been a distraction and after he broke his nose in the group stage, he did not look the same player and was even substituted in their quarter-final clash with Portugal.
Comments made to the press about the quality of his team-mates was also not a good look for the superstar, who will leave Germany feeling there was more he could have done.
1 – Retirees
This entry is not so much a flop for the players, as all represented themselves and their countries magnificently, as always.
Instead, this is a flop for the fans and one that deserves to be at the top of the list. The fact that we are losing Luka Modric and Thomas Muller from international football – and Toni Kroos from the game completely – is a crushing blow for lovers of the beautiful game.
They will be sorely missed and the sight of them being knocked out from the tournament in floods of emotion, is enough to bring a tear to anyone’s eye. But we still have the memories of these truly world-class players and we are sure they will be remembered for years to come.
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