Spain and England are gearing up to face off in the final of Euro 2024, with both nations dreaming of being crowned champions of the continent at the end of a month-long feast of football.
La Roja have been the most impressive team in the tournament throughout, winning all of their matches and negotiating a particularly challenging route to Berlin by beating Croatia, defending champions Italy, hosts Germany and hotly-tipped France along the way.
England, meanwhile, took a long time to hit their stride in Germany, limping through the group stages before requiring late goals to equalise against Slovakia and Switzerland, and then firing in a late winner against Netherlands to book their place in the final.
While each of those moments have provided unforgettable highlights for England fans, which will ultimately live longer in the memory than the team's all-round performances throughout the tournament, until the win over Netherlands, it felt like Gareth Southgate's side were one of a number of teams to have failed to live up to their billing at Euro 2024.
France were another, reaching the semi-finals without one of their own players even scoring from open play, leading some to suggest that this summer's tournament has been one of the worst in memory.
With that in mind, here Sports Mole explores some of the statistical data behind Euro 2024 and compares it with the other major international tournaments from the 21st century.
Has Euro 2024 been the worst major tournament in memory?
After a promising start to the tournament when hosts Germany defeated Scotland 5-1 on the opening day of Euro 2024 - the biggest margin of victory for any side in the opening match of the European Championship - some have felt the rest of the competition has been a let down.
For instance, finalists England have only managed to accumulate an average of 0.93 xG per match, which is less than the 1.14 xG, 1.08 xG and 1.03 xG per match that relegated Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United achieved in the 2023-24 Premier League season.
However, other tournaments such as the Qatar World Cup were also criticised for an apparent dullness, while Euro 2020 was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
As such, it might be an unfair characterisation to label Euro 2024 as the worst tournament ever, especially when many have been critical of other recent international tournaments.
GROUP STAGE
The group stage of Euro 2024 was regarded by some as exciting and most importantly entertaining.
However, with 81 goals scored during this phase of the competition at a rate of 2.25 goals per game, this ranks as the second-lowest return of any European Championship this century, with only Euro 2016 averaging worse with 1.92 goals per game.
As for World Cups, only the 2010 iteration in South Africa averaged less with a record of 2.1 goals per game.
On face value, it would seem fair to suggest that Euro 2024 has failed to deliver in terms of entertainment value during the group stage, but it must be pointed out that in some other tournaments there have been high scoring games that have arguably skewed their perception.
For instance, though the Qatar World Cup averaged more goals per game than Euro 2024, matches such as England's 6-2 victory against Iran and Spain's 7-0 triumph over Costa Rica masked the large number of goalless draws at the competition.
Indeed, World Cup group matches ended in either a goalless draw or a 1-0 victory on 15 occasions in Qatar, 14 times in 2018, 13 times in 2014, 19 times in 2010, 13 times in 2006 and 11 times in 2002.
Meanwhile, at Euro 2024 there were only four goalless draws and six 1-0 wins in the group stage.
For reference, there were 10 such matches at Euro 2020 and 14 in Euro 2016, the two other European Championships that have featured 24 teams.
The group stage of Euro 2024 might not have been the most entertaining in terms of goal return, but it is difficult to argue that it has been the worst this century.
ROUND OF 16
As for the round of 16, the eight matches produced 19 goals, a figure which is the joint-lowest record at a 24-team European Championship in the 21st century, but one that is higher than the same stage at World Cups in 2002, 2006 and 2014.
However, while the round of 16 was not particularly high scoring, xG data suggests that around 24 goals should have been scored, and perhaps poor finishing from the likes of Benjamin Sesko against Portugal can be blamed for lower scorelines rather than the matches being inherently boring.
Having said that, it should be noted that teams such as France and England were undoubtedly hard to watch, with the pair producing just four shots on target and three big chances between them in 210 minutes of football.
Indeed, Les Bleus required an own goal to make it past Belgium, while the Three Lions were seconds from elimination against Slovakia before Jude Bellingham's stoppage-time equaliser rescued the eventual finalists.
The other matches in the round of 16 were largely more entertaining, with Georgia taking an unexpected 1-0 lead against finalists Spain before succumbing to unrelenting pressure and eventually losing 4-1.
In that fixture, Spain had 35 shots as well as 13 on target, and while other teams like Turkey had fewer shots given they had to defend for large periods against Austria, the frenetic nature of their display was enough to make for an exciting clash.
QUARTER-FINALS
The quarter-finals could definitely have been more exciting, with just seven goals being scored across the four games.
For context, this is the lowest-scoring last eight at any Euros in the 21st century, although it should be mentioned that it was higher scoring than the 2014, 2006 and 2002 World Cups.
Additionally, matches between Netherlands and Turkey as well as Germany and Spain were entertaining clashes, but were perhaps overshadowed by the dissatisfaction at the safety-first approach of England and France.
Indeed, Les Bleus and the Three Lions once again bored viewers with uninspiring displays, and together only mustered six shots on target in 180 minutes of regulation time.
To add to this, the two sides only managed to create a combined 1.22 open play xG prior to extra time, and it is increasingly clear that the particularly dull performances of Gareth Southgate's and Didier Deschamps's teams have dampened Euro 2024's potential to excite fans.
More positively, Spain and Germany played out an enthralling match in which the sides managed 18 and 23 shots respectively.
Additionally, the finalists had 28 touches in Germany's box while the host nation had 45 in Spain's.
For reference, France managed just 25 touches in the opposition box in their quarter-final against Portugal, while England had 37 against Switzerland, who are ranked 19th in the world.
SEMI-FINALS
The semi-final clashes produced six goals, which is the second most in a European Championship in the 21st century, and since 2000 this figure has only been bettered at the 2014 and 2022 World Cups.
However, it should be noted that all eight of the goals scored in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals occurred in Germany's 7-1 victory against hosts Brazil, while the other semi-final was a goalless draw that was decided by penalties.
As for the games themselves, both finalists had to come from behind in order to reach the final and this made for entertaining viewing.
In Spain's case, they managed to impressively overcome France thanks to goals from youngster Lamine Yamal and attacker Dani Olmo.
The first half was a particularly exceptional display of attacking brilliance from Luis de la Fuente's side, with Les Bleus struggling to deal with the directness and intricacy of the Spanish midfield and attack.
Yamal's curling effort was also the moment when the Barcelona teenager truly announced himself on the world stage, and his performance on Tuesday has many wondering if there has ever been a 16-year-old as impactful as him.
As for England, after the Netherlands took the lead thanks to Xavi Simons many thought the Three Lions would crumble, but to their credit they were able to raise their performance level on Wednesday night.
In fact, their xG figure of 1.25 was the highest they achieved in a 90-minute match at Euro 2024 so far, although it should be noted that Harry Kane's penalty contributed considerably to this value.
Regardless, the nature of the Netherlands' more chaotic playstyle meant that Southgate's side were able to produce moments of genuine quality, and while their performance was far from perfect, it did mark a substantial step forward and contributed to a somewhat more entertaining match for fans.
OVERALL
Statistically, it is fair to say that Euro 2024 has not been the most entertaining international tournament in the 21st century, but it has by no means been the dullest.
It would perhaps be fairer to say that good performances and entertaining clashes have almost been overshadowed by the lacklustre displays of major nations such as France and England, who despite the talent at their disposal have bored fans with their risk-averse playstyles.
However, entertaining performances from teams like Spain have in some ways redeemed the competition and salvaged it from being labelled as the most boring tournament this century.
body check tags ::
