Recap of the EURO 2024 Group Stage

by Connor Niles

With the end of the group stage of the 2024 UEFA European Championship it's time to look at how each group turned out, which teams impressed and which didn’t, and who to look out for in the knockout rounds.  

Group A ended how many would expect, with Germany topping the group with 7 points, followed by Switzerland with 5. Hungary just missed out on the knockout round with 3 points, and Scotland placed in last with just 1 point. Germany were dominant in their first two games, scoring 8 goals and conceding one and then ending the group stage with a 1-1 draw with Switzerland. 

Group B, debatably the hardest group with three top ten teams from the FIFA world rankings, concluded with Spain and Italy advancing, which means the end of Croatia and Albania’s EURO 2024. In Croatia’s last group stage match, they led Italy by a goal after 90 minutes. But in the eighth minute of added time, Mattia Zaccagni equalized for Italy, taking the second place knockout spot from Croatia. Croatian veteran Luka Modric, who both scored and missed a penalty in that game, was heartbroken by the defeat. At the top of the group, Spain were absolutely dominant in their three games and did not concede any goals. Spain looks like they could be the favorites to go all the way in the tournament.

Group C was an interesting group with England being the only team to win a game. Denmark and Slovenia both ended with 3 draws, and Serbia finished in last with 2 points. Out of the top two spots, England advanced with 5 points and Denmark with 3 points. Due to their goal differential, Slovenia also advanced by being a top four third place team.

Group D ended with Austria on top with 6 points and France in second with 5. Netherlands qualified through the third place qualification with 4 points. Lewandowski and Poland’s EURO came to a quick end with only 1 point in the group stage. Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer’s 80th minute winner against Netherlands secured Austria the top spot. France took second place despite only scoring two goals, neither of which came from open play. A Maximilian Wöber own goal carried France to a 1-0 win versus Austria, and a Kylian Mbappé penalty got France the point they needed against Poland to get them through to the knockout stage.

Group E was a crazy group as all four teams finished with four points. Romania and Belgium both qualified with +1 goal differential, and Slovakia qualified through the third place qualification. Ukraine was eliminated despite having more points than two teams in the tournament that advanced.

Group F finished with Portugal in first with six points and Türkiye in second, also with six. Georgia qualified with four points through the third place qualification system, and Czechia ended their tournament with only one point.

In terms of individual performers, the leading scorer in the group stage was Georges Mikautadze from Georgia with three goals. Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz led with the best average match rating (8.6/10). Despite only one player scoring more than two goals, there have been seven own goals from the group stage and nine goals ruled out by VAR after review.

Looking back on each team’s first three games, the favorites look to be Germany and Spain with three solid performances each. With Round of 16 wins, they would match up in the quarter-final. England and France on the other hand, who were both projected favorites before the tournament, seem to be struggling. Each team only scored two goals in their first three games. Will they turn it around or could we see the two most expensive teams in the tournament make an early exit?