Insights gained from the group stage of Euro 2024 football
The football group stage of Euro 2024 has concluded, revealing numerous insights from the tournament thus far.
Football: We’ve witnessed stunning long-range goals, quicker VAR decisions, and a recurring theme of own goals, reminiscent of the last Euros. England’s inconsistent performances in the group stage have also provided plenty of talking points. As we head into the knockout stages, BBC Sport examines five key insights already gleaned from the action at the Euros.
England is currently experiencing challenges in their offensive play
England’s forward lineup featuring Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, and Bukayo Saka was anticipated to regularly find the back of the net. However, their goal-scoring has been limited, with only two goals scored so far: Bellingham’s header in a 1-0 victory over Serbia and Kane’s goal in a 1-1 draw with Denmark.
Among the 24 nations competing in Euro 2024, only Serbia has scored fewer goals than England, managing just one in a 1-1 draw with Slovenia. In contrast, Germany leads with eight goals, followed by Austria with six, and Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey all with five each.
Gareth Southgate’s team cannot claim to have created numerous scoring opportunities either, having registered only 29 shots, placing them 20th among the 24 nations. Scotland, who have already been eliminated, recorded the fewest shots with 17, while Germany, who defeated Scotland 5-1 in the tournament opener, leads this statistic with 57 shots.
England has had only 53 touches in the opponents’ penalty area, which is less than half of France’s total of 112. However, despite France also scoring just two goals (an own goal and a penalty), they have shown more activity in the attacking third compared to England.
However, it’s not all negative for England.
However, on the positive side, England has demonstrated solidity in defense.
Throughout their three games, the Three Lions conceded only one goal, matching Spain as the only team to maintain three clean sheets.
Scotland faced a tougher challenge defensively, conceding seven goals, with five of those coming from their match against Germany. Poland and Croatia also exited the tournament after conceding six goals each during the group stage.
Among the teams advancing to the Round of 16, Turkey, who conceded five goals, have faced the most defensive challenges and suffered the joint-second heaviest defeat with a 3-0 loss to Portugal.
France, Belgium, and England are the top-ranked European nations in the FIFA rankings, holding second, third, and fifth positions, respectively. However, statistically, they have been among the less dynamic teams in the tournament.
All three nations scored twice and conceded once, matching the eliminated Serbia in terms of total goals scored across their three matches.
Premier League offside decisions might soon be faster
In the Premier League, VAR delays during offside decisions have often been lengthy, but Euro 2024 indicates improvements may be on the horizon.
Semi-automated offside technology is set to debut in England’s top flight for the 2024-25 season, following a successful trial in Germany. This advancement eliminates the need for VAR officials to manually draw lines to determine offside, as seen in the quick decision regarding Romelu Lukaku’s disallowed goal for Belgium against Romania, which took only 48 seconds.
However, the technology doesn’t resolve all issues. For instance, when the Netherlands had a goal ruled out against France, it still took nearly three minutes and sparked controversy. Such decisions remain subjective in football, as officials must assess factors like whether a player interfered, a process unaffected by technological advancements in speed.
There has been a notable trend of late goals and stunning long-range strikes
Since Florian Wirtz’s powerful long-range strike opened Euro 2024 for Germany against Scotland, the tournament has been defined by spectacular goals.
Already, there have been more goals scored from outside the penalty area than in the entire 2022 World Cup, totaling 14 in 36 matches compared to 13 in 64 World Cup games. This tally includes Samet Akaydin’s unfortunate own goal from long distance against Portugal.
Not only have goals come from distance, but they have also been notably late in matches. The nine goals scored in stoppage time thus far equal the record set at Euro 2016, and this has occurred with 36 out of 51 matches played.
Furthermore, Hungary’s decisive goal against Scotland in normal time set a new record for the latest-ever goal in regulation at the Euros, arriving in the 100th minute.
Germany, in particular, has been prolific in stoppage time, netting three such goals already, the highest by any football team in a single European Championship tournament.
Own goals have unexpectedly played a significant role in shaping the golden boot race at Euro 2024.
At Football Euro 2024, there’s been a notable trend of own goals impacting the tournament. So far, there have been seven own goals scored during the group stage alone, just one shy of the record set at Euro 2020, which saw the highest number ever recorded.
Before the tournament in Germany, only 20 own goals had been scored throughout Football European Championships history, with 11 of those occurring in the previous edition.
Interestingly, the overall goal count has been lower compared to Euro 2020, with 81 goals scored during the group stage at Euro 2024, compared to 94 at the last tournament.
Despite the own goals and lower overall goal count, the race for the golden boot remains competitive. Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze currently leads with three goals, while five other players are tied with two goals each.
