2024-07-09 10:28:51
At Euro 2024, the fight continues not only for the championship title, but also for the title of the best scorer. As reported by İdman.biz with reference to “Championship”, the quartet of the leaders of the sniper race have only three goals each. The best situation is for the winger of the Netherlands national team Cody Gakpo, who will still play in the tournament. For Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia) and Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), the European Championship is already over. And how many did the best scorers score at previous Euros? As a rule, more than modern goalscorers – let’s recall history.
Euro 1960: Victor Monday, Valentin Ivanov (both – USSR), Milan Galic, Drajan Erkovic (both – Yugoslavia), Francois Ett (France) – 2 goals each
The final part of the first European Championship consisted of only four matches – two semi-finals, a game for third place and a final. The USSR team won gold, and two of our footballers shared first place in the list of top scorers. Valentin Ivanov from Torpedo scored twice against Czechoslovakia in the semi-final, and Viktor Ponedelnik from Rostov SKA scored a goal each against the Czechs and Yugoslavia (the winning one) in the final.
Euro 1964: Ferenc Bene, Dezső Novak (both Hungary), Jesus Pereda (Spain) – 2 goals
At the next European Championship, the final stage of the tournament was held according to the same principle – four teams played four matches. In the final, Spain defeated the USSR (2:1), and the scoring was opened by Jesus Pereda from Barcelona. Before that, he scored in the semi-final against the Hungarians, and also the first goal. The authors of the two goals for the Hungarian team were Ferenc Bene from Újpest and Dezső Novak from Ferencváros.
Euro-1968: Dragan Dzic (Yugoslavia) – 2 goals
The European Championship in Italy, which went down in history with the defeat of the USSR team in the semi-final due to a coin toss. Four teams played in the final stage again. The Italians beat Yugoslavia in the decisive match after a replay, and the only player to score two goals was Dragan Džajic from Crvena Zvezda.
Euro-1972: Gerd Müller (Germany) – 4 goals
At Euro 1972, the USSR team again made it into the quartet of participants in the final stage. Our team lost to the West German team in the final – 0:3. The legendary Bayern striker Gerd Müller (the best scorer in the history of the Germans before Miroslav Klose) was unstoppable: he scored twice in the semi-final against the hosts, the Belgians, and scored two more goals against the Soviet team.
Euro-1976: Dieter Müller (Germany) – 4 goals
The 1976 European Championship went down in history because all four matches in the final stage went into extra time. There were many goals, and the scoring baton was taken over from Gerd Müller by his namesake Dieter. The Cologne striker scored a hat-trick in the semi-final against Yugoslavia and scored one goal in the final against Czechoslovakia, which the Germans lost on penalties after the famous Panenka strike.
Euro-1980: Klaus Allofs (Germany) – 3 goals
The first European Championship to feature a group stage in the finals. Eight teams formed two quartets, with the winner, runner-up and third-place finishers playing four games each. Fortuna Düsseldorf striker Allofs scored a hat-trick against the Netherlands in the group stage, enough to become the top scorer.
Euro 1984: Michel Platini (France) – 9 goals
The home Euro 1984 became a triumph for the future UEFA president. Platini scored nine (!) goals (including only one penalty) in five matches. The Juventus midfielder scored one goal against Denmark in the group stage, and then made a hat-trick in matches with Belgium and Yugoslavia. In the semi-final with Portugal and the final with Spain (2:0), Michel scored another goal. The last of them turned out to be the “golden” one.
Euro 1988: Marco van Basten (Netherlands) – 5 goals
The hero of Euro 1988, where the USSR team reached the final, was Milan striker Marco van Basten. In the group stage, he scored a hat-trick against England, and then scored crucial goals in the decisive playoff matches. In the semi-final, van Basten’s goal against the hosts, the Germans, became the winning one. And in the final against the USSR (2:0), Marco created a masterpiece. Many still consider his goal against Rinat Dasayev to be the best in the history of Euro.
Euro-1992: Henrik Larsen (Denmark), Karl-Heinz Riedle (Germany), Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands), Thomas Brolin (Sweden) – 3 goals each
The 1992 European Championship brought a miracle – a victory for the Danish national team, which was not supposed to go to that tournament at all. But the top scorers’ race had four winners. Three goals each were scored by midfielder Henrik Larsen from Pisa and forwards Karl-Heinz Riedle from Lazio, Dennis Bergkamp from Ajax and Thomas Brolin from Parma. In the semi-finals, Larsen and Riedle scored twice against Holland and Sweden, respectively.
Euro 1996: Alan Shearer (England) – 5 goals
Euro 1996 was the first tournament in which 16 teams played. Four groups of four teams, and then a playoff – starting with the quarter-finals. Thus, the winner and the finalist played six matches each. But the top scorer was a representative of England, which was eliminated in the semi-finals. Blackburn forward Alan Shearer scored a goal each against Switzerland and Scotland in the group stage, scored twice in the match against Holland, and scored against Germany in the semi-finals.
Euro-2000: Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Savo Milosevic (Yugoslavia) – 5 goals each
At Euro 2000, the top scorer’s trophy was shared between forwards Patrick Kluivert of Barcelona and Savo Milosevic of Zaragoza. In the group stage, the Dutchman scored a goal against Denmark and France, while the Yugoslav scored two goals against Slovenia and one each against Norway and Spain. In the quarter-finals, Holland and Yugoslavia played each other. Milosevic scored again, but his team was routed 1-6, largely thanks to Kluivert, who scored a hat-trick.
Euro 2004: Milan Baros (Czech Republic) – 5 goals
At Euro 2004, the Greeks surprised everyone by winning gold. But the European champions scored little (only seven goals in six matches), and the top scorer was a player from another team – Liverpool striker Milan Baros. The Czech goalscorer scored a goal each against Latvia, Holland and Germany in the group stage. In the quarterfinals, he added two more goals against the Danes, but he was unable to break through Greece’s ironclad defense in the semifinals.
Euro-2008: David Villa (Spain) – 4 goals
The 2008 European Championship was dominated by the Spanish. The national team of this country won the Euro gold for the second time in history, and Valencia striker David Villa became the top scorer. Moreover, he scored almost all of his goals in the first round against the Russian national team – he scored a hat-trick! And in the second round he put another goal into the gates of Sweden. In the playoffs, the Spanish managed without goals from Villa.
Euro-2012: Mario Mandzukic (Croatia), Mario Gomez (Germany), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Alan Dzagoev (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain) – 3 goals each
Euro 2012 was as unproductive for snipers as the current European Championship. Six players finished the tournament with three goals. It’s nice that one of them was a representative of Russia – CSKA midfielder Alan Dzagoev. Although our team didn’t even make it out of the group. Dzagoev scored two goals against the Czech Republic in the first round, and upset Poland in the second.
Euro 2016: Antoine Griezmann (France) – 6 goals
At Euro 2016, which was home to the French national team (24 teams played in the final stage for the first time), as at Euro 1984, the hosts had a super-scorer. Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann won the marksmanship competition with six goals. Moreover, he scored only one goal in the group stage – against Albania. But already in the 1/8 finals, Griezmann scored twice in the match against Ireland. Then he scored a goal in the quarter-final against Iceland and scored another double in the semi-final against Germany.
Euro 2020: Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 5 goals each
At the previous Euro 2020, Cristiano Ronaldo also scored. In the race for the best scorers at that time, the Juventus striker shared first place with Patrick Schick from Bayer. In the group stage, Ronaldo scored in matches against Hungary (twice), Germany and France (twice again). Schick, in turn, scored against Scotland (twice) and Croatia. Cristiano remained silent in the playoffs, while Patrick scored against the Netherlands in the 1/8 finals and Denmark in the quarterfinals.
Who will join the list of top scorers in the European Championships after the current tournament?
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