The latest edition of the UEFA European Championships, Euro 2024, will take place this summer in Germany, with a host of the typical international heavyweights set to go head to head for silverware.
Aside from the main battle to be tournament winners, there will as usual be a fight between numerous standout individuals to earn the Player of the Tournament award.
Gianluigi Donnarumma claimed the award in EURO 2020 as his consistent shot-stopping and penalty shootout heroics were vital to Italy’s successful run.
This time around it is unlikely that a goalkeeper will be termed the competition’s greatest performer, and instead, some outfield stars from the leading teams are set to be in the running.
Harry Kane
England has a remarkable overall team but Harry Kane is without doubt their most impactful player. He is the record all-time goalscorer for the Three Lions despite regularly offering a creative presence to bring others into play too.
Gareth Southgate’s side are outright favourites heading into EURO 2024 across most major bookmakers. This suggests Kane could have a strong chance of finally tasting success in the form of team silverware, as well as boosting his CV with further individual awards.
BetVictor for example offers England at 10/3 to be the eventual winners and like many mainstream odds makers they will offer a plethora of markets and Euro free bets on the competition this summer.
Most betting sites offer markets focused on the outcome of each group and the progression of specific nations throughout the tournament besides the outright odds. A stake in any market could return bet credits up to the value of £40 for those who sign up to SpreadEx or BetVictor.
Perfect afternoon! Gotta keep this momentum up 🙌 pic.twitter.com/M46KuNBDfb
— Harry Kane (@HKane) March 9, 2024
Kane’s team are fully expected to go all of the way to the final in continental Europe and that is without doubt partly due to his Bundesliga record-threatening club form ahead of the summer’s headline event.
Over his first 25 league appearances, he averaged 1.2 goals per game for Bayern Munich. If he can carry that level of form into the tournament then the award for the greatest performer should be his for the taking.
Kylian Mbappe
France is the nation that is expected to pose the greatest threat to Southgate’s England.
The most likely final matchup is predicted to be between Les Bleus and the Three Lions at odds of 8/1, which means the standout player of EURO 2024 will likely come from either of the two camps.
France have won every single game under Kylian Mbappe's Captaincy 🤩🔥 pic.twitter.com/ultU67A8t3
— Mbappe Era. (fan) (@KMbappeEra) March 8, 2024
France’s greatest shout at a potential Player of the Tournament winner is Kylian Mbappe, who like Kane is the team’s most influential player in attack.
The Paris Saint-Germain star scored nine goals and put up five assists in eight appearances throughout the EURO qualifying campaign. If he can have a similar goalscoring and creative impact at the competition proper then he could be his country’s most impressive player in Germany.
Mbappe and Kane are both strong picks to potentially win the prestigious individual prize especially as they will captain the two EURO 2024 frontrunners. The direction the award goes could ultimately depend on which team wins the competition, as throughout the history of the award a member of the champions has always received it.
It is tough to see anybody outside of England or France becoming champions of Europe, and that would mean Kane or Mbappe would surely claim the award – they are the faces of their teams and any success will be spearheaded by them.
The published material expresses the position of the author, which may not coincide with the opinion of the editor.