Euro 2024 saw some of the best players in world football take to the field in an attempt to bring international success to their respective nations. Some caught the imagination and elevated their performances to new heights, while others failed to deliver on the pre-tournament hype.
Spanish youngsters Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams announced themselves as two of the biggest stars on the planet, while Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to meet the lofty expectations set for them before a ball was kicked.
That said, Spanish publication Marca have named the ‘worst XI’ at the biggest international tournament of the summer. Several Premier League stars feature in the below team after struggling to cope with the bright lights in Germany.
Goalkeeper and Defenders
Dominik Livakovic, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Gianluca Mancini, Andres Christensen, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Dominik Livakovic of Croatia was one of the better-performing goalkeepers at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Unfortunately, the Fenerbahce shot-stopper was unable to keep the ball out of the net as consistently as he did two years prior. Livakovic conceded six times in only three matches as Luka Modric and co were eliminated before the knockout rounds.
Italian duo Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Gianluca Mancini failed to live up to the old guard of The Azzurri’s backline. Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Paolo Maldini will have felt ashamed to watch the leaky nature of the Italian defence at Euro 2024.
Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen and Arsenal full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko made up the final part of the backline in this XI. Denmark and Ukraine were seen as teams the bigger nations would need to look out for, but that didn’t transpire as both were sent home by the end of the round of 16. Christensen and Zinchenko failed to stand up and be counted as two of the more experienced members of their respective teams.
Midfielders
John McGinn, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Dominik Szoboszlai
Premier League stars John McGinn and Dominik Szboszlai both feature in the engine room of this XI. The two men faced each other as Hungary and Scotland were drawn in the same group, although neither made it to the knockout rounds.
The Liverpool man came out on top in that game despite being rather anonymous individually in his nation’s three matches. With the weight of expectation and responsibility of donning the captain’s armband at such a young age, Euro 2024 may have come too soon for the Hungarian to show his true form.
McGinn, meanwhile, was nowhere near the level he set in the qualification process. Scotland were one of the most disappointing countries at the tournament and McGinn failed to register a single goal contribution despite being used in a more advanced role in Steve Clarke’s side.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed to Germany after putting in some strong performances during his debut season at Al-Hilal. The midfielder won the Saudi Pro League with his new team but was unable to continue his success at international level. The 26-year-old struggled to get a foot-hold in Serbia’s group matches as they crashed out at the first hurdle.
Attackers
Dusan Vlahovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the entire competition was Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite being 39 years old, the Portuguese superstar still sets himself ridiculously high standards and, as a result, he leaves himself open to criticism when he doesn’t reach those heights.
Ronaldo started every game at Euro 2024 as Roberto Martinez showed incredible faith in the top goalscorer in football history. Unfortunately, his previously God-like displays in front of goal looked to be a thing of the past as the Manchester United and Real Madrid icon failed to score outside of penalty shootouts as his nation crashed out in the quarter-finals.
Serbia were penned as potential dark horses with the firepower of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic supplied by Dusan Tadic. Mitrovic may feel lucky to miss out on this XI as his strike partner has been included in the front three of the ‘worst’ team at Euro 2024. Both men failed to find the net, but the Juventus attacker was perhaps slightly more underwhelming in his three appearances.
Romelu Lukaku may feel slightly unfortunate to be included in this side as the Belgian had the ball in the back of the net three times during the group stages. However, the Chelsea striker was caught marginally offside on all three occasions and ended the tournament with no legitimate goals to his name. He’s expected to be in the Golden Boot races in these international competitions, but Lukaku flattered to deceive in an all-round poor Belgium campaign.
