Winners: PortugalCristiano Ronaldo’s touchline exploits, substitute Éder’s shot, the hosts’ agony – a pulsating evening in Paris on 10 July climaxed with Portugal hoisting aloft the first major trophy in their history. Team of the TournamentRui Patrício; Kimmich, Boateng, Pepe, Raphaël Guerreiro; Kroos, Joe Allen; Griezmann, Ramsey, Payet; Ronaldo. Who makes your Team of the Year?
France forward Antoine Griezmann received his award as the UEFA EURO 2016 Player of the Tournament ahead of his nation’s European Qualifier against Bulgaria. The 25-year-old Atlético Madrid forward finished the tournament with six goals and two assists as the hosts reached the final, losing out to Portugal. However, UEFA’s panel of technical observers still
Only 15 of the 51 matches at UEFA EURO 2016 were won by the team that enjoyed a greater share of possession. ©Getty ImagesAVERAGE POSSESSIONGermany 63% (reached semi-finals)Spain 61% (round of 16)England 59% (round of 16)Switzerland 58% (round of 16)Ukraine 56% (group stage)Hungary 54% (round of 16)Russia 53% (group stage)France 52% (runners-up)Portugal 52% (winners)Sweden 52%
After UEFA EURO 2012 produced an average of 2.45 goals per game and the two previous EUROs both yielded a very similar figure of 2.48, the eye-catching statistic to emerge from the first 24-team final tournament was that only 69 goals were scored in the 36 group matches, producing an average of 1.92 per game.
The diversity of team shapes at UEFA EURO 2016 did little to obscure a common denominator. In midfield, Sergio Busquets (Spain), Eric Dier (England), Milan Škriniar (Slovakia), William Carvalho (Portugal) and, more often than not, Oliver Norwood (Northern Ireland) supplied comparatively rare examples of single screening midfielders. Other teams preferred to use two controlling midfielders
What proportion of passes for each team was long?Northern Ireland 28%Iceland 22%Republic of Ireland 21%Czech Republic 20%Wales 18%Albania 17%Turkey 17%Hungary 16%Romania 16%Russia 16%Slovakia 16%Sweden 16%Croatia 15%Italy 15%Poland 15%Ukraine 15%Austria 14%Belgium 14%Portugal 13%England 12%Germany 12%Switzerland 12%France 11%Spain 10% “There were the odd exceptions,” said former Aalborg, Aarhus and Viborg coach Peter Rudbak, “but, in the matches
Highlights: Germany v Ukraine At UEFA EURO 2008, 46% of the open-play goals stemmed from counterattacks. Since then, awareness of the damaging potential of fast transitions has reshaped match strategies among the coaching fraternity. By UEFA EURO 2012, the effectiveness of fast breaks had been halved to 23% and, this summer in France, this lower
The official UEFA EURO 2016 website has been nominated for two categories in the sixth Annual Lovie Awards: If you have a minute then please vote via the links above – preferably for us. Voting closes on 22 September, with the winners announced on 27 September. There were over 300 million visits to EURO2016.com and the
Having confirmed his new four-year contract as Portugal coach – a deal that will take him to the end of his side’s UEFA EURO 2020 campaign – Fernando Santos pledged to stick to the same guiding ethos: winning. Less than a fortnight after steering Portugal to their first major final tournament success, Fernando Santos joined
22/06: Hungary 3-3 PortugalA fixture that had it all: shock factor, end-to-end action and brilliant goals. Zoltán Gera started it all, fizzing in a low half-volley. Nani levelled before half-time, but soon after the restart Balázs Dzsudzsák made it 2-1. Ronaldo became the first player to score in four EURO tournaments with a lovely back-heeled