EURO 2024 – Every Nation’s Tournament Graded

I can’t believe how quickly EURO 2024 has flown by. My, it only feels like yesterday when England played boring football against Serbia. And Denmark. And Slovenia. And Slovakia. And-

Before I go off on a tangential rant, I’ve decided to do the same thing I did for the 2022 World Cup and rank every nation’s tournament performance based on expectations going into it.

You can check out some of my related blog posts below:

24 – Scotland

Grade: E

There was a lot of talk going into the tournament about how Scotland had the tenacity to make it out of their group – they did beat Spain in qualifying, after all. As an Englishman, all I can say is hahahahahaha …

They finished their group dead last. Hey, at least you qualified.

23 – Serbia

Grade: D

I thought Serbia were a shoe-in for the next round, possibly coming in second place behind England.

It was that loss against England that proved fatal, as they finished last in the most boring group of the tournament.

22 – Croatia

Grade: D+

Croatia were always going to struggle in the group of death, but many expected them to finish second over Italy. Hell, even third place with a convincing win over Albania would’ve been enough.

In the end, I think the squad’s age caught up with them.

21 – Italy

Grade: D+

The other team in the group of death with Spain, except Italy actually went through in second place. So far so good on their campaign towards retaining the EUROS.

They lost in unconvincing fashion to Switzerland in the Round of Sixteen, however, condemning them as one of the least impressive returning champions in recent memory.

20 – Ukraine

Grade: C-

I thought Ukraine were good enough to come second in their group, so in the end they got a bit unlucky by finishing bottom of a group where every team was tied for points.

Let this be a lesson to any professional team – goal difference could be the make or break.

19 – Hungary

Grade: C-

They beat Scotland, but the three points wasn’t quite enough to put Hungary through as one of the best third-place teams.

18 – Belgium

Grade: C-

Another tournament, another Belgium under-performance. We shouldn’t be surprised by this point.

They almost held France to extra time in the Round of Sixteen, but a late own goal sealed their fate.

17 – Czechia

Grade: C

Czechia finished bottom of a relatively weak group, but nobody expected much from them anyway.

16 – Poland

Grade: C

Yet again, nobody was expecting Poland to go through ahead of France, Netherlands and Austria. And they didn’t.

They got a draw against the mighty French, at least.

15 – Albania

Grade: C

Bottom of the group of death. At least Albania got a point out of it.

14 – Denmark

Grade: C

Denmark did okay, I suppose, but three draws in the Group Stage and a loss to Germany in the knockouts can’t have made for fun viewing if you’re a Dane.

13 – Slovenia

Grade: C+

Like Denmark, Slovenia made it through to the knockouts with three boring draws. But, unlike Denmark, not many expected them to get there.

They also held Portugal to a draw, and only lost on penalties. That 3-0 in the penalties has to be one of the worst shootout performances I’ve ever seen …

12 – Slovakia

Grade: C+

Slovakia were in that weird group where everyone had the same point totals, so they should thank their lucky stars that goal difference was enough to pull them through.

They almost beat England in the Round of Sixteen too if it wasn’t for a moment of Jude Bellingham brilliance.

11 – Romania

Grade: C+

Once again, Romania made it through to the knockouts on goal difference alone – their impressive win against Ukraine certainly helped.

They fell to a spirited Dutch side, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

10 – France

Grade: C+

It’s impressive how timid France were across the whole tournament.

They made it to the Semis with own goals and penalties alone, but they did make it to a game away from the Final at the end of the day.

9 – Portugal

Grade: B-

This was potentially Ronaldo’s last chance of attaining international glory once again … so it’s a shame he was one of Portugal’s worst players across the tournament.

They did well to make it to the last eight, but that France-Portugal goalless Quarter Final was woeful.

8 – Germany

Grade: B-

The host nation, and the team I predicted to win the whole thing. Suffice it to say, that prediction (along with many others) was quite wrong.

They did an excellent job in the Group Stage, and the knockout game against Denmark demonstrated some beautiful football, so it’s a shame Spain-Germany ended up being the Quarter Final and not the Final itself.

7 – Switzerland

Grade: B-

I don’t know how they do it, but Switzerland always seem to slightly exceed expectations at international tournaments.

They reached the Quarters this time around and only lost to England on penalties – not a bad feat at all.

6 – Austria

Grade: B

Many touted Austria as the dark horses going into the tournament, and I can absolutely see why – they topped their tough group whilst playing some unbelievable attacking football.

Unfortunately for them, they got knocked out from the Round of Sixteen by the real dark horses of EUROS 2024.

5 – Georgia

Grade: B

Considering EUROS 2024 was Georgia’s first time qualifying, they did extremely well to make the knockout stages – they even beat Portugal!

It’s a shame, therefore, how they got unceremoniously dumped from the competition courtesy of a Spain thrashing.

4 – Netherlands

Grade: B

Netherlands finished third in their group behind Austria and France, and many quickly wrote them off as tournament failures.

They managed to claw back some respect by making it to the Semi Finals in style, and only lost to a last-minute England winner.

3 – England

Grade: B

I’ll be completely honest with you all – as an Englishman, I’m ashamed to put my nation in the top three. They played some of the most boring football ever, and we were bailed out time and time again by individual moments of magic.

But those moments, like Bellingham’s overhead kick and Watkins’ winner against the Dutch, will live long in the memory of every England fan. And hey – another major international Final isn’t such a bad result!

2 – Turkiye

Grade: A-

I thought Turkiye would crash out of the Group Stage, so the fact they made it all the way to the Quarter Finals is nothing short of remarkable.

They played some fantastic football too – some of the tournament’s best goals and games came at the hands of the Turks.

1 – Spain

Grade: A+

Spain weren’t necessarily one of the favourites going into the tournament, but after a few exceptional performances many quickly predicted them to be the overall champions.

They impressed at every stage, and their young team including Williams and Yamal will surely be a major force at international tournaments to come.

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