The impact of injuries, unstable performance and lack of luck meant that many of Europe’s top stars failed to perform impressively in the group stage.

Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who is playing in his sixth European Championship, has yet to score in three games.

Kylian Mbappé, the best player in the world, has only scored 1 goal from a penalty, in the disappointing 1-1 draw between France and Poland. Before that, he missed good opportunities in the 1-0 win over Austria and then missed the game against the Netherlands with a broken nose.

Polish star Robert Lewandowski was unable to take part in the 2-1 loss to the Netherlands due to a thigh problem. After that, he played mediocre when he came on as a substitute in the 1-3 loss to Austria. This forward only scored 1 goal from a penalty in the 1-1 draw with France, but that was not enough to help his team get a ticket to the next round.

English star duo Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane scored just 1 goal each in the group stage, despite showing great form for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich last season.

“Not every player will shine in every game,” England coach Southgate shared about the performance of his two students.

Two other stars, the Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and the Englishman Phil Foden, also failed to score a goal in the group stage, after impressive seasons with Atlético de Madrid and Manchester City.

Belgium’s all-time top scorer, Romelu Lukaku, also did not score a goal in the group stage. He played very hard, but he was unlucky and put the ball in the opponent’s goal three times, but the VAR denied him.

Veteran Luka Modric, 38, a key player in the Croatian national team’s impressive achievements in recent years, scored a goal against Italy. Overall, though, he didn’t leave much of an impression, resulting in the Croatian team being eliminated early.

In particular, in 36 EURO 2024 group stage matches, there were 7 own goals, representing 26% of the 27 own goals in the history of the tournament.

In a context in which the biggest stars do not shine, many unexpected names have left a strong mark in the group stage of EURO 2024.

N’Golo Kante is proving to be a key player for the French team despite moving to Saudi Arabia a year ago, while young talent Jamal Musiala has emerged as a shining star for the German team ahead of veteran stars Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan and. Kai Havertz.

Striker Niclas Fuellkrug scored 2 goals for the German team as Musiala, helping the home team to finish first in Group A, thus avoiding strong teams in the 1/8 round. In addition, forward Ivan Schranz of Slovakia, Razvan Marin of Romania and Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands also scored 2 goals each in this year’s EURO.

The top scorer of the current tournament is Georges Mikautadze of Georgia, with 3 goals, 2 of them from penalties.

Or like the Spanish team, it is the only team that won all the group stages and is considered a strong candidate for the championship. However, their two best players since the start of the tournament, Fabián Ruiz and MarcCucurella, were not highly rated before the tournament.

With 15 matches remaining at EURO 2024, starting from round 1/8, fans are still waiting for the biggest stars to put in memorable performances.