Who is the best striker left at Euro 2024?
We’re at the semi-final stage of Euro 2024 and it’s been a strange tournament for strikers.
Despite 108 goals being scored at the tournament so far, the top scorers are all level on just three goals. And none of them are actual strikers.
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The tournament promised a lot in its strikers, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Robert Lewandowski all looking to lead their teams to glory. Ronaldo won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020, scoring five goals, but ended this summer’s tournament with a blank. Lukaku suffered the same fate, while Lewandowski scored one penalty.
So, of the four teams left, who has the best striker?
4. Alvaro Morata
It feels as though Alvaro Morata is marmite for a lot of football fans. If marmite was liked by just a handful of people, and disliked by everyone else. The Spaniard gets a lot of stick for his performances at club and international level, because he isn’t a traditional goalscoring striker. Sure, he is capable of scoring, as shown by his 36 goals for Spain, but Morata is used more as a nuisance for opposition defences, with his teammates joining in the goalscoring.
Morata has played 310 minutes for Spain at Euro 2024 so far, yet to complete a full match. Even when Spain went to extra-time against Germany, he came off 10 minutes from the end of normal time, when La Roja were leading. Morata scored in Spain’s opening game, a 3-0 win over Croatia, keeping his cool in what could have been a pressure situation. Overall Morata has averaged 3.19 shots per 90 minutes, hitting the target with 1.16 of those. His finishing has been good though, upping with a +0.13 difference between his Expected Goals and Expected Goals on Target.
3. Harry Kane
Everything was pointing towards Harry Kane having a good tournament. He scored six goals at the 2018 World Cup, four at Euro 2020 and two at the 2022 World Cup. He also had a fantastic first season at Bayern Munich, scoring 44 goals in 45 games across all competitions, even if it ended in no trophies. Scoring for fun in Germany, Kane was surely going to continue that at Euro 2024.
Kane has scored two goals at Euro 2024, 40% of England’s total in what has been a low-scoring tournament. Both of his goals have been big chances, scored from five in total. But the problem has been that he isn’t getting himself in goalscoring positions. Kane is averaging just 2.91 shots per 90 minutes, the lowest of the four strikers on this list. And he isn’t creating enough chances to make up for playing in a deeper role, with 0.78 per 90. There have been calls for him to be dropped by Gareth Southgate, which should tell you how the tournament is going.
2. Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe was a lot of people’s Golden Boot tips. If it wasn’t going to be Kane, it would be Mbappe. The Frenchman had won another Ligue 1 Golden Boot with 27 goals in 29 matches, adding another seven assists in what turned out to be his final season with Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappe was directly involved in nine more goals than any other player in Ligue 1 and securing his dream move to Real Madrid.
Like England, France have had a very poor goalscoring tournament at Euro 2024. Les Bleus have scored just three times so far, with two being own goals. The third was scored by Mbappe, from the penalty spot in their group stage draw with Poland. Mbappe has missed one game due to his broken nose, but averages 4.81 shots per 90 minutes and 1.93 on target. Even with the penalty taken out, Mbappe averages a higher xG per 90 minutes than the other players on this list at 0.47 and an open-play xG of 0.42 per 90.
1. Memphis Depay
Memphis Depay doesn’t have a club, leaving Atletico Madrid at the end of his contract this summer. He struggled with injuries and for playing time, amassing 1,205 minutes across all competitions. In that time, Depay scored nine goals with three in five matches in Copa del Rey — two coming against CD Lugo. He is closing down Robin van Persie as Netherlands men’s leading goalscorer, netting 46 goals in 97 games.
One of those goals came at in the group stage, albeit in the 3-2 defeat to Austria that condemned Netherlands to third. Depay is averaging 3.59 shots per 90 minutes, but only 0.63 of those have hit the target, the lowest on this list. Where Depay makes up for it though is his creativity, more of an all-round striker. He has created 2.11 chances per 90 minutes and has recorded an assist, from an xA of 0.25 per 90.
