Euro 2024 has reached the quarter-final stage, with 86 per cent of matches having been played. Yet our collective memories of this tournament are only just beginning to be formed. The moments that will linger longest are far more likely to occur at the end of the knockout stage.

That is exciting — the final seven games will be laced with narrative, with every kick documented and remembered. But what of the 44 games which went before, and the performances that decorated them?

At The Athletic, we think it is important to document the players who lit up the early stages of the tournament. So let us take you through our best XI made up of players who, while excellent, missed out on a place in the quarter-finals.

Arguably the breakout star of the tournament, the 23-year-old Valencia keeper was totemic for Georgia on their run to the knockout stages.

Yes, Mamardashvili may have conceded more goals than any other goalkeeper in the tournament so far, but that is a blinkered view. He has also prevented far more goals than any other stopper — from the quality of shots faced, Georgia would have been expected to concede 12 goals, yet he conceded only eight — saving his team a goal per game on average.

There is more. He was proactive from crosses with the fourth-highest claim rate at the tournament and made twice as many saves as any other goalkeeper. In the 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic, he prevented 2.19 goals in the first half alone.

If anything, the biggest challenge has been dealing with the praise he received after Georgia’s group stage games.

“No, it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t easy,” he told reporters at Georgia’s camp. “But I’m ready for that. I have to play at this level and I’m going to keep playing like this.”

Right-back — Vladimir Coufal (Czech Republic)

Just two right-backs have produced more than 10 shot-creating actions. The leader is no surprise: Germany and Bayern Munich captain Joshua Kimmich, with 17. But in second, with 14, and having created more opportunities per 90 minutes? West Ham United’s Coufal.

In a tough campaign for West Ham last season, Coufal remained one of the club’s on-field leaders. At 31, it might have been expected that his attacking output would wane, but the slightly slower speed at international level has allowed him to thrive.


Coufal thrived in Germany (Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

The Czechs struggled in possession but did have success moving the ball down the flanks and, with crosses to Patrik Schick their main route to success, Coufal was an integral part of their attacking game plan.

His was a fun redemption story as well having been dropped last season for visiting a nightclub while on international duty. Austria’s Stefan Posch (Bologna) was also excellent.

It was a strange tournament for Denmark. They failed to win a game but, at points, looked incredibly cohesive and were unfortunate to go out to Germany after falling foul of two tight VAR decisions.

Their defence was one of the best in the tournament, with Andersen the pick of the centre-backs.

The Crystal Palace defender completed 249 of his 300 passes for the highest total distance in Denmark’s team, and produced more shot-creating actions than any other defender on his side.


Andersen celebrates… only for his goal to be ruled out against Germany (Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)

He was desperately unlucky against Germany. First, he appeared to have given Denmark a surprise lead with a fine finish on the turn only for Thomas Delaney to be adjudged offside by a toe. Two minutes later, David Raum’s cross flicked him on the arm from close range as he appeared to be running normally — but on VAR review, referee Michael Oliver awarded the penalty.

Yet those two moments should not detract from a fine tournament.

Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Milan Skriniar, who had an excellent tournament for Slovakia, was another compelling option.

Calafiori probably provided the only optimistic note from Italy’s turgid campaign. The defender has quite the story, having torn every ligament in his knee while in Roma’s academy, and then being converted from full-back to centre-back by Thiago Motta at Bologna.

At 22, his past as a full-back means he plays centre-back in a modern yet old-school way — loving to advance the ball through dribbling, before possessing the ability to find a pass through the lines. Only John Stones, Marc Guehi and Skriniar made more distance through carrying.

It is also striking that, during a tournament where coach Luciano Spalletti constantly tinkered, Calafiori was one of the only ever presents despite his late inclusion in the Azzurri squad. He has flowers (fiori) in his name and is justifiably receiving them.


Calafiori was a rare Italian ever-present (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

Left-back — David Hancko (Slovakia)

Left-back was a surprisingly strong area at Euro 2024.

As well as his defence only conceding two goals all tournament, Serbia’s Andrija Zivkovic produced nine passes into the penalty area. That was the highest of any defender not named Kimmich. Romania’s blue-haired Andrei Ratiu, a Brighton target, also had an excellent tournament until coming up against Cody Gakpo in the knockouts.

But the choice here is Slovakia’s David Hancko, whose influence is gathered not so much in statistics as much as in gameplay.

The left-back was one of Slovakia’s most crucial players. At times, he was a third centre-back (the position he plays for Feyenoord), a midfielder in build-up play, and an outlet high on the left.

He was crucial to Slovakia’s rearguard against Belgium, the creator of their goal against Ukraine, and unlucky not to score against England. Hancko has the rare ability to excel in both carrying and passing — a little like Calafiori — and a big move could not be too far away.


Hancko moves in to challenge Bukayo Saka (Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)

Central midfield — Nicolas Seiwald (Austria)

There was a real temptation here to pick Luka Modric, whose 34 passes into the final third are more than any other player who has already exited the competition despite playing one game less than some of his competitors. His goal against Italy should have dragged Croatia into the knockout stages.

But the choice is Austria’s Nicolas Seiwald, who simply got through so much hard work in Ralf Rangnick’s intense pressing system.

Seiwald won the joint-most tackles in the tournament (alongside team-mate Stefan Posch), won more interceptions than any other midfielder and covered the most distance of any player aged under 23.

He also did that without committing a single foul. For context on how impressive that is, Posch was responsible for 10.

The RB Leipzig midfielder is more known for his defensive work, but amid Austria’s transitional game plan, he has shown the ability to spring attacks from deep. He averaged almost two key passes per match, placing him in the top 15 per cent of midfielders at the tournament.

The Napoli fulcrum’s qualities will have been no secret to regular Serie A watchers, but this was his breakout tournament at international level.

The 29-year-old loves dropping deep between his centre-backs to receive the ball and kickstart Slovakia’s play — but that was not all.

Capable of screening the defence and creating space with shuffling feet on the edge of the opposition area, he is the quintessential modern No 6 and would start for most sides at the Euros. His pass completion percentage (93.8 per cent) is the seventh-highest in the tournament, but is allied with ambition. Of the players above him, only German centre-back Jonathan Tah’s passes have produced a higher total distance.


Lobotka announced himself on this stage in Germany (Inaki Esnaola/Getty Images)

Lobotka was titanic against Belgium, Ukraine, and England — running over a kilometre more than any other player in that last-16 tie — and plays larger than his 5ft 6in (168cm). He has covered the second-most distance in the tournament, hitting 50km over his four matches.

The most expensive Slovakian of all time, the player himself has talked up the prospect of joining Barcelona this summer. The ball-playing Lobotka and the ball-winning Seiwald constitute a lovely midfield combination.

Right wing — Dennis Man (Romania)

Man was the star of Romania’s unlikely Group E-winning campaign.

The Parma winger was key to the win against Ukraine — check out his dribble into the area to set up Denis Dragus, consisting of old-school tricky feet and an accurate cut-back. His performances were in keeping with his style more generally given he was near the top of the Serie B figures for both progressive carries and successful take-ons last season.

He managed two assists against Ukraine alone, and created three clear chances overall.


Romania’s main Man (Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)

The most expensive player ever to be sold from the Romanian league, his country are strong on the right with Ianis Hagi brought in for their final group game against Slovakia. Man was restored to the starting line-up for the 3-0 loss against the Netherlands and caused Nathan Ake problems on several occasions during the first half. The Manchester City defender has otherwise had a fine tournament.

Albania’s Jasir Asani also impressed, often dropping into midfield during build-up play while retaining the ability to offer an outlet.

It was an interesting tournament for Eriksen, and the context of his last Euros, in which he collapsed during Denmark’s opening game after suffering a cardiac arrest, cannot be forgotten. His return was dreamlike, scoring Denmark’s opening goal of the tournament with a fine finish.

Denmark’s tournament sputtered in attack after that, although not for Eriksen’s want of trying. But for two tight VAR calls, they could well have beaten Germany, with Eriksen’s first-half take-down and shot one of the greatest individual skills seen this month.


Eriksen laments elimination (Jussi Eskola/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Despite Rasmus Hojlund’s profligacy, Eriksen has managed more key passes than any other player at the tournament while his 26 shot-creating actions are second only to Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne. He was also over half a second quicker, on average, than any other player in the tournament to release a progressive pass — a truly staggering margin.

The final thing to reflect on is his relative lack of competition. Austria’s Marcel Sabitzer was the other option, but he has more played off the left, with relatively few teams still playing with a No 10, mimicking club trends. The formation adopted by the Danes may well be different in four years’ time.

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What a delightful player. Technically, he has been playing as a second striker, though he typically drifts over to the left to find space so it seems fair to pick here. And can there be any quibbles over his inclusion?

First, the statistics: his 17 carries into the final third have been comfortably the most in the tournament. He scored the goal that set Georgia on their way to their greatest win. His ball recoveries per 90 minutes are higher than every other forward.

But then there is the subjective evidence. His performance against Portugal in Georgia’s final group game comes closest to that of Spain’s Nico Williams against Italy for the individual display of the tournament. He plays the game with sheer joy and low socks.

The opposition knew he was Georgia’s main man, but could not stop him. What’s more, he brought his team-mates into play.

Speaking of which: who had Slovakia winger Ivan Schranz and Georgia’s Mikautadze in their sweepstake for the tournament’s top scorer?

It is great to see Mikautadze playing like this; he has endured a turbulent season. Last summer, he moved from Metz to Ajax for €16million (£13.6m; $17.2m) but, amid dysfunction in Amsterdam, failed to score before falling out of favour. He subsequently returned to Metz on loan and hit form with 13 goals and four assists in 20 Ligue 1 games.

That was the form he brought into the Euros where he has comfortably outperformed his xG total and scored in all three of Georgia’s group stage games, as well as assisting Kvaratskhelia for the opener against Portugal.

An old-school striker who loves to dribble and take his man on, he is also adept at holding the ball up to bring Georgia’s wing-backs into play, before sprinting into the box himself.

The morning after Georgia exited the competition, he rejoined Metz permanently for €13m.

(Top photos: Getty Images)



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