France, Germany and Spain stars make Euro 2024 Group Stage Best XI
With the Euro 2024 group stage now complete, we’ve taken a look at the standout performers from the last two weeks of action in Germany. Represented in our Team of the Group Stage of those to have started at least two games are Georgia, Germany, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia) - 7.75
One of the stories of the group stage was Georgia qualifying for the round of 16 in what is their first ever major international tournament. Crucial to his side making it out of Group F was Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, whose 9.25 WhoScored rating against Czechia marked the best performance of the competition thus far.
Joshua Kimmich (Germany) - 7.39
Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich makes our XI having turned in strong performances for the hosts at right-back. Indeed, only Turkiye’s Ferdi Kadioglu created more chances from open play (10) throughout the group stage than Kimmich (9).
Pepe, the oldest player to ever feature at a European Championship, remarkably makes it into our XI, having shown no signs of his (relatively) old age in Portugal’s wins over Czechia and Turkiye. The Porto man was characteristically solid in every aspect, and won possession 15 times across both matches.
Slovenia centre-back Jaka Bijol ended the group stage campaign as the highest rated player in Group C, which featured England’s embarrassment of riches and a strong Denmark side. The Udinese defender helped his side to qualify from the group with a draw in each match, and an impressive clean sheet against England on Tuesday evening.
Luis de la Fuente’s Spain were the only side to win all three of their matches in the group stage, and one player who has impressed under the 63-year-old is Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella. The former Brighton man was given the nod over the in-form Alex Grimaldo, and turned in fine displays in wins over both Croatia and Italy.
With a WhoScored rating of 8.39, Spain midfielder Fabian Ruiz is our Euro 2024 Player of the Group Stage. The PSG man both scored and assisted in the opening victory over Croatia, while he also won back possession in the attacking third more times (7) than any other player.
Anchoring our midfield like he does Germany’s is Toni Kroos, who looked every bit the elite midfielder he still very much is, despite his impending retirement. The 34-year-old boasts the record for the most accurate passes in a single match at this summer’s tournament: the 124 he made in the win over Hungary.
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) - 7.60
Rounding off our midfield is Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne, who was in strong form throughout the group stage, despite his side’s largely lacklustre displays. The Manchester City man made 11 key passes across the three matches, while he also netted in the 2-0 victory over Romania.
Jamal Musiala (Germany) - 7.77
One of the stars of the tournament so far has been Germany’s Jamal Musiala, who netted in each of the hosts’ two group stage wins against Scotland and Hungary. Musiala also managed four key passes and nine successful dribbles, while only Khvicha Kvaratskhelia won more ground duels (21) than the Bayern attacker (20).
Despite a broken nose ruling him out of France’s goalless draw with the Netherlands, Les Bleus captain Kylian Mbappe makes our Team of the Group Stage following a strong performance against Poland. Across both group games he started, the 25-year-old fired off 10 shots on goal and completed nine successful dribbles, while he also converted from the spot in Tuesday’s draw with Poland.
Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) - 7.80
Liverpool attacker Cody Gakpo ends the group phase as the second highest rated player at Euro 2024 having scored for the Netherlands against both Poland and Austria. In all, the 25-year-old managed seven shots, eight key passes and five successful dribbles to return a 7.80 WhoScored rating.
