UEFA European Championship awards


At the end of each UEFA European Championship tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game.

Awards

There are currently five post-tournament awards, and one given during the tournament:
  • the Player of the Tournament for best player, first awarded in 1996;
  • the Top Scorer Award for most prolific goal scorer;
  • the Young Player of the Tournament for best under 21 years of age at the start of the calendar year, first awarded in 2016;
  • the Man of the Match Award for outstanding performance during each game of the tournament, first awarded in 1996;
  • the Team of the Tournament for best combined team of players at the tournament.

    Player of the Tournament

The Player of the Tournament award is presented to the best player at each edition of the UEFA European Championship since 1996.
UEFA published on its website the Player of the Tournament in 1984, 1988 and 1992. The winners were Michel Platini, Marco van Basten and Peter Schmeichel, respectively. However, these winners are unofficial.
Due to Schmeichel's award in 1992 being unofficial, Gianluigi Donnarumma was the first goalkeeper to officially win the award, at UEFA Euro 2020.
EditionPlayerRef.
1996 England Matthias Sammer
2000 Belgium/Netherlands Zinedine Zidane
2004 Portugal Theodoros Zagorakis
2008 Austria/Switzerland Xavi
2012 Poland/Ukraine Andrés Iniesta
2016 France Antoine Griezmann
2020 Europe Gianluigi Donnarumma
2024 Germany Rodri

Young Player of the Tournament

The Young Player of the Tournament award is presented to the best player in the tournament who is at most 22 years old. For the UEFA Euro 2016, this meant that the player had to have been born on or after 1 January 1994. The award was first given out in 2016.
EditionPlayerAgeRef.
2016 France Renato Sanches18
2020 Europe Pedri18
2024 Germany Lamine Yamal17

Goal of the Tournament

The "Goal of the Tournament" is an honorary award selected by UEFA's technical observers. The award was first awarded at 2016.
EditionPlayerOpponent
2016 France Xherdan Shaqirivs Poland
2020 Europe Patrik Schicksecond goal vs Scotland
2024 Germany Lamine Yamalvs France

Top goalscorer

Between the years 1960 and 2008, and since 2024, the Golden Boot has been awarded to the top goalscorer of each edition of the UEFA European Championship.
From 2012 to 2020, the number of assists contributed by players was used as a tie-breaker if more than one player scored the same number of goals, with fewest minutes played used as a further tie-breaker if required.

Statistics (1960–2024)

Man of the Match Award

The Man of the Match award picks the outstanding player in every game of the tournament since 1996.
EditionPlayerAwards
1996 England Karel Poborský3
2000 Belgium / Netherlands Thierry Henry3
2004 Portugal Michael Ballack
Milan Baroš
Wayne Rooney
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Theodoros Zagorakis
Zinedine Zidane
2
2008 Austria / Switzerland Andrey Arshavin
Wesley Sneijder
David Villa
2
2012 Poland / Ukraine Andrés Iniesta
Andrea Pirlo
3
2016 France Cristiano Ronaldo
Antoine Griezmann
Eden Hazard
Andrés Iniesta
Dimitri Payet
Renato Sanches
Granit Xhaka
2
2020 Europe Sergio Busquets
Federico Chiesa
Denzel Dumfries
Harry Kane
Romelu Lukaku
Leonardo Spinazzola
2
2024 Germany Jude Bellingham
Kevin De Bruyne
Christian Eriksen
Cody Gakpo
N'Golo Kanté
Stanislav Lobotka
Nico Williams
Granit Xhaka
2

Total awards
Players in bold are still active.
RankPlayerCountryAwardsEuros with awards
1Cristiano Ronaldo62008, 2012, 2016, 2020
1Andrés Iniesta62008, 2012, 2016
3Granit Xhaka52016, 2020, 2024
4Luka Modrić42008, 2016, 2020, 2024
4Andrea Pirlo42008, 2012
4Zinedine Zidane42000, 2004
7Michael Ballack32004, 2008
7Federico Chiesa32020, 2024
7Kevin De Bruyne32020, 2024
7Christian Eriksen32020, 2024
7Luís Figo32000, 2004
7Thierry Henry32000
7Zlatan Ibrahimović32004, 2008, 2012
7Mesut Özil32012, 2016
7Pepe32008, 2012, 2016
7Karel Poborský31996

Team of the Tournament

Editions

The Team of the Tournament is a team of the best performers at each respective UEFA European Championship edition, as chosen by the UEFA Technical Study Group since 1996. UEFA also retroactively named teams of the best 11 players from the 1960 to 1992 tournaments. The number of players in these squads has changed, from 18 players in 1996, 22 players in 2000, and 23 players from 2004 until 2012. Since 2016, a team of 11 players has been named.
EditionGoalkeepersDefendersMidfieldersForwards
France 1960
Lev Yashin Vladimir Durković
Ladislav Novák
Igor Netto
Josef Masopust
Valentin Ivanov
Dragoslav Šekularac
Bora Kostić
Slava Metreveli
Milan Galić
Viktor Ponedelnik
Spain 1964
Lev Yashin Feliciano Rivilla
Dezső Novák
Ferran Olivella
Ignacio Zoco
Amancio Amaro
Valentin Ivanov
Chus Pereda
Ferenc Bene
Flórián Albert
Luis Suárez
Italy 1968
Dino Zoff Mirsad Fazlagić
Giacinto Facchetti
Bobby Moore
Albert Shesternyov
Dragan Džajić
Angelo Domenghini
Sandro Mazzola
Ivica Osim
Geoff Hurst
Luigi Riva
Belgium 1972
Yevhen Rudakov Revaz Dzodzuashvili
Paul Breitner
Murtaz Khurtsilava
Franz Beckenbauer
Herbert Wimmer
Uli Hoeneß
Günter Netzer
Jupp Heynckes
Gerd Müller
Raoul Lambert
Yugoslavia 1976
Ivo Viktor Ján Pivarník
Ruud Krol
Franz Beckenbauer
Anton Ondruš
Jaroslav Pollák
Rainer Bonhof
Dragan Džajić
Antonín Panenka
Zdeněk Nehoda
Dieter Müller
Italy 1980
Dino Zoff Claudio Gentile
Karlheinz Förster
Gaetano Scirea
Hans-Peter Briegel
Jan Ceulemans
Marco Tardelli
Bernd Schuster
Hansi Müller
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Horst Hrubesch
France 1984
Harald Schumacher João Pinto
Karlheinz Förster
Morten Olsen
Andreas Brehme
Fernando Chalana
Jean Tigana
Michel Platini
Alain Giresse
Frank Arnesen
Rudi Völler
West Germany 1988
Hans van Breukelen Giuseppe Bergomi
Frank Rijkaard
Ronald Koeman
Paolo Maldini
Ruud Gullit
Jan Wouters
Giuseppe Giannini
Lothar Matthäus
Marco van Basten
Gianluca Vialli
Sweden 1992
Peter Schmeichel Jocelyn Angloma
Laurent Blanc
Andreas Brehme
Jürgen Kohler
Stefan Effenberg
Ruud Gullit
Thomas Häßler
Brian Laudrup
Marco van Basten
Dennis Bergkamp
England 1996
David Seaman
Andreas Köpke
Radoslav Látal
Laurent Blanc
Marcel Desailly
Matthias Sammer
Paolo Maldini
Didier Deschamps
Steve McManaman
Paul Gascoigne
Rui Costa
Karel Poborský
Dieter Eilts
Alan Shearer
Hristo Stoichkov
Davor Šuker
Youri Djorkaeff
Pavel Kuka
Belgium and Netherlands 2000
Francesco Toldo
Fabien Barthez
Lilian Thuram
Laurent Blanc
Marcel Desailly
Alessandro Nesta
Fabio Cannavaro
Paolo Maldini
Frank de Boer
Patrick Vieira
Zinedine Zidane
Luís Figo
Rui Costa
Edgar Davids
Demetrio Albertini
Pep Guardiola
Thierry Henry
Patrick Kluivert
Nuno Gomes
Raúl
Francesco Totti
Savo Milošević
Portugal 2004
Petr Čech
Antonios Nikopolidis
Sol Campbell
Ashley Cole
Traianos Dellas
Olof Mellberg
Ricardo Carvalho
Giourkas Seitaridis
Gianluca Zambrotta
Michael Ballack
Luís Figo
Frank Lampard
Maniche
Pavel Nedvěd
Theodoros Zagorakis
Zinedine Zidane
Milan Baroš
Angelos Charisteas
Henrik Larsson
Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Austria and Switzerland 2008
Gianluigi Buffon
Iker Casillas
Edwin van der Sar
José Bosingwa
Philipp Lahm
Carlos Marchena
Pepe
Carles Puyol
Yuri Zhirkov
Hamit Altıntop
Luka Modrić
Marcos Senna
Xavi
Konstantin Zyryanov
Michael Ballack
Cesc Fàbregas
Andrés Iniesta
Lukas Podolski
Wesley Sneijder
Andrey Arshavin
Roman Pavlyuchenko
Fernando Torres
David Villa
Poland and Ukraine 2012
Gianluigi Buffon
Iker Casillas
Manuel Neuer
Gerard Piqué
Fábio Coentrão
Philipp Lahm
Pepe
Sergio Ramos
Jordi Alba
Daniele De Rossi
Steven Gerrard
Xavi
Andrés Iniesta
Sami Khedira
Sergio Busquets
Mesut Özil
Andrea Pirlo
Xabi Alonso
Mario Balotelli
Cesc Fàbregas
Cristiano Ronaldo
Zlatan Ibrahimović
David Silva
France 2016
Rui Patrício Joshua Kimmich
Jérôme Boateng
Pepe
Raphaël Guerreiro
Toni Kroos
Joe Allen
Antoine Griezmann
Aaron Ramsey
Dimitri Payet
Cristiano Ronaldo
Europe 2020
Gianluigi Donnarumma Kyle Walker
Leonardo Bonucci
Harry Maguire
Leonardo Spinazzola
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
Jorginho
Pedri
Federico Chiesa
Romelu Lukaku
Raheem Sterling
Germany 2024
Mike Maignan Kyle Walker
William Saliba
Manuel Akanji
Marc Cucurella
Rodri
Dani Olmo
Fabián Ruiz
Lamine Yamal
Jamal Musiala
Nico Williams