Euro 2024 data dive: Goals galore on historic day at European Championships

After Germany’s 5-1 win over Scotland in the Euro 2024 opener, the goals continued to fly in on a busy day of action on Saturday.

Records were broken as Spain beat Croatia 3-0 and reigning champions Italy came from behind to beat Albania 2-1.

Switzerland also dispatched Hungary 3-1 in the other Group A meeting to ensure things are finely poised going into the second round of matches.

The 16 goals scored through the opening four matches of Euro 2024 so far are the most netted at this point of a European Championships or World Cup since Euro ’76 (19).

Using Opta data, we take a look at some of the other standout statistics from Saturday’s action in Germany.

Hungary 1-3 Switzerland: Swiss start in style

Switzerland have only lost one of their last 15 games across all competitions (W7 D7), a 1-0 defeat to Romania in November 2023, after opening their Group A campaign with a 3-1 victory over Hungary.

It was a tale of two emphatic maiden performances for the Swiss as Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer became only the third and fourth players to score on their European Championship debut for Switzerland.

That first-half dominance saw both players score their first-ever senior international goal, too, in what was Duah’s second appearance and Aebischer’s 21st for Switzerland.

Aebischer also teed up Duah’s well-taken opener in Cologne as the full-back became the first Switzerland player ever to both score and assist a goal in the same match at the Euros.

An impressive first half from Switzerland. Less so from Hungary.

Both Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer score their first international goals, while the latter is the first player to both score and assist for Switzerland in a single game at the Euros.#HUNSUI #Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/wN1wPpipxd

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 15, 2024

Barnabas Varga – who became the fifth Hungarian to score on his European Championship debut – pulled one back with his seventh goal in his last 10 international appearances, with assisted help from Hungary’s ever-reliant Dominik Szoboszlai.

Since the start of 2023, Liverpool midfielder Szoboszlai has had a hand in 10 goals across 15 international appearances (six goals, four assists), though the Hungary captain could not stop a familiar European fate for Marco Rossi’s men.

Breel Embolo’s cool, late lob sealed victory to leave Hungary with just two wins from their 12 matches at the European Championships (D4 L6), a win rate of 17 per cent. Among nations with five-plus games at the finals, only Romania (six per cent) and Poland (14 per cent) have a lower success ratio.

This win also marked a special moment for Ricardo Rodriguez, who appeared for a 22nd game at a major international tournament (Euros/World Cup) – the outright most of any player for the nation.

Spain 3-0 Croatia: Young guns steal spotlight

Spain got a statement win against Croatia in their Euro 2024 opener, beginning a European Championship tournament with a victory by 3+ goals for just the second time, after their 4-1 win against Russia on MD1 of Euro 2008.

The spotlight was shining on Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to feature at the Euros, capping his historic appearance for La Roja with an assist for Dani Carvajal, who became Spain’s oldest-ever goalscorer in the competition at 32 years and 156 days, on the stroke of half-time.

In Yamal (16y 338d) and Pedri (21y 203d), Spain are the first side to have at least two players aged 21 or under create at least three chances for a side in a game at the Euros since Germany against Czechia in June 2004 (Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski).

Fifteen years Yamal’s senior, Morata became Spain’s outright second-highest goalscorer at major international tournaments with 10, and needs only three more to equal David Villa’s record of 13.

7 – Only Cesc Fàbregas (8 – 3 goals, 5 assists) has been involved in more #EUROs goals for #Spain than Álvaro Morata (7 – 7 goals, the same as Fernando Torres and David Silva). Reference.#Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/dfGTdjuai3

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 15, 2024

It was not the dominant performance people have come to expect from Spain though, as they had less possession than their opponents (47 per cent) for the first time in a competitive match since the Euro 2008 final, which they won against Germany (46 per cent), ending a run of 136 such matches where they had the majority of the ball.

On the opposite side of the field, Luka Modric became the oldest player since Lothar Matthaus to appear in the European Championships at 38y 280d, but his experience could not prevent Croatia from suffering their joint-heaviest ever defeat at a major international tournament following 3-0 defeats to Portugal at Euro 1996 and Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.

The Croatia captain also became just the third European player to appear in as many as nine separate editions of major international tournaments, after Matthaus (nine) and Cristiano Ronaldo (10, before Euro 2024).

Italy 2-1 Albania: Azzurri nightmare soon turns into dream start

As the reigning champions, Italy would have been fearing the worst after conceding the fastest goal in Euros history – Nedim Bajrami scored after just 23 seconds when Federico Dimarco gifted him a throw-in.

However, Alessandro Bastoni’s 11th-minute equaliser soon settled the nerves, with this the third-earliest time a game at the European Championships has seen both teams score, after Iceland v England in 2016 (sixth minute) and Russia v Spain in 1964 (eighth minute).

The turnaround was complete with Nicolo Barella’s 10th strike for the national side, and his goal-scoring touch proved golden once more – Italy have won all 10 games in which he has found the back of the net.

Despite not getting on the scoresheet for the Azzurri, Federico Chiesa also impressed as he became the first player at the Euros to record at least three shots, three successful dribbles (four) and win possession in the final third at least three times since Denmark’s Mikkel Damsgaard against Belgium in June 2021.

1 – Italy won their debut match in 4 consecutive editions among European Championship and World Cup for the first time in history. Group.#EURo2024 #ITAALB pic.twitter.com/ryQiIxxeZN

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) June 15, 2024

Albania’s goal came from their only shot on target in the match, though it means they have now scored in back-to-back games in the competition for the first time. Now, they need to find just their second-ever win at this tournament against Croatia on Wednesday.

The Eagles will be glad to see the back of Italy having lost all five of their previous meetings with them in all competitions. However, only three teams have ever beaten them more times, with Spain, who they face in their final group game, topping that list (eight).