Che Adams to Rodri: Ranking all 97 (actually 80) Premier League players at Euro 2024
Hopefully the no-football jitters are yet to set in, but in a bid to keep them at bay we’ve attempted to bridge the Euro 2024-Premier League gap with a ranking of every single player to have competed in Germany this summer who hails from the English top flight.
That’s right folks, we’ve ranked all 97 of the Premier League players at Euro 2024. Well actually we haven’t included the 17 who didn’t feature, so it’s 80, but still, that’s a helluva lot.
If you’re just here for the England players, we’ve ranked them separately. Deep breath, here goes…
80) Che Adams (Scotland, Southampton)
According to the WhoScored ratings Adams was the second-worst player in the worst team at Euro 2024.
79) Matheus Nunes (Portugal, Manchester City)
18 minutes at a major tournament at the end of a Kalvin Phillips-esque season for Manchester City.
78) Stuart Armstrong (Scotland, Southampton)
Featured for 25 minutes in one game, in which he lost possession three times and watched Hungary score to dump Scotland out of the tournament.
77) Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark, Brentford)
One of the breakout stars of Euro 2020, which included a sensational free-kick against England in the semi-final, but it’s been tough for him since for club and country and Euro 2024 was no different. He featured for 33 minutes.
76) Jakub Moder (Poland, Brighton)
Hard to pick out any Poland player for praise when you spend 90 per cent of the time watching them wondering why they bother to turn up for major tournaments. Moder was among their worst and – as always – it was a very low bar.
75) John McGinn (Scotland, Aston Villa)
As rubbish fot Scotland as he has been brilliant for Aston Villa.
74) Jan Bednarek (Poland, Southampton)
Played every minute of Poland’s three games, in which they conceded six goals.
73) Billy Gilmour (Scotland, Brighton)
Avoided the embarrassment of the German mauling by watching most of it from the bench but came into the starting line-up for the final two group games, and made the mistake of trying to play football among players incapable of following suit.
72) Yunus Akgun (Turkey, Leicester)
Started the 3-0 mauling by Portugal ahead of Arda Guler and was quite rightly dropped in favour of the Real Madrid teen for the ensuing games.
71) Christian Norgaard (Denmark, Brentford)
Three substitute appearances totalling 35 minutes; touched the ball 39 times. Had a pop at Michael Oliver for “making mistake after mistake” in a game he refereed perfectly reasonably having been duped like all fans of the Premier League that English referees are terrible.
70) Armando Broja (Albania, Chelsea)
Both he and Chelsea – who are looking for a decent fee for the striker this summer – will have been hoping for more than one start. Actually looked pretty good having come off the bench against Spain, taking two shots, but that was his lot for the tournament.
69) Leandro Trossard (Belgium, Arsenal)
In the worst team of the group stage after his daddy had a go at Domenico Tedesco for being a big meany.
68) Milos Kerkez (Hungary, Bournemouth)
Given a torrid time by Dan Ndoye against Switzerland, but he wasn’t the only one to struggle against the winger.
67) Conor Gallagher (England, Chelsea)
Mass groans from a nation at him warming up with the score 1-1 in the final tells you all you need to know about his tournament. Can’t feel great to be a pariah in the eyes of the England fans and the owners of the football club you’ve been at since you were a eight years old.
66) Rasmus Hojlund (Denmark, Manchester United)
Really not a great tournament in that he did nothing while Manchester United signed another striker.
READ MORE: Ten Euro 2024-based Premier League predictions for the 2024/25 season
65) Jakub Kiwior (Poland, Arsenal)
The fifth best Poland player according to WhoScored, though that’s not saying much.
64) Andy Robertson (Scotland, Liverpool)
Three key passes in three games was more than the rest of his teammates put together.
63) Nelson Semedo (Portugal, Wolves)
Would probably have been quite pleased to have been told ahead of the tournament that he would play five games, and that he would have the best pass percentage of any Portugal player (95.7). Likely less pleased however at 100 minutes of game time across those appearances.
62) Illya Zabarnyi (Ukraine, Bournemouth)
Had a nervy opening game against Romania, but then they all did, and he was one of just two Ukraine players to play every minute.
61) Jarrod Bowen (England, West Ham)
Replaced Bukayo Saka in the opening game against Serbia and produced one lovely cross, but made just one more appearance from the bench against Denmark.
60) Vitaliy Mykolenko (Ukraine, Everton)
Ukraine conceded no goals in the 57 minutes Mykolenko was playing at left-back and four in the 213 minutes Oleksandr Zinchenko was. Make of that what you will.
59) Micky van de Ven (Netherlands, Tottenham)
Unfortunate to be a centre-back as part of a nation of centre-backs and we’re assuming Ronald Koeman is still regretting not getting him on for Stefan de Vrij the moment Ollie Watkins emerged from the bench.
58) Timothy Castagne (Belgium, Fulham)
Played nearly every minute and we can’t remember a single thing he did right or wrong.
57) Amadou Onana (Belgium, Everton)
Nothing in this tournament convinced us that Onana is brilliant, but him being signed by Unai Emery has done the trick.
56) Pedro Neto (Portugal, Wolves)
He had six successful dribbes to Rafael Leao’s seven despite playing 150 fewer minutes than his fellow winger. Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t Roberto Martinez’s only mistake.
55) Wout Faes (Belgium, Leicester)
Looked very assured in the main but a tendency to dither on the ball that Leicester fans will be find familiar cost them in their opening game defeat to Slovakia which ultimately meant they went into the far harder side of the draw where they met their maker in France.
54) Kieran Trippier (England, Newcastle)
Didn’t lose a game at Euro 2024 but was cited as one of the main reasons for England’s lack of fluency throughout, because he was one of the main reasons for England’s lack of fluency throughout.
53) Youri Tielemans (Belgium, Aston Villa)
Scored Belgium’s fastest ever goal at a major tournament with his fine strike after 73 seconds against Romania. Ineffective against Ukraine and knowing him took being dropped for France entirely in his stride.
52) Anthony Gordon (England, Newcastle)
Two minutes and one excellent pass against Slovenia.
51) Diogo Dalot (Portugal, Manchester United)
Didn’t do much wrong but very much a back-up to the far superior Joao Cancelo.
50) Diogo Jota (Portugal, Liverpool)
He’s not alone in wondering how much better off Portugal would have been with him leading the line.
49) Mykhaylo Mudryk (Ukraine, Chelsea)
‘Flattered to deceive’ would make for a mean-spirited but entirely accurate epitaph as things stand.
48) Pascal Gross (Germany, Brighton)
Came on for Robert Andrich at half-time against Scotland and strolled around the pitch in a game we were very concerned would be a harbinger for German dominance, until we reminded ourselves it was Scotland.
47) Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary, Liverpool)
Was decent against Scotland but no prizes for that and disappointed against Germany. Hungary’s great hope didn’t do enough.
46) Eberechi Eze (England, Crystal Palace)
Arguably his greatest contribution was the mishit shot which Ivan Toney headed across to Harry Kane for the Slovakia winner, but he provided enough evidence in his three short substitute appearances that he should play a more significant part in future.
45) Josko Gvardiol (Croatia, Manchester City)
Wasn’t embarrassed in quite the same way by Lamine Yamal as he was by Lionel Messi in the World Cup but it wasn’t far off, and Gvardiol was also far from the player we saw in Qatar, or indeed in the second half of his first season for Manchester City.
44) Sasa Lukic (Serbia, Fulham)
No Premier League player other than now former teammate Joao Palhinha (4.55) made more tackles per 90 minutes than Lukic (3.48). Perhaps Fulham already have a readymade replacement for their midfield destroyer?
43) Kyle Walker (England, Manchester City)
Did a few absurd recovery runs to prevent attacks, particularly against the Dutch, but was found wanting defensively more than he saved England arses and offers very little going forward. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben White or Reece James will surely take on the mantle.
Walker is among those who should be discarded.
42) Vladimir Coufal (Czechia, West Ham)
An assist for Lukas Provod against Portugal, and he was excellent in that game with both Joao Cancelo and Rafael Leao on his side.
41) Ivan Toney (England, Brentford)
On the pitch for 45 minutes, got an assist and scored a penalty to drive England’s social content for at least 48 hours.
40) Mateo Kovacic (Croatia, Manchester City)
The best of the previously ageless but now old midfield trio, but neither Luka Modric nor Marcelo Brozovic provided much in the way of competition for that crown.
39) Jorginho (Italy, Arsenal)
Did what Jorginho does at the base of midfield and was bafflingly left out of the last-16 clash with Switzerland as Italy ceded all control to their opponents.
38) Declan Rice (England, Arsenal)
Won more tackles than anyone in the tournament (15) and did lots of running about, but also appeared to give the ball away a helluva lot, usually when under very little pressure. It felt like we were watching the Rice of five years ago.
One ‘terrified’ and ‘comical’ England player sums up the Southgate era, apparently.
37) Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine, Arsenal)
A great assist for Mykola Shaparenko in the win over Slovakia but he was also suspect defensively in that game. Zinchenko in a nutshell.
36) Trent Alexander-Arnold (England, Liverpool)
Was bang average as a square peg in a round hole but dispatched his penalty beautifully. That right-back spot is surely about to open up; if Trent’s going to play for England it has to be there.
Build around him, England.
35) Jeremy Doku (Belgium, Manchester City)
Two bad games and two good ones from Doku, whose fast running, quick feet bit caused Romania and France problems but confused and frustrated his teammates more than anyone against Slovakia and Ukraine.
34) Jannik Vestergaard (Denmark, Leicester)
A stalwart in a stubborn defence which conceded just two goals in the group stage before they came across Jamal Musiala and Germany in the last 16.
33) Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)
30 sparkling minutes against the Netherlands just isn’t enough for the best player in the Premier League. So much hope, too much of that song and not much at all within the white lines.
32) Thomas Strakosha (Albania, Brentford)
No major errors and ranked ninth for post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed with +1.9. No idea what this is? Fair enough. We’ve explained it here.
31) Tomas Soucek (Czechia, West Ham)
Scored and was brilliant against Turkey before the late heartbreak. His country’s best player according to the WhoScored ratings.
30) Ezri Konsa (England, Aston Villa)
England’s best centre-back in the one game he started against Switzerland. Can’t ask for more than that.
29) David Raya (Spain, Arsenal)
One game, one clean sheet and he saved all four shots on target against him in the win over Albania.
28) Luke Shaw (England, Manchester United)
Had Lamine Yamal in his pocket in the first half of the final before the whippersnapper wriggled out of it to set up Nico Williams at the start of the second. England lost the only game Shaw started but it’s probably a tad unfair to pin the blame entirely on him for our misery.
27) Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark, Tottenham)
A Player of the Match display against England from a midfielder who always looks a significantly better footballer for country than club.
26) Radu Dragusin (Romania, Tottenham)
Romania’s most expensive export of all time did them proud and may well be pushing one of his Spurs centre-back rivals out of the team in the not-too-distant future.
25) Joachim Andersen (Denmark, Crystal Palace)
An ever-present in a more than capable Danish defence and a threat in the opposition box. Won 18 of his 22 aerial duels.
24) Fabian Schar (Switzerland, Newcastle)
Brilliant against both Germany and Italy alongside Manuel Akanji and did his job in the shootout against England while his centre-back partner was at fault.
23) Martin Dubravka (Slovakia, Newcastle)
Brilliant in the 1-0 win over Belgium and could do nothing about either goal in the last-16 defeat to England. No Premier League goalkeeper has a higher save percentage (75%).
22) Christian Eriksen (Denmark, Manchester United)
Second only to Kevin De Bruyne (7.00) in the Premier League for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (6.72). We’re still thinking about that touch over his shoulder against Germany.
21) Nathan Ake (Netherlands, Manchester City)
Solid in the main, as you’d expect, but was among the most flustered of the Netherlands players in the Austria storm and the Ollie Watkins winner was created from his side.
20) Bruno Fernandes (Portugal, Manchester United)
Very funny now given what came later that Cristiano Ronaldo handed him his goal against Turkey on a plate. And actually, Portugal may have gone further had Ronaldo’s goal hunger been sated at that point. Anyway, it was much the same story for Fernandes as it was for him at United last season. Being a creative whizz is frustrating when you haven’t got anyone to put the ball in the back of the net.
19) Joao Palhinha (Portugal, Fulham)
No longer a Fulham player, which is a shame as he predictably finished the tournament with more tackles and interceptions per 90mins (6.97) than any player to have played more than 200 minutes.
18) Ollie Watkins (England, Aston Villa)
Became a national hero with his last-minute stunner against the Netherlands and we wonder whether Gareth Southgate may have started him in the final over his laughably ineffective skipper if he had his time back. Probably not, actually.
17) Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands, Liverpool)
Hinted at retirement and we reckon that’s wise. Showed his typical dominance at times to much swooning from the Premier League pundits, but he’s nowhere near as highly regarded by the ex-players in his own country and did a lot of his pointing and arm waving at teammates when he was equally at fault.
16) Ruben Dias (Portugal, Manchester City)
In the 422 minutes he was on the pitch, Portugal conceded one goal.
15) Kai Havertz (Germany, Arsenal)
Two goals, an assist and some lovely touches, including that sublime one to race through and miss a one-on-one chance against Denmark. And he missed a fair few other opportunities. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (-3.6) has a worse goals minus expected goals score than Havertz (-2.1).
14) Manuel Akanji (Switzerland, Manchester City)
Supreme right up until his weak as p*ss penalty against England.
13) Bukayo Saka (England, Arsenal)
A brilliant solo goal in his Player of the Match display against Switzerland and in the face of a collective lack of England oomph he was forever positive. His smile post-penalty will live long in the memory.
12) Bart Verbruggen (Netherlands, Brighton)
No prizes for guessing which of Verbruggen or Jason Steele new manager Fabian Hurzeler will be selecting as his No.1 after Roberto De Zerbi messed about with them last season. An excellent tournament from a goalkeeper destined for bigger things.
11) William Saliba (France, Arsenal)
France did not fail because of Saliba, who kept four clean sheets and had the best pass completion (96.1%) of anyone in the tournament.
10) Kobbie Mainoo (England, Manchester United)
Not at his best in the final but we’ll let him off after he excelled in the semi and thrived at his first major tournament in general. The boy done good.
9) Cole Palmer (England, Chelsea)
An assist for Ollie Watkins to win the semi before a brilliant finish to give England brief hope in the final. Arguably England’s greatest attacking threat despite not starting a game. One of five to build around.
8) Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City)
The most shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (7.00) of anyone in the Premier League and we could have told you that would be the case before the tournament started.
7) John Stones (England, Manchester City)
Looked a bit lost as they all did in the group stage but grew into the tournament as much as any England player.
6) Bernardo Silva (Portugal, Manchester City)
The standout player in one of the best team displays of the tournament as Portugal tore Turkey apart, was arguably the best player on the pitch against France, and converted his penalties in that losing shootout and the winning one against Slovenia.
5) Jordan Pickford (England, Everton)
He’s saved a penalty in every shoot-out he’s played for England. Before him England had won one of seven penalty shootouts. With him, they’ve won three of four and in the one they lost he saved two spot-kicks. The final may well have been embarrassing without him.
4) Cody Gakpo (Netherlands, Liverpool)
Golden Boot winner along with about 25 others and while no-one deserves that gong Gakpo has won our admiration, and there’s no finer accomplishment. Arne Slot has to play him on the left.
3) Marc Guehi (England, Crystal Palace)
Barely put a foot wrong across his six games. We didn’t really need to worry about the defence at all in the end, and any concerns were not down to the Crystal Palace star, who should be at the heart of England’s defence for foreseeable major tournaments.
2) Marc Cucurella (Spain, Chelsea)
English Chelsea fans who have endured two seasons of rubbish from Cucurella before watching him produce a sublime assist to prolong their years of hurt having been brilliant in the tournament as a whole can take solace both in him making Gary Neville look a bit daft and in the hope that he may carry his fine form into next season. Probably not though.
1) Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
So good that all England fans assumed they had it in the bag after he went off at half-time in the final, only for Martin Zubimendi to come on and keep the ball like a pr*ck. The Player of the Tournament should also be in with a great shout of winning the Ballon d’Or.