Numbers game: 10 statistics that tell the story of Euro 2024’s group stage

England rank 20th out of 24 in attempts on goal but third in passing accuracy and first in crossing accuracy

Fri, 28 Jun, 2024 - 10:27

Niall McVeigh

No goals from direct free-kicks

None of the 81 goals scored in the group stage were scored directly from a direct free-kick. At Euro 2020, there was only one free-kick goal, scored by Mikkel Damsgaard against England in the semi-finals. Euro 2016 had four, with Gareth Bale scoring two – more (so far) than in the next two tournaments combined. This is in line with domestic trends: in Europe’s top five leagues, the amount of free-kicks in the final third that are shot at goal has dropped from 24.6% in 2008-09 to 18.8% in 2022-23.