Mbappe, Kane Fighting for Golden Boot
Euro 2024 Awards: Odds and Discussion
Bellingham in Running for Multiple Awards
At Euro 2020, Gianluigi Donnarumma was named the Player of the Tournament. The Italian shot stopper, who helped his country win the Euros in a penalty shootout, was the first goalkeeper to ever win the award. With Euro 2024 quickly approaching, we’ll see if history can be made once again. In our Euro 2024 awards discussion, we’ll check out the odds for Player of the Tournament, Golden Boot, Young Player of the Tournament and Most Assists.
Player of the Tournament
Since 1996, when the Player of the Tournament Award was first handed out officially, a striker has never won. Among the UEFA Euro players to win this award are one defender, one goalkeeper and five midfielders. Plus, the Player of the Tournament’s team has always reached the Final.
So, any good bet on the Player of the Tournament must consider the potential for a team to finish high in the UEFA Euro standings and make a deep run. Currently, the top candidates are all from top teams. Kylian Mbappe leads the field, at +500 odds, and we do think France is the team most likely to win Euro 2024.
Mbappe certainly has a shout for both the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament and is France’s most important player. Mbappe’s new Real Madrid teammate, Jude Bellingham is second on the list.
Bellingham, La Liga’s Player of the Season, sits at +900 odds. He, Harry Kane (+1100), Phil Foden (+1200), Bukayo Saka (+2000) and Declan Rice (+3300) will all try to help England win their first European Championship. With so many candidates from one team, betting on an English player might not provide the best value.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin De Bruyne both come in at +1600 odds to win the Player of the Tournament. Ronaldo’s Portugal are more likely to make the Final and we think Bruno Fernandes (+3300) could have an excellent tournament.
There are some value picks on the board, like Spain’s Rodri and Germany’s Toni Kroos (both +3300). The Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Croatia’s Luka Modric at +5000 and +6600 odds, respectively, may also provide some value.
Golden Boot
Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane are also at the top of the list for Golden Boot. Mbappe sits at +500 odds, while Kane is at +550. Both players were in ridiculous goal scoring form for their clubs this season and they’ll be hoping to carry that over to the Euros.
More games on the Euro 2024 schedule most often means more goals. However, Cristiano Ronaldo did win the Golden Boot last time around with five goals in just four games. Ronaldo comes in at +1100 odds to repeat and Roberto Martinez looks set on starting the 39-year old up top. Plus, Portugal are in one of the tournament’s least challenging groups, with Turkey, Georgia and Czechia.
England’s Jude Bellingham sits at +1100 odds to be the Golden Boot winner. Gareth Southgate will play him in a more advanced midfield role that allows him to make runs into the box.
Olivier Giroud, despite moving to LAFC, is back for another major tournament with France. He shows +2000 odds to be the Golden Boot winner and so does Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku will need to score a bunch if Belgium are to go far and he’s not a terrible pick.
Some value picks we like are Spain striker Alvaro Morata (+3300), the Netherlands’ Cody Gakpo (+4000) and Ukraine’s Artem Dovbyk (+5000). Dovbyk was La Liga’s 2023-24 Golden Boot winner after all.
Young Player of the Tournament
While still a wide open field, there aren’t as many names to choose from for Young Player of the Tournament. So, of all the Euro 2024 awards, this is the one that’s most predictable. To be considered for Young Player of the Tournament, a player must be 22 or younger during the Euros.
That makes 20-year old Jude Bellingham (+185) the most obvious choice. He’ll undoubtedly play a key role for England and if he can register a few goals and assists he’ll probably win if the Three Lions go far.
Bettors should note that the two previous winners of this award both reached at least the Semifinals. Germany’s Jamal Musiala (+500) and Florian Wirtz (+700) are the only other players with shorter than +1000 odds. It’s hard to choose between the pair, as their styles aren’t too dissimilar. Wirtz was the Bundesliga’s Player of the Season, though, as Leverkusen won their first-ever title.
Renato Sanches won the Young Player of the Tournament for Portugal in 2016. France’s Eduardo Camavinga (+1000) will play a similar role for Les Bleus at Euro 2024 and he’s an underappreciated jack-of-all-trades.
Pedri (+1000) won the award at Euro 2020 and his Spain could make another deep run here. One could argue Lamine Yamal (+1600) and Nico Williams (+1800) are more likely Spanish winners.
The Netherlands’ Xavi Simons is an interesting pick, at +1400 odds. We also like Jeremy Doku (+1600), Warren Zaire-Emery (+4000) and Nuno Mendes (+6600).
Most Assists
While not one of the official Euro 2024 awards, it’s also fun to speculate on which player will provide the most assists. Last time out, it wqas Steven Zuber, wh Bruno Fernandes is the favorite at +1150 and we can certainly see why. He created the most chances in the Premier League this season for an abysmal Manchester United team. With Portugal, he has players who should be able to finish off those chances at a higher rate.
We could also see Fernandes’ teammate Bernardo Silva (+3300) winning this award. Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne both come in at +1200 odds and it’d probably help France if Mbappe plays more of a creator role at Euro 2024. France’s Antoine Griezmann (+1600) is another top candidate who had an excellent season with Atletico Madrid.
Phil Foden (+1600) has Harry Kane to feed, who is one of the best strikers in the world. Denzel Dumfries (+4000) averaged the most assists per 90 minutes in qualifiers and could be an interesting pick. Nico Williams (+5000) and Serbia’s Dusan Tadic (+6600) are two other intriguing picks.
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