Worst-XI-of-Euro-2020

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Euro 2020 till now produced plenty of thrilling matches. There were plenty of exceptional performances from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrik Schick, Raheem Sterling and Kasper Dolberg. But some players, who were expected to be the shining stars at EURO 2020, failed to make a mark. As the tournament ended with Italy lifting the European Championship trophy, we bring you the biggest flops from this summer's tournament.

GK: Wojciech Szczęsny (Poland)

 

Wojciech Szczęsny

The Juventus shot-stopper made history for all the wrong reasons in the tournament as he became the first-ever goalkeeper in Euros history to score an own goal. Szczęsny failed to keep a clean sheet at Euro 2020 and conceded six goals in just three games. The Polish goalkeeper could have performed better on the big stage but all in all, he had a tournament to forget.

RB: Neco Williams (Wales)

The Liverpool youngster had a horror EURO 2020. Even though the right-back played just 137 minutes but he will always be remembered for his costly mistake against Denmark in the Round of 16 encounter. Wales, trailing by a solitary goal were trying hard to claw their way back into the game. However, Neco Williams, who had come on as a substitute for the injured Connor Roberts, made a dreadful error when his attempted clearance went straight to Kasper Dolberg, who made no mistake with his powerful shot.

CB: Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands)

Arguably one of the best young defenders in world football, Juventus defender De Ligt failed to live up to the expectations of the Dutch fans as Netherlands were eliminated by Czech Republic. De Ligt was sent off in the Round of 16 clash for handling the ball under pressure as Patrick Schick ran through on goal and de Ligt's error costed Netherlands dearly as Czech Republic went on to win 2-0, making their one-man advantage count. De Ligt admitted his mistake after the match and said, "we basically lost the match because of what I did".

CB: Domagoj Vida (Croatia)

The Beşiktaş center-back didn’t have the best of tournaments and was directly responsible for some of the goals Croatia conceded in the tournament. His awful clearance against Wales in the group stage encounter allowed McGregor to score his first international goal. While in the Round of 16 match against Spain, Vida was at fault as he allowed winger Ferran Torres to dribble past him far too easily. Torres then found the back of the net with a crisp finish.

LB: Patrick Van Aanholt (Netherlands)

30-year-old Patrick Van Aanholt started in all 4 of Netherland’s games in the tournament but didn’t make much of an impact. Van Aanholt was picked over Owen Wijndal but he did not do enough to justify that selection. The former Crystal Palace man is known for his pacy attacking runs down the left-wing and he has a knack of creating goal scoring opportunities. However, he disappointed in Euro 2020 and had a passing accuracy of just 77%. Defensively also, he did little and could only complete 1 tackle in 300 minutes of action.

CDM: Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland)

Midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak was the first player to be sent off at Euro 2020. Krychowiak received a second yellow card in 62nd minute in Poland’s opening match against Slovakia. The experienced midfielder pulled back Jakub Hromada as the Slovakian attempted to race away on the counter-attack. This was a costly mistake from the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain man as his red-card changed the complexion of the game. Momentum swung back in Slovakia’s favour as Slovakia ultimately claimed a crucial 2-1 win over 10-man Poland.

LM: Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey)

Turkey fans had huge hopes from their 27-year-old attacking midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu. But Çalhanoğlu failed to produce the sort of match-winning form that made him a fan favourite at his former club AC Milan. The set-piece specialist failed to provide any sort of attacking impetus to his team and was disappointing to say the least as Turkey lost all three of their group stage games.

RM: Bruno Fernandes (Portugal)

Bruno Fernandes was a massive let-down in Euro 2020 as has had a shocking tournament. Fernandes was expected to be one of the leading stars of Euro 2020 but the midfielder was way off the pace in Portugal’s first two games. He failed to create chances for Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Jota. In contrast to his stellar season at Manchester United where he led them to second place in the Premier League, he failed to make any notable contribution for Portugal as his team bowed out in the Round of 16 at the hands of Belgium.

RW: Serge Gnabry (Germany)

The Bayern Munich attacker started all three group stage games for Germany but failed to register a single goal or assist. With Germany’s word-class midfield offering him plenty of service up front, Gnabry was expected to shine in Euro 2020 but the Bayern Munich attacker didn’t make the impact that Germany coach Joachim Löw would have expected of him. Instead, it was youngster Kai Havertz who grabbed the limelight with his goals and impressive work-rate.

ST: Kylian Mbappé (France)

Kylian Mbappé was the biggest disappointment of EURO 2020 as he failed to get on the scoresheet in any of Les Bleus’ four matches. The PSG superstar had an underwhelming tournament by his lofty standards and was guilty of missing some clear-cut chances. To compound his misery, the 22-year-old then missed the decisive penalty against Switzerland in the Round of 16 match as the World champions were unceremoniously knocked out of the Euros.

LW: Eden Hazard (Belgium)

Another player of whom big things were expected at the tournament but the Real Madrid attacker couldn’t produce any substantial performance. A hamstring problem then ruled Hazard out of the Quarter-final clash against Italy, which Belgium eventually lost 2-1 defeat to in the. The former Chelsea man has been plagued by injuries ever since his move to Real Madrid and his underwhelming performances in the tournament made him look a shadow of the player he was once at Chelsea.