Euro 2024: Golden Boot shared between 6 players as Spain defeat England in the final
Spain beat England 2-1 in the final on Sunday (July 14) and emerged as the Euro 2024 winners, but the competition's Golden Boot will be shared between six players. Dani Olmo and Harry Kane had a chance to add to their tally in the final and make the honor their own, but their failure to score meant they will share it with four other players.
It was Kane's second Golden Boot at a major international tournament, having also claimed the honor at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He struck thrice for England at Euro 2024, bagging one apiece against Denmark, Slovakia, and the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, his Spanish counterpart Olmo was goalless in the group stages but sprung himself in the Golden Boot race by netting once each in the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals.
Germany's Jamal Musiala, the Netherlands star Cody Gakpo, Slovakia's Ivan Schranz, and Georgia's Georges Mikautadze all scored thrice each. Previously, the winner was decided on the basis of fewer minutes played in case of a tie, but an amendment in UEFA's rule meant it wouldn't apply this time.
Mikautadze emerged as the frontrunner for the prize after netting a goal in every group fixture, including a penalty in their shock 2-0 win over Portugal. Schranz joined him at the top of the goalscoring charts after netting against England in the last-16.
Gakpo appeared to have netted a fourth goal in the tournament during their quarter-final clash against Turkey, but it went down as an own goal by their goalkeeper Mert Muldur.
This is the second consecutive European Championship and the sixth overall where the Golden Boot was shared between multiple players. It's also the most number of players to share the Golden Boot in a single edition of the competition, surpassing the previous record of five at the inaugural 1960 edition.
Harry Kane becomes first English winner of Golden Boot at Euros since 1996; Georges Mikautadze creates history
England's Harry Kane became the first player from his nation to win the Golden Boot at the European Championship since Alan Shearer in 1996. The former Newcastle United star was the sole winner with five goals in that edition.
Meanwhile, Cody Gakpo joined Dutch legends Marco van Basten (1988), Denis Bergkamp (1992), and Patrick Kluivert (2000) to win the Euro Cup's Golden Boot. It also made them the joint most successful nation alongside Germany and Yugoslavia (4) for having won it the most number of times.
However, arguably the biggest surprise of Euro 2024 was Georges Mikautadze, who etched his name in Georgia's history books. He scored their first goal at a major international tournament when the forward was on target against Turkey in a 3-1 loss. He is the first player in their history to win the Golden Boot.