BERLIN — England striker Harry Kane concluded Euro 2024 in a six-way tie for the Golden Boot as his team fell 2-1 to Spain in the final. This adds another individual accolade for a player who has yet to win a major trophy for club or country.
Kane wrapped up the tournament with three goals, sharing the top scorer spot with Spain midfielder Dani Olmo, Germany midfielder Jamal Musiala, Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo, Slovakia winger Ivan Schranz, and Georgia striker Georges Mikautadze.
Kane has now been a runner-up in consecutive European Championship finals following England’s defeat to Italy three years ago. Additionally, he has been a runner-up in one Champions League final and two English League Cups. Despite winning numerous individual awards—such as the Bundesliga top scorer last season with Bayern Munich—the German club experienced its first trophyless season since 2012.
“It’s an opportunity missed. It’s not easy to get to these finals,” Kane told ITV about England’s defeat to Spain. “It takes unbelievable resilience and character to get to where we are, but when the opportunity comes, you have to take it, and we haven’t done it again. It’s extremely painful and will hurt for a long time.”
Kane is now one of four men’s players to have been top scorer at both a European Championship and a World Cup, an achievement he first accomplished in 2018.
In the final, Olmo’s significant contribution to Spain’s victory was defensive, clearing Marc Guéhi’s header off the line to maintain their lead.
“I told him that he is my top scorer because his save counts as a goal for me,” goalkeeper Unai Simón said. “It was our planned defense strategy for him to protect that post, and he remembered perfectly, clearing it off the line. It was incredible.”
For Olmo, being joint top scorer at Euro 2024 is a moment of recognition for a player who has dealt with numerous injury setbacks. He followed an unorthodox path to the top of European soccer, leaving Barcelona’s youth academy at 16 in 2014 and debuting professionally with Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb. He has been playing in Germany with Leipzig since 2019.
UEFA allowed multiple players to share the Euro 2024 top scorer award if they had the same number of goals, a change from recent tournaments.
At the previous men’s European Championship, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Czech striker Patrik Schick both scored five goals, but Ronaldo was named the winner due to an assist, whereas Schick had none.
Under the previous system, Olmo would have claimed the tiebreaker with two assists, the most among the players with three goals.
The last instance when three goals secured the Golden Boot was at Euro 2012, with Spain’s Fernando Torres winning the prize. Then, the tiebreaker favored the player with the fewest minutes played. Applying that rule to Euro 2024, Slovakia’s Schranz would have won.
UEFA named Spain midfielder Rodri the player of the tournament, and Spain forward Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 on Saturday, was honored as the young player of the tournament.