The lead scorer at the 2024 UEFA European Championship as its group stage nears its conclusion is "own goal." The rest of the field in the race for the tournament's Golden Boot award this year isn't particularly close.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been seven own goals so far in this year's Euros. The next highest goal scorers in the tournament so far make up a five-way tie with two goals apiece: Cody Gapko of the Netherlands, Georges Mikautadze of Georgia, Ivan Schranz of Slovenia, and Jamal Musiala and Niclas Füllkrug of Germany.
The Netherlands' Donyell Malen accomplished the seventh such ignominious feat of this year's competition in the sixth minute of his national team's final group stage match to put Austria ahead, 1-0. It was the earliest own goal in the history of the Euros – since 1958.
No team has scored multiple own goals in this tournament yet. Portugal has had the distinct honor of "allowing" multiple own goals in this tournament and won both games, including a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic. Austria has both scored an own goal – in an 0-1 loss to France – and had one "scored" against them.
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There have been seven own goals so far in the tournament as of Tuesday afternoon, with roughly half of the final matches of the competition's group stage finished.
This year's tournament is the second straight iteration of the Euros to feature so many own goals. In the UEFA Euro 2020, which was postponed to 2021, there were 11 own goals over the course of the full tournament. Eight of them happened in the group stage that year.
In total, the last two editions of the Euros – the 2020 Euros and the not-yet-finished group stage of this year – are responsible for 18 of the 27 own goals in the history of the tournament. In other words, the own goals in the last two European Championship tournaments alone are responsible for two-thirds of all own goals ever in the Euros.
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