Only a few Premier League players managed to become top scorers in the UEFA EURO.
The UEFA EURO 2024 Championship is set to begin this weekend. Winning the competition is undoubtedly the ultimate goal of all contestants. Yet, there are also individual awards, which are as prestigious as the silverware itself, such as Player of the Tournament, Young Player of the Tournament, and Top Goalscorer. The last category is one of the oldest awards, as it has been given since the first edition, whereas the other two were introduced later.
Throughout the tournament’s history, unfortunately, not many players in the Premier League have won the award in the same year as the tournament itself. Cristiano Ronaldo, Savo Milosevic, Patrick Kluivert, and Dennis Bergkamp did win the award once, but they received it while playing outside of England. Only three top EURO goalscorers won the accolade while playing for one of the Premier League clubs.
In EURO 2024, several forwards who currently play in the English top flight have the chance to be the next top scorer from the EPL. The likes of Arsenal’s Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard, Manchester City man Phil Foden, or Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo could be the surprising names to meddle the well-known frontmen such as Kylian Mbappe, Alvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, or even Harry Kane, who is currently not competing in the Premier League. It will be interesting to see who would be the next EURO top goalscorer.
Here are those three distinguished strikers from the EPL who once won such an award.
Alan Shearer (EURO 1996)
The former England striker was the first player from the Premier League to win the EURO top scorer award in history. He was the protagonist in England’s 3-5-2 set-up, with Teddy Sheringham as his duet upfront. Shearer netted five goals during the tournament. He bagged one against Switzerland in the opener, one against Scotland through a header, a brace while trouncing the Netherlands 4-1, and a header in the semifinal against Germany.
His form in EURO 1996 justified the public expectations of the forward, who at that time just won the Premier League Golden Boot twice in a row, both while playing for Blackburn Rovers, before he went on to receive another one in 1997 with Newcastle United. He was even nominated for the Ballon d’Or 1996 due to his top form in EURO and finished third after the vote, below Germany’s Mathias Sammer and Brasilian Ronaldo Luiz. Overall, Shearer registered 37 goals and 10 assists for his club, plus five goals and one assist in the 1996 international fixture.
The striker who began his professional career with Southampton became England’s captain in the following two major international tournaments: the 1998 FIFA World Cup and EURO 2000. He scored twice in both competitions before deciding to retire from international football to focus on his club. He scored 30 goals in only 63 appearances for the Three Lions. The Newcastle-born frontman then became The Magpies’ legend by staying in Tyneside until his retirement in 2006, despite failing to win a single trophy. Overall, he bagged 206 goals and provided 58 assists in 405 games with the Toon Army.
Milan Baros (EURO 2004)
The former Czech Republic international was an unlikely top scorer at EURO 2004. The fans bet on Ruud van Nilsterooy, Thierry Henry, Michael Owen, and even more well-known names such as John Dahl Tomasson or Francesco Totti than the striker, who was only the second choice at Liverpool. Baros went all against the odds by scoring five goals and providing two assists in the tournament, helping Czechia reach the semifinals before suffering a dramatic 1-0 loss to the eventual champion, Greece, through a silver goal rule. He added his tally in every game before the last four: one lifeline in the opener versus Latvia, one equaliser against the Netherlands, another one while thumping Germany 2-1, plus a brace in a 3-0 victory over Denmark.
Surprisingly, during the 2003–04 season, Milan Baros was only fielded 13 times in the Premier League and contributed just one goal and three assists. His form in EURO 2004 gave him a way to get a nod in the line-up at Anfield in the following season. His contribution was improving with 13 goals and two assists in 45 games, including 12 appearances in the Champions League, which also helped the Reds win their fifth title in Istanbul. That was the season when Liverpool tickets were in huge demand during the club’s banter era.
Baros then moved to Aston Villa, Lyon, and Portsmouth before switching sides to Galatasaray. He managed to win several silverware, including league titles with Les Gones and the FA Cup with The Pompey.
The forward, who was often paired up with the towering number 9 in the international fixture, Jan Koller, was still part of the Czech Republic squad in the other major tournaments, including the 2006 FIFA World Cup, EURO 2008, and 2012. Yet, only in the latter edition was he in the starting XI, when he contributed one assist for the only goal of the game in the last match at the group stage versus the host Poland. That was his last appearance in the international competition. Overall, he was capped 93 times and bagged 41 goals for Czechia.
Fernando Torres (EURO 2012)
Last but not least, there was the prolific former Liverpool forward whose goalscoring record declined while joining Chelsea, Fernando Torres. He was still playing for the Blues prior to EURO 2012; in fact, he also just lifted the UCL trophy after their unlikely win in the final at Munich on penalties.
The former Spanish forward was awarded the Euro Golden Boot after only netting three goals and one assist. He deserved to receive the accolade despite having the same number of goals as Mario Balotelli, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Dzagoev, and Mario Gomez because he had the fewest minutes on the pitch compared to his contenders. His goals came in only two games: versus Ireland, where he registered a brace in a 4-0 rout, and in the final, when Spain hammered Italy also in a 4-0 win. Torres scored one goal and provided one assist for Juan Mata.
The most surprising part about his success in winning this award was that the former Atletico Madrid and AC Milan man was not even the mainstay of Vicente Del Bosque’s team. The manager at that time opted to deploy Cesc Fabregas as a false nine in a 4-6-0 formation, an unusual decision to take after David Villa’s injury. Torres was not the first choice due to his declining goal record at Chelsea. During the 2011–12 season, he only scored 11 goals and 15 assists in 49 games for the Blues.
