Sporting Life
Player of the Tournament: Bruno Fernandes, Jude Bellingham, Rodri

Euro 2024 tips: Player of the Tournament predictions, best bets and preview

By Joe Townsend
Football
Sun June 16, 2024 · 5M ago

Football betting tips: Euro 2024

4pts Jude Bellingham to win Player of the Tournament at 10/1 (Sky Bet)

1pt Bruno Fernandes to win Player of the Tournament at 40/1 (General)

1pt Rodri to win Player of the Tournament at 33/1 (General)

1pt Kobbie Mainoo to win Young Player of the Tournament at 20/1 (General)

1pt Lamine Yamal to win Young Player of the Tournament at 10/1 (BetVictor)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair

Individual awards in team sports really aren’t my cup of tea, so naturally it makes sense for me to have taken on writing this preview.

By that I don’t in any way mean to admonish the achievements of previous winners of a trophy that lacks the glamour of its World Cup counterpart - ‘Player of the Tournament’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as the Golden Ball does it - I just mean, really, who cares?

Who's sitting in the pub debating the contenders? Who even remembers the past winners? And more to the point, why should we? It’s a team event after all.

I’ll make an exception for the Golden Boot at the World Cup, with the Golden Ball just about scraping into some kind of vague relevance.

All that being said, the most recent in what are now fairly regular tone deaf displays by man of the people Rio Ferdinand during TNT Sport’s increasingly dislikable football coverage might be colouring my view.

And ultimately, if we’re betting on it, we care about it - enough for me to put my grumpiness to one side and take on this task with full gusto.

"Player of the Tournament, Player of the Tournament, Player of the Tournament, Player of the Tournaaaaameeent!"

Euro 2024 UEFA Best Player of the Tournament (odds via Sky Bet)

  • Kylian Mbappe - 6/1
  • Jude Bellingham - 10/1
  • Harry Kane - 11/1
  • Phil Foden, Toni Kroos, Cristiano Ronaldo - 14/1
  • Bukayo Saka - 18/1
  • Antoine Griezmann - 20/1
  • Kevin De Bruyne - 20/1

Who usually wins Player of the Tournament?

Since its introduction in 1996, no forward has won the award, with all six winners occupying the various central-midfield roles from in front of the defence to number 10 until Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma broke the stranglehold at Euro 2020.

Those facts make clear market leader Kylian Mbappe worth ignoring immediately, with the France captain also favourite to take home the Golden Boot.

The same cannot be said of JUDE BELLINGHAM.

Since joining Madrid he's been just as likely to score a stoppage-time winner as to sacrifice himself for the team by playing a more defensive role, scoring 23 goals and providing 12 assists in an outstanding opening season at the Bernabeu.

Each of the previous seven winners have played in the final, so this feels like a potential straight fight with new Real Madrid team-mate Mbappe.

The man for the big moment, this could be his tournament.

It might seem like a very obvious selection, but with England 3/1 to win the tournament, taking Bellingham at 10/1 to win PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT is worth backing firmly as if they do so, I find it very hard to believe he won't take home that award.

Bellingham also tops the betting for Young Player, but that's not a market I'm backing him in for a few reasons we'll explore later.

Big prices elsewhere

Among the bigger prices are two Premier League midfielders: BRUNO FERNANDES (40/1) and RODRI (33/1).

Both Spain and Portugal, more so the latter, look well set to have a deep run in Germany and for arguably each side’s most influential player to be such a large price is a surprise.

Rodri has proven during his time with Manchester City that he is the world’s best in his role. An added bonus is he looks likely to be Spain’s penalty taker this summer, which can only help his cause when the votes are cast should he notch a few extra goals from the spot.

Fernandes has moved to new heights for his country under Roberto Martinez's management, providing eight assists and scoring six goals in 10 qualifiers - all of which Portugal won.

The Manchester United captain returned from injury to end the season in sparkling form too.

Given that Portugal are my strongest fancy to upset short-priced favourites England and France, he would be my favoured selection of the two.

Euro 2024 UEFA Best Young Player of the Tournament (odds via Sky Bet)

  • Jude Bellingham - 11/4
  • Florian Wirtz - 11/2
  • Jamal Musiala - 7/1
  • Pedri, Lamine Yamal - 9/1
  • Eduardo Camavinga - 10/1
  • Xavi Simons - 12/1
  • Cole Palmer - 14/1

Who usually wins Young Player of the Tournament?

We don’t have much of a same sample size when it comes to Young Player of the Tournament, with Renato Sanches (Portugal - winners) and Pedri (Spain - semi-finalists) the two names on the trophy from Euro 2016 and 2020 respectively.

They had a lot in common though: both 18 years old, both central midfielders and both playing for nations who had deep runs in the tournament.

I’m sure there will be teenage players who emerge over the next month, but heading into it the two who stick out for me, both in terms of ability and in the betting, are LAMINE YAMAL and KOBBIE MAINOO.

The 20/1 about Mainoo just has to be backed. His rise this term has been nothing short of phenomenal, especially considering the struggles of Manchester United throughout the campaign.

Not only has he become first choice for United as holding midfielder, his ability to get forward and score crucial goals has developed throughout the season, culminating in a brilliant strike in the club’s shock FA Cup final win over Manchester City shortly after his 19th birthday.

He won man of the match on his full England debut against Belgium and the lack of competition in his position in the England squad gives him a great chance of securing a starting role, even if it takes a couple of games for Gareth Southgate to hand him that level of responsibility.

Lamine Yamal is still only 16 years old

Yamal, meanwhile, has had that responsibility for both Barcelona and Spain for quite a while now and staggeringly is still only 16 years of age.

He has broken countless records as the youngest player to appear, start, score or assist for club and country in various competitions and arrives at the tournament after providing 10 goal involvements for Barca in an underwhelming campaign for the club.

An interesting factor in making him worthy of backing is that the 16 year old currently sits top of the Golden Boy rankings, an annual prize for the best footballer under 21 in Europe.

Jude Bellingham took that prize in 2023 and tops the betting for the Young Player of the Tournament award, but not only is he way too short, he already feels way too established to be of consideration when the panel comes to decide its winner.

Odds correct at 1600 BST (06/06/24)

Euro 2024: More from Sporting Life

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