The European Championships have now been a regular international tournament for 64 years with the first edition taking place in France in 1960. Here, Sports Mole look at the highest scoring teams in Euros over the years, and which are most likely to be this year's entertainers.
Over the years, 841 goals have been scored across the 16 editions of the European Championships. While the 1,000-goal mark almost certainly won't be reached in the upcoming tournament, there are some standout candidates to push the existing number ever-closer to four figures.
Highest scoring teams in Euros - Overall standings
Germany - 78
France - 69
Spain - 68
Netherlands - 65
Portugal - 56
Italy - 52
England - 51
Czech Republic - 48
Denmark - 42
Russia - 40
The top nine teams in the list have all qualified for Euro 2024, while Russia remain banned from UEFA competitions due to their ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Russia's place will likely survive, given that 11th-placed team Belgium trail them by nine goals in the overall standings.
Then again, with the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku in the Belgian ranks, it is an event that should not be completely ruled out.
Plenty of other changes could be made inside the top 10. Most notably of all, England could move into the top five, if their attacking talent is at peak performance and Portugal and Italy go out early. Meanwhile, Spain could leapfrog France with a strong showing at the tournament.
It is highly unlikely that Germany will lose their place as the all-time top scorers, given that Die Mannschaft have a significant lead over other nations to go with their host status.
Highest scoring players in Euros history
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Some of the best forwards of all time have played at the European Championships over the years, including Marco van Basten, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. Who has scored the most Euros goals?
Cristiano Ronaldo - 14
Michel Platini - 9
Alan Shearer, Antoine Griezmann - 7
It should come as no surprise that Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top goalscorer at the European Championships. Euro 2024 will mark his sixth appearance at the tournament after first playing at Euro 2004 as a 19-year-old.
Michael Platini's nine goals are incredibly impressive when you consider all of them came in one tournament in 1984. Platini scored in every match, with the mercurial Frenchman scoring a famous hat-trick against Yugoslavia in the group stages.
Antoine Griezmann will be hoping to leapfrog Platini during Euro 2024. The Atletico Madrid forward is still a key player for France, and usually saves his best performances for the national team. He beat Ronaldo to the Euro 2016 Golden Boot with six goals.
Players who have made their mark in European Championships
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While Griezmann and Ronaldo deserve recognition for their impressive longevity, other goalscorers have left their mark on this competition by performing exceptionally in certain editions.
Platini's performances in Euro 1984 are unrivalled, but a special mention should also go to Marco van Basten for his five goals scored in 1988 to help the Netherlands to their one and only major tournament success. His volley against the Soviet Union in the final is widely regarded as the best Euro goal of all time.
Milan Baros was also mightily impressive during Euro 2004 for the Czech Republic. His five goals during the tournament in Portugal left Liverpool fans questioning whether the real Milan Baros had been replaced by a different one just for the tournament.
Highest scoring team at Euro 2020
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More goals were scored at Euro 2020 than in any other previous European Championships. It was the second time that 24 teams had taken part, and 142 goals were scored across 51 matches.
The teams that scored the most goals during the tournament were Spain and Italy, who both netted 13 times across seven matches. England conceded the fewest goals in the tournament (two).
Which team will score the most goals at Euro 2024?
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There is a plethora of attacking talent at Euro 2024 with England, Portugal and France all stacked in attacking positions.
It is difficult to look past France when predicting the team that will score the most goals at Euro 2024. They have the Euro 2016 Golden Boot winner in their ranks, in addition to the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot winner, Kylian Mbappe.
Despite that, it's difficult to bet against England and Harry Kane. The Bayern Munich man netted 44 goals across all competitions this season and will be desperate to lead England to glory this summer.
Andrew Delaney
