With an enchanting group game now over, we have our line-up for the first knockout round of Euro 2020 – and we know who will go home.
There may be some consolation for those who leave the tournament if they take a look at Stats Performs power ranking.
With the help of the Opta player index – which calculates ratings based on data collected from each game – we can reveal the 20 best artists from the group game.
Patrik Schick was top after match day one, while Jordi Alba claimed 1st place after two matches. Let’s see who’s cute after three …
Witsel is back / Isosport / MB Media / Getty Images
Witsel returned to the starting line when Belgium ended their group campaign with a 2-0 victory against Finland.
The Borussia Dortmund man was a driving force in the midfield when he won the ball 15 times in the competition, mostly by any player from both sides.
Koke has impressed / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
One of three Spanish players on this list, Koke had a strong game against Slovakia as he only placed six of 71 pass attempts in midfield.
The Atletico Madrid man completed 163 passes in the resistance half during the group stage, most of any midfielders apart from teammates Pedri (165) and Toni Kroos (217).
Locatelli participated in the group game / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
Locatelli was always likely to slip a bit down the rankings given that he climbed as high as 10th last time due to his double against Switzerland.
The Italian midfielder was an unused substitute in the 1-0 win over Wales but remains in this top 20, highlighting how impressive he was during the first two match days.
Ukraine is in the Round of 16 / Robert Ghement – Pool / Getty Images
He may have slipped down the list after Ukraine’s disappointing loss to Austria, but Yarmolenko is still in our top 20.
A goal run in three games in a row ended, but he was one of only four players in Ukraine who created a chance on match day three and finished the group with three direct goal involutions, a team-high together with Roman Yaremchuk.
Sarabia scored against Slovakia / Julio Munoz – Pool / Getty Images
When Spain finally lit the style in their 5-0 win over Slovakia, Sarabia showed why he deserves a place in Luis Enrique’s starting line-up.
His sweet finish early in the second half made it 3-0 and it was his pass that was sent in by Ferran Torres for the fourth. The Paris Saint-Germain edge produced a total of seven high-stakes crossings.
Modric stole the show against Scotland / Ian MacNicol / Getty Images
Modric became the youngest player in Croatia to score in 2008, becoming the oldest player for his country with a spectacular strike outside Scotland.
It covered a sublime performance in Glasgow where the 35-year-old tried 61 passes in the opposition half, well over double the number attempted by the top man in Scotland, Kieran Tierney (25).
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is a grafter / Wolfgang Rattay – Pool / Getty Images
Only one midfielder has created as many goal chances as Kevin De Bruyne (nine) at Euro 2020. Not many would have guessed that the man would be Denmark’s Hojbjerg.
The Tottenham star set up two of his side’s four goals against Russia to cover what has been a fantastic group game under tough circumstances.
Jorginho is the key to Italy / Claudio Villa / Getty Images
Jorginho finished all but one of his 51 passes to Wales before starting with 15 minutes left for a well-deserved rest before the 16th.
The Chelsea man had the second best passing rate (93.6) in this tournament among midfielders to try at least 200 during the group stage, just behind Kroos (94.3).
Ward has been in inspired form / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
Wales number one made five stops in the 1-0 defeat to Italy, which helped keep their goal difference strong enough to finish over Switzerland in Group A.
Among the goalkeepers who make at least eight saves in these finals, no one has a better saving percentage than Ward (86.7 percent). He has played a significant but underestimated role in his side’s progress towards knockouts.
Shaqiri is the key to Switzerland / Marcio Machado / Getty Images
When they need a result in Switzerland, Shaqiri does twice against Turkey to become his country’s leading scorer in big tournaments with seven.
The Liverpool man’s attack result has been extremely important for Vladimir Petkovic’s side; he has provided 15 shots and created chances combined, a figure only improved by Dutch freight forwarder Memphis Depay (16).
Andreas Christensen scored a great goal / Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
The spectacular goal against Russia was worth on its own to give Christensen a place among our highest ranked players, especially for the scenes of celebration that followed.
Of course, the Chelsea defender offered much more than a thunder from outside the box: he won the ball back eight times, his duel success of 92.3 percent the highest of all who competed more than one in the match (he was involved in 13).
Kroos ran the show against Hungary / Matthias Hangst / Getty Images
Germany cut things very, very close in their efforts to reach knockouts as they only avoided defeat against Hungary thanks to Leon Goretzka’s late equalizer.
Kroos really did his part to keep Joachim Low’s side alive; trying a remarkable 96 passes in the Hungarian half, he also played four correct posts. As I said, he leads the way among midfielders for his distribution on the attacking half of the field at these finals (217).
Wijnaldum scores goals for fun at international level / ANP Sport / Getty Images
Goals may have been flawed in his Liverpool career, but Wijnaldum has embraced a return to a more attacking role in this tournament.
The midfielder scored two goals against Northern Macedonia to move to 25 goals for his country, one more than Dirk Kuyt and the great Marco van Basten. Not a bad return for a man who only made eight in his first 50 international appearances.
Blind is still a quality player / Soccrates Images / Getty Images
The Netherlands are starting to look like a force to be reckoned with in these finals, having made it three victories out of three in commanding style against Northern Macedonia.
Blind finished 95 passes in that match, a figure that was only improved by five players on match day three, and he won the ball back a total of 10 times in the 3-0 victory.
Alba is deadly in the future / Thanassis Stavrakis – Pool / Getty Images
He may have dropped to sixth, but Alba has had a strong tournament and against Slovakia, the rest of the Spanish team seemed to remember his standard.
He set up Sarabia for a fine goal in the convincing 5-0 victory in Sevilla, where only teammate Aymeric Laporte (259) had completed more passes than the Barcelona defender (247) among the defenders in these finals.
Joakim Maehle has increased / Friedemann Vogel – Pool / Getty Images
Maehle covered a nice group game with Denmark’s final goal in the 4-1 thrashing of Russia which secured its place in the knockout phase.
He had more details (84) and competed for more duels (16) than any teammate in that game, all while delivering five posts from open play.
Lukaku is the second top shooter / Anton Vaganov – Pool / Getty Images
With three goals in three games, Lukaku is right in the hunt for the Golden Boot, especially with De Bruyne who is now back in Belgium.
The Inter-forward goal has come from just four shots on goal, which shows how ruthless a player he continues to be for his country.
Lukas Hradecky was fantastic – even though Finland was pretty poor / Lars Baron / Getty Images
Hradecky’s own goal on match day three was an unfortunate moment during what has been a fine tournament for Finland’s shooting stopper.
The highest ranked goalkeeper on our list, Hradecky saved 15 of the 17 shots on goal he met, seven of which came against Belgium.
KDB has been fantastic / Isosport / MB Media / Getty Images
Manchester City star De Bruyne is now firm in his step and plays almost every minute in the 2-0 victory against Finland.
In that game, he had 107 touches, tried 66 passes in the resistance half and created seven chances, one of which was taken by Lukaku. No player in these finals has created more goal chances than De Bruyne (nine in total).
Lewandowski scored two against Sweden / Dmitry Lovetsky – Pool / Getty Images
It may come as a small consolation as Poland is not in the competition, but the highest ranked player after match day three is Lewandowski.
He scored two outstanding goals against Sweden in his team’s 3-2 loss to give them a chance to capture a place in the 16s, while competing for a pile of 13 flying duels in an attempt to push his side through. It was a show that deserved better than finishing the bottom of the group.
