With the 2024 UEFA European Championship group-stage qualifiers having just concluded, we take a look at the top 10 most prolific marksmen throughout the campaign!
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Only three spots remain to be filled for European football's biggest international prize in Germany next year. Along the way, there have been some phenomenal campaigns, most notably from Portugal, with the 2016 winners completing their group stage journey by winning all 10 matches.
Spearheading this tremendous success was national team icon and captain Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite the veteran striker plying his trade in Saudi Arabia, the attacker has shown no signs of diminishing as he scored 10 goals in nine qualifying matches.
He managed to extend his record as the leading goalscorer in European Championship qualifying history to 41 goals, but as far as the chart for the 2024 edition is concerned, he only managed to finish in second place.
Ahead of the Real Madrid legend at the summit of the golden boot chart is AS Roma's Romelu Lukaku. Like Ronaldo, many people probably thought Lukaku's ability was waning following a troubled 2022/23 campaign, but not only has he had a resurgence under Jose Mourinho in the Eternal City, but he has maintained his prolific form for his national team too.
The Belgian attacker found the back of the net a remarkable 14 times in eight matches for the Red Devils as the fifth highest-ranked side in the world also completed their group-stage campaign without suffering defeat.
A team that was extremely close to finishing with a perfect record was France. Les Bleus were ultimately thwarted by Greece on the final matchday as they drew 2-2, when manager Didier Deschamps probably should've started Kylian Mbappe if he wanted to win, as his goal was the difference between the two sides when they first met in Paris. That goal at the Stade de France was one of the nine goals Mbappe scored throughout qualifying as he finished behind Lukaku and Ronaldo to complete the podium positions.
All of the players who are in the top 10 have already secured passage with their respective nations to head to Germany next year, or are at least still in contention to qualify, except for one. His name is Erling Haaland. The 2023 Ballon d'Or runner-up scored six goals in five appearances for Norway but was unable to help his nation qualify for a major tournament for the first time in 24 years. Perhaps if he was fit enough to play in the matches against Spain, Georgia and Scotland, the Lions would've at least managed to get a good enough goal difference that would see them go to the play-offs, but that was not the case.
Haaland is going to have to try again during 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification to get to his first major competition with his country, something he will likely be longing for having already had tremendous success in club football.
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