Fernandes the star of Euro 2024 best XI as Ronaldo-less Portugal crush Luxembourg
The European qualifiers are complete for this round and there were a few crushing scores in the most recent fixtures. Portugal proved that they are more than capable without Cristiano Ronaldo, putting nine past Luxembourg. Spain beat Cyprus 6-0, Greece won 5-0 against Gibraltar and Belgium got the better of Estonia by a 5-0 scoreline.
Here we look at the best XI from the latest round of fixtures in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Milan Mijatovic (Montenegro) – 8.33
Montenegro held on to victory against Bulgaria in their most recent fixture with a backs to the wall performance after going down to 10 men in the 59th minute. The star of the show was Milan Mijatovic who was the highest rated goalkeeper in the round with a rating of 8.33. The stopper was well worth his rating with a massive penalty stop as well as a total of six saves.
Spain were rampant against Cyprus with a 6-0 victory to keep the pressure on group leaders Scotland. The Real Madrid defender was awarded a WhoScored.com rating of 8.69 for his showing which saw the 31-year-old provide two assists within three minutes, make two tackles and two key passes on top of playing a key role in securing the clean sheet.
Goncalo Inacio (Portugal) – 9.18
Portugal kept yet another clean sheet in Euro 2024 qualifying with the Group J leaders still yet to concede. However, it’s not just his defensive acumen that sees Inacio included here, but the Sporting CP defender managed to find himself on the scoresheet on two occasions in the 9-0 victory. He was also a master passer with a 91% accuracy from his 109 attempted passes.
Konstantinos Mavropanos (Greece) – 8.93
Another goalscoring centre back is West Ham’s Konstantinos Mavropanos, he scored a goal in both halves to help Greece on their way to a five goal victory over Gibraltar in Group B. He also had a pass accuracy of 94% with 89 of his 95 passes finding the target and won a total of three aerial duels all contributing to his rating of 8.93.
Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia) – 9.64
Slovenia travelled to San Marino for their Euro 2024 qualifier where they ran out 4-0 winners. With two goals, an assist and a 90% pass accuracy, Zan Karnicnik was the stand out performer in the fixture and with a rating of 9.64 makes it into the team of the round.
Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku features in the best XI from the round with a WhoScored.com rating of 9.10. Against Estonia, he was enjoying his time on the ball completing a total of six dribbles, at least four more than any other player in the fixture. The 21-year-old also played provider setting up Charles De Ketelaere for the fifth and final goal on top of providing a total of five key passes in the game.
Dimitris Pelkas (Greece) – 9.40
Dimitris Pelkas was the Player of the Match in Greece’s win over Gibraltar with the Istanbul Basaksehir player causing the visitors all kinds of problems. The 29-year-old opened the scoring in the ninth minute and also provided Mavropanos for the second goal of the game. He made a total of five key passes and made two successful dribbles on his way to a rating of 9.40.
Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) – 10.0
Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes is the WhoScored.com player of the round with a perfect 10 rating for his efforts against Luxembourg. The Manchester United captain was excellent in the emphatic victory completing a hattrick of assists as well as getting on the scoresheet. He had a total of seven key passes in the fixture, at least five more than any other player, and now boasts the most in the competition (24).
The second Spanish inclusion is Nico Williams who makes the side with a WhoScored.com rating of 8.74. The 21-year-old was one of Spain’s key creative outlets against Cyprus with a total of five key passes and two assists for La Roja.
Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 9.53
Euro 2024 qualifying has been a happy hunting ground for the ex-Manchester United frontman and Romelu Lukaku tops the goalscoring charts with eight goals so far in the competition. He added two to his tally in the 5-0 victory over Estonia, as well as an assist, before being withdrawn after an hour.
Rounding off the XI is Liverpool’s Diogo Jota. With a WhoScored.com rating of 9.62 the 26-year-old is well deserving of his inclusion. He found the back of the net on two occasions against Luxembourg as well as providing an assist for Ricardo Horta.
