Who will be the Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament? GOAL writers have their say

Joe Strange: What better way for Kylian Mbappe to celebrate his protracted move to Real Madrid than by absolutely ripping up the Euros? France’s talisman heads into the tournament off the back of one last brilliant season for Paris Saint-Germain - despite plenty of issues on and off the pitch - and will be fuelled by his World Cup heartache, having scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final only to watch Lionel Messi and Argentina lift the trophy. Expect Galactico performances galore in Germany.

James Westwood: Germany are enjoying a resurgence under Julian Nagelsmann and will take some beating on home soil, especially with Jamal Musiala pulling the strings. The 21-year-old enjoyed another superb individual campaign at Bayern Munich, driving them forward at every opportunity with his excellent dribbling skills and eye for a killer pass. There is a reason Musiala has been described as Germany's answer to Lionel Messi, and they are certainly capable of going all the way if he's firing on all cylinders.

Matt O'Connor-Simpson: Kylian Mbappe will be looking to whet the footballing world’s appetite ahead of his blockbuster move to Real Madrid. And he should be coming into the tournament in decent physical condition, having spent the second half of the season being rotated in and out of the Paris Saint-Germain first team, something he himself noted recently. “I'm going to find the best form possible and my objective is to put the team in the best possible position at the Euros. We want to bring the trophy home.” That’s us convinced.

Stephen Darwin: After his remarkable 2023-24 campaign with Manchester City, that saw him play a huge role in propelling Pep Guardiola's side to Premier League glory, the pressure is now on Phil Foden to take that form into an international tournament. In the past, Gareth Southgate never seemed sure of playing the 24-year-old from the start in a Three Lions shirt, but given the season he's had, he's simply undroppable. Euro 2024 is set-up to be Foden's tournament and, who knows, perhaps he'll inspire England to glory.

Richard Martin: This is the Jude Bellingham era; we're all just living in it! The ultra-confident boy from Birmingham has just turned up at Real Madrid and owned the place, firing them to La Liga and Champions League glory. But as he recently said with all seriousness, this is not a dream, but exactly how he envisaged things when he was growing up and planning out his career. Bellingham will be out to make his mark on this Euros after being just a squad player at the last one and having a good but not great World Cup. Now is the time to leave his mark on a major tournament and complete what has already been a sensational season.

Mark Doyle: Cristiano Ronaldo is still Portugal’s star attraction, but he’s no longer their best player. As the 2022 World Cup proved, that title now belongs to Bruno Fernandes, an attacking midfielder so gifted that he manages to create more chances than anyone else across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues while playing for Manchester United. Portugal could easily go all the way in Germany; if they do, Bruno should be the star of the show.

Amee Ruszkai: I've picked France as my tournament winner (spoiler alert!), and if that proves to be the case, then Kylian Mbappe will no doubt be to the forefront. With his Real Madrid move now confirmed, there's no danger of a distraction there and he'll instead be fully focused on helping France deliver after they fell well short four years ago. That wasn't a great tournament for Mbappe either and he'll be keen to make up for it. I'm expecting form similar to the 2022 World Cup, rather than Euro 2020.

Krishan Davis: It will take something pretty special for Germany to win this tournament, even with the advantage of playing on home soil, but in Florian Wirtz they have that something special. The attacking midfielder was sensational for Bayer Leverkusen in their incredible unbeaten domestic campaign - Julian Nagelsmann will just hope he has enough in the tank to replicate the form that yielded 38 goal contributions in all competitions for his club. He can be Die Mannschaft's creator-in-chief.

Tom Maston: Six months ago, the thought of Toni Kroos playing at Euro 2024 was something of a pipedream. The veteran midfielder retired from international football following the previous Euros, but Julian Nagelsmann has managed to coax the Germany legend back for one last job. As its turned out, this will now the final time we see Kroos on a football field, with the 34-year-old having shockingly announced he will retire from the game this summer. Expect him to go out with a bang, then, and continue the superb form he showed for Real Madrid over the course of the past campaign.