The best Euro final performances by Bundesliga players
With Dani Olmo clinching the UEFA Euro 2024 trophy for Spain against England, bundesliga.com looks at the best Euro final performances to date from Bundesliga players…
1980: Horst Hrubesch
The European Championship final of 1980 saw striker Horst Hrubesch become the hero for West Germany as they beat Belgium 2-1 in the final in Rome. Hrubesch, of Hamburg at the time, scored two goals either side of a René Vandereycken penalty to secure the victory. The first was a crisp finish on the bounce from the edge of the box, while the second was a trademark header clipped in from a corner with just two minutes remaining - as West Germany claimed their second European championship crown.
Hrubesch already had a long track record of prolific scoring in the German game, having scored 21 goals in 34 games in the 1979-80 Bundesliga season for Hamburg leading up to the tournament, and netting an astonishing 42 in 35 appearances for Rot-Weiss Essen in the North 2 Bundesliga in 1977/78.
Hrubesch scored 96 Bundesliga goals in total for Hamburg in addition to a further 40 league goals scored in total for two other sides - Borussia Dortmund and Rot-Weiss Essen. Hrubesch’s silverware collection only continued to grow after his standout moment in the international game too, as he won two consecutive league titles with Hamburg in the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons, to add to his Bundesliga winners medal from the 1978-79 season. The clinical Hrubesch also tasted European success with Hamburg winning the European Cup, today’s equivalent of the Champions League, in the 1982-83 season.
Hrubesch wasn’t the only Bundesliga legend to become a European Champion in 1980, however. His teammates on that night in Rome included Fortuna Düsseldorf’s Klaus Allofs, Bayern Munich’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Stuttgart’s Hansi Müller to name a few.
1992: Brian Laudrup
Euro 1992 saw Denmark shock the world as they took the trophy home having only qualified for the tournament ten days before the start, as a late replacement for war-struck Yugoslavia. Denmark beat Berti Vogt’s Germany side, which contained Jürgen Klinsmann, Andreas Brehme and Matthias Sammer, 2-0 thanks to goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort.
Also a part of this incredible Denmark team was Brian Laudrup, of Bayern Munich at the time. A wonderful assist for Henrik Larsen to head the opening goal against the Netherlands in the semi-finals illustrated why the skillful Laudrup was named in UEFA's team of the tournament.
In his two years at Bayern, Laudrup made 54 Bundesliga appearances scoring 11 goals and recording 14 assists, in addition to picking up the European Super Cup trophy in the 1990-91 season. Laudrup had previously made 34 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer Uerdingen before joining Bayern. Outside of his time in the Bundesliga, Laudrup also played for European giants Ajax, AC Milan and Chelsea.
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1996: Matthias Sammer
1996 saw the European Championship trophy return to Germany, as two goals from Oliver Bierhoff saw them defeat Czech Republic 2-1 after extra-time. Borussia Dortmund’s Patrik Berger scored the Czech side's only goal in this game.
That the spot-kick was awarded after a foul from Berger's club teammate Matthias Sammer does not detract from the fact that he was a defensive great at the peak of his powers, deservedly taking home the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award following his commanding performances at the back alongside the likes of Bayern’s defensive duo Markus Babbel and Thomas Helmer.
Sammer’s success at Euro ’96 followed a brilliant season at club level, where he had won his second consecutive Bundesliga title with Dortmund as well as the German Super Cup in the 1995-96 season. In the following season, Sammer was in equally fine form, winning the Champions League with Dortmund as they defeated a Juventus featuring Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps 3-1. On a personal level, 1996 saw Sammer named German footballer of the year as well as being named the winner of the Ballon d’Or.
2000: Bixente Lizarazu and Youri Djorkaeff
Just like in 1996, extra-time was needed to resolve the Euro 2000 final, this time between France and Italy. France were the eventual winners as substitutes Sylvain Wiltord and David Trezeguet came on to save the day with their two goals as France came from behind to win the final after Marco Delvecchio’s opener in the 55th minute.
There were two Bundesliga representatives in this triumphant French team - Bayern’s Bixente Lizarazu and Youri Djorkaeff of Kaiserslautern, both of whom started the final in Rotterdam, with Djorkaeff netting twice earlier in the tournament to secure France's progression to the showpiece event.
Lizarazu spent eight years at Bayern over two spells, making 183 Bundesliga appearances. The flying French full-back went into the tournament in fine form, having won a Bundesliga title, DFB Cup and German League Cup in the 1999-2000 season. During his time in Bavaria, Lizarazu picked up a total of 17 winners' medals, including six Bundesliga titles, a Champions League trophy and five DFB Cups.
Right-winger Djorkaeff spending three years at Kaiserslautern between 1999-2002. During this time he made 55 Bundesliga appearances, scoring 14 goals and playing alongside a young Miroslav Klose.
2004: Angelos Charisteas
The Euro 2004 final saw another surprise winner. While Germany weren’t involved this time, like in 1992, a German was in the dugout as Otto Rehhagel led Greece to a historic victory in Lisbon over a Portugal side with an abundance of talent, such as Luis Figo and a young Cristiano Ronaldo.
The match-winner for Rehhagel’s European champions was Werder Bremen’s Angelos Charisteas, who scored the only goal of the game with an iconic header as his country recorded their first-ever major championship win and shocked the host nation along with the rest of Europe.
Charisteas spent three years at Werder between 2002-2005, making 66 Bundesliga appearances and scoring 18 goals before moving to Ajax. During his time in the north of Germany, Charisteas won both a Bundesliga title and a DFB Cup as Werder completed the double in the 2003-2004 season, a season which ended spectacularly with Charisteas then also tasting, rather unexpectedly, success at international level too.
2024: Dani Olmo
Euro 2024 was hosted in Germany. A feelgood summer for the hosts was cut short in the quarter-finals by the eventual champions, Spain. La Roja's success in Berlin came 12 years after the final major title of the last great Spanish team, who had won back-to-back Euros in 2008 and 2012.
RB Leipzig attacking jewel Dani Olmo played a big part in Spain's run to the crown.
The 26-year-old was the joint Golden Boot winner at the tournament alongside five other players. No player managed more goal involvements than his five, however. With three goals and two assists, Olmo's star shone brightly during the tournament with match-winning moments against Germany and France.
In the final against England, although the Spaniard failed to register a goal or assist, he made a memorable headed clearance in the dying seconds to deny England's Marc Guéhi a near-certain goal and clinch the victory.
At club level, he has been nothing short of outstanding, despite facing injury issues in the recent past. Across 107 Bundesliga games for Leipzig so far, Olmo has scored 17 times and assisted a further 24 times in propelling some fantastic attacking sides. Perhaps his most memorable contribution at club level was scoring a hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the 2023 DFL Supercup at the Allianz Arena. He has clearly made something of a habit of stepping up in clutch moments throughout his career.
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