Technical and tactical analysis of goals scored in the 2024 European Football Championship

The purpose of this study was to examine the goals scored in the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship in terms of their timing, attacking patterns, and finishing techniques using a descriptive match analysis approach. The study aimed to identify the predominant attacking trends in modern football and to provide scientific evidence that may contribute to the development of defensive strategies against these attacking behaviors. The research was conducted following approval from the Ethics Committee of the Graduate School of Health Sciences at Gümüşhane University. Data were obtained from UEFA's official website dedicated to the EURO 2024 tournament, and the analysis process was supported by the TFF Video Supervisor applications.The results indicated that goals were most frequently scored during the 16–30 and 76–90 minute intervals. The majority of goals resulted from organized positional attacks, while set pieces made a substantial contribution; fast and direct attacks had a more limited impact. In terms of finishing techniques, most goals were scored using the foot, whereas headers and penalties constituted secondary sources of goal scoring. These findings suggest that structured attacking organizations and foot-based finishing play a decisive role in goal production in modern football, with goal timing predominantly concentrated in the middle and final phases of matches.