Euro 2020 Young Player of the Tournament Preview

With Euro2020 fast approaching, online bookmakers such as the ones featured on www.whichbookie.com have released their odds for a selection of betting markets. Of course, there are all the usual markets that you’d expect to find available such as the tournament winner, team to reach the final, top scorer and several more. However, there are also a handful of betting markets that fly under the radar of most punters but are quite interesting. This is especially true for the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’ betting market.

The UEFA European Championship Player Of The Tournament award was only introduced at Euro 20216 and so this is only the second time this betting market has been available and with several promising young players set to make appearances at this years tournament, it could be a market that has some value.

Portugal’s Renato Sanches was the first player to win the award at Euro 2016 and also became the youngest player to feature in a European Championships final; a record that was previously held by fellow Portuguese teammate Cristiano Ronaldo since 2004.

Portugal won Euro 2016 and so you may conclude that a player has a greater chance of winning the award should they go all the way with their country. Of course, there are no winners prior to Sanches to back up this fact but we could look at the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award that has been running for several years.

Previous winners include:

• 1996 – Matthias Sammer – Germany – Won Euro 1996
• 2000 – Zinedine Zidane – France – Won Euro 200
• 2004 – Theodoros Zagorakis – Greece – Won Euro 2004
• 2008 – Xavi – Spain – Won Euro 2008
• 2012 – Andres Iniesta – Spain – Won Euro 2012
• 2016 – Antoine Griezmann – France – Won Euro 2016

As you can see, ever player who has won the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award in the Euros ever the past 25 years has played for the winning country. As that was also the case when Sanches won the award when playing for Portugal in 2016, it’s more than likely that the Euro 2020 Young Player of the Tournament award will go to a player from the winning team.

So, which young players are tipped for the award and which countries do they play for?

Note that to qualify for the Young Player of the Tournament, players must be 22 years of age or under.

Phil Foden – England – 20 years of age

Young Player of the Tournament Odds: 5/1

Phil Foden is the bookies favourite for the Euro 2020 Young Player of the Year award and is priced at 5/1. 

The 20 year old plays as a midfielder for Manchester City where he has been throughout his career and has made 65 senior appearances, scoring 12 goals in those games.

Foden was the youngest recipient of a Premier League winners’ medal after winning the league with Manchester City and is expected to feature heavily in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 plans.

With England currently favourites to win Euro2020, it’s no surprise to see Foden ranked the same for the Young Player of the Tournament award.

Matthijs de Ligt – The Netherlands – 21 years of age

Young Player of the Tournament Odds: 9/1

Matthijs de Ligt is a Dutch professional footballer who has been playing as a centre-back for Serie A club Juventus since joining the club from Ajax in 2019. He’s made 26 appearances for his senior national side and scored two goals.

de Ligt has experience in big games having won the Eredivisie with Ajax in 2019 and finishing runner up in the Europa League in 2017. He has also won Serie A in 2020, with Juvenus and finished as runner up in the UEFA Nations League with The Netherlands in 2019.

Although it isn’t out of the question for a defender to win a Player of the Tournament award, they generally go to midfielders for forwards. Also, with The Netherlands being 12/1 to win Euro 2020, there are doubts whether de Ligt will get enough games to impress.

Jadon Sancho – England – 21 years of age

Young Player of the Tournament Odds: 12/1

Jadon Sancho is one of England’s most promising young talents and after stints at Watford and Manchester City, now plays as a winger for Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for which he has made 31 appearances for this season and scored 12 goals. Perhaps even more impressive is that Sancho made 16 assists throughout those games also.

If Sancho can work his way into the starting XI for England, he could be in with a chance of claiming the award.

Several other young prospects for up for the Euro 2020 Young Player of the Tournament award with bookies such as Sky Bet and Bet Victor providing this market.