BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1622887
This article is part of the Research TopicFootball training and competitionView all 15 articles
The Numbers Behind Success: Key Metrics for Advancing in Male Euro 2024
Provisionally accepted
Adrián Martín-Castellanos1
Marcos Raphael Pereira-Monteiro2
Dr. Francisco Hermosilla Perona1,3*
Manuel Barba Ruíz1
Diego Muriarte Solana4
Enrique Alonso1,5- 1Faculty of Health Sciences and Sports, Alfonso X El Sabio University, Madrid, Spain
- 2Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão 49100-5 000, Sergipe, Brazil., Sergipe, Brazil
- 3Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida y la Naturaleza, Universidad Nebrija, 28248 Madrid, Spain, Madrid, Spain
- 4Departamento de Deportes. Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040. Madrid, Spain., Madrid, Spain
- 5Universidad Europea de Madrid. Department of Sports Sciences. Faculty of Medicine, Health and Sports., Madrid, Spain
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
This study aimed to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that distinguish football teams advancing through the group and knockout stages in the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament. A total of 51 matches were analyzed, including 66 variables sourced from official UEFA statistics. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to reduce the dataset, retaining variables with eigenvalues greater than 1 and factor loadings of at least 0.6, resulting in a final selection of 37 KPIs. These variables were grouped into five categories: distribution, attacking, defending, goalkeeping, and disciplinary. Generalized linear models were used to compare team performance based on progression status in each phase. In the group stage, advancing teams showed significantly better performance in variables such as Goals Conceded and Passes Completed Backward. In the knockout stage, new decisive KPIs emerged, including Pass Accuracy, Goals Scored Inside the Penalty Area, Assists, Solo Runs Into Key Play Area, and Tackles. Effect sizes for variables like Ball Possession, Attacks, and Goalkeeping metrics increased, highlighting their growing influence. Overall, effective distribution, minimal goals conceded, and offensive effectiveness were critical for progression. While discipline was relevant during the group stage, its importance diminished in the knockout rounds. These results provide practical implications for coaches and analysts, emphasizing the importance of strategic flexibility and data-driven preparation throughout different stages of tournament play.
Keywords: Football, KPI, performance analysis, Soccer, UEFA
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Martín-Castellanos, Pereira-Monteiro, Hermosilla Perona, Barba Ruíz, Solana and Alonso. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dr. Francisco Hermosilla Perona, Faculty of Health Sciences and Sports, Alfonso X El Sabio University, Madrid, Spain
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.