UEFA Euro 2012 23 best players over the course of the tournament. The group of eleven analysts watched every game at the tournament before making their decision after the final. Ten players from the winning Spanish team were selected in the team of the tournament, while Zlatan Ibrahimović was the only player to be included whose team was knocked out in the group stage. Fernando Torres tied with five other players on goals and with Mario Gómez on goals and assists; however, he played 92 fewer minutes than Gómez did, thus earning the title. Torres also became the first player to score in
History of the Belgium national football team (in 1970 and 1972, respectively). The Euro 1972 tournament, in which they finished third, was their first appearance at the European Championships. The period was also the glory days of four-time Belgian Golden Shoe and Belgian joint-topscorer Paul Van Himst, later elected Belgium's Golden Player between 1954 and 2004. After 1972, the next three attempts to qualify for a major tournament were all in vain. In their qualifiers for the 1974 World Cup they became the only national team to miss out on the World Cup without ever conceding a goal, as they finished behind rivals Netherlands on goal difference.