Learn the history of the European championships

France 1960

The first ever European championship has been held in France in 1960. Only 4 teams have taken part in the tournament and it has started directly from the semi-finals. All the other stages of the competition have been a part of the qualifying campaign. The 4 semi-finalists were Czechoslovakia, France (hosts), the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The rules of the qualifiers have also been different. There has been a preliminary round, in which Czechoslovakia have won 4-2 on aggregate against Republic of Ireland. The next stage has been called “1^st round”, followed by the quarterfinals. The most interesting fact is the qualification of the Soviet Union. They have secured their place at the Euro 1960, because the Spaniards have refused to travel to the Soviet Union. However, The Red Army have eventually become the first ever European champions after a 3-0 victory against Czechoslovakia in the semi-finals and a 2-1 victory against Yugoslavia in the final match after extra time. Viktor Ponedelnik has scored the winning goal in the 113^th minute of the final match. It’s interesting that his last name means “Monday”. The third place has been won by Czechoslovakia

1. Soviet Union
2. Yugoslavia
3. Czechoslovakia

Spain 1964

The rules of the Euro 1964 have been the same as in 1960. So, again only 4 teams have taken part in the finals. The biggest surprise of the qualifying campaign has been the team of Luxembourg, which has reached the quarterfinals after a draw and a victory against Holland. Then, The Red Lions have played a playoff against Denmark after 2 draws against The Red Dynamite, but Luxembourg have lost it 0-1 and that’s how Denmark have reached the semi-finals. The Soviet Union’s team has been among the best in the world at that time. The Red Army have reached the final on second consecutive occasion, but this time the host nation Spain has won the final.

1. Spain
2. Soviet Union
3. Hungary

Italy 1968

This time the qualifying system was different (8 groups and the winners of them play at the quarterfinals). This time 2 new teams reached the finals. The Euro 1968 is the first European championship for England. The Three Lions won qualifying group 8, leaving behind them the teams of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Then, England beat twice Spain to find their place in the semi-finals of the competition. Unfortunately, England lost to Yugoslavia 0-1, but won the third place after a victory against the Soviet Union. Geoff Hurst and Bobby Charlton found the Soviet Union’s net in the 3^rd place playoff. But what is more interesting? Italy, who eventually became the European champions were close to be eliminated in the quarterfinals, where they lost the first leg to Bulgaria 2-3. The Italians won the second leg 2-0 and found their place in the semi-finals. Then, Italy had a huge luck again. The match against the Soviet Union finished with a 0-0 draw. And the winner was decided by a coin toss.

“I went up with the Russian captain. We went down to the dressing rooms together, accompanied by two administrators from the two teams. The referee pulled out an old coin and I called tails. It was the right call and Italy were through to the final. I went racing upstairs as the stadium was still full and about 70,000 fans were waiting to hear the result. My celebrations told them that they could celebrate an Italian victory,” Facchetti said. That’s how Italy reached the final match against Yugolavia, which they won after a replay (with luck again). They equalized to 1-1 in the 80^th minute of the final and won the replay 2-0.

1. Italy
2. Yugoslavia
3. England

Belgium 1972

That was the fourth consecutive European championship for the Soviet Union. However, the Russians could never repeat their results from 1960. Belgium and West Germany made their debuts at the European championships in 1972 and the Germans made a remarkable performance, winning their first European title, after 2-1 victory against the host nation Belgium in the semi-finals and a smashing 3-0 victory against the Soviet Union in the final match. We have to say that England were very close to qualify, but lost 1-3 on aggregate to the then-champions West Germany.

1. West Germany
2. Soviet Union
3. Belgium

Yugoslavia 1976

The first hat-trick in the European championship’s history was scored at the Euro 1976. Dieter Muller of West Germany was his author in German’s victory at the semi-finals against Yugoslavia. However, West Germany eventually lost the final to Czechoslovakia on penalties, after finishing with a 2-2 draw. This result is one of the biggest surprises at the European championships ever. The glorious victory for Czechoslovakia came after Panenka took his cheeky penalty, which secured the title. The Euro 1976 was the first European championship, in which the Soviet Union couldn’t qualify. The Russians were defeated in the quarterfinals from the then-champions Czechoslovakia (4-2 on aggregate).

1. Czechoslovakia
2. West Germany
3. Holland

Italy 1980

The Euro 1980 was the first extended European championship, as the number of the qualified teams doubled to 8. That was also the first occasion when the host nation qualified automatically, without taking part in the qualifiers. Except the host nation, the winners in the 7 qualifying groups found their places in the Euro 1980.

However, the rules of the final tournament were again very different from nowadays’ regulations. There were 2 groups, as the winner of which played in the final match. The second best teams in both groups took part in the 3^rd place playoff. Another different thing is the pointing system, which was giving 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. England recorded 2^nd appearance at the European championships, but The Three Lions couldn’t make it to the final. After a 1-1 draw against Belgium, England lost 0-1 to the host nation Italy. In the third game, The Three Lions beat Spain 2-1.

The final was a repetition of the semi-final match of the Euro 1972. West Germany beat Belgium 2-1 with a great strike by Hrubesch in the last minutes of the game. It’s interesting that the 27 goals of the tournament were scored by 22 different players.

1. West Germany
2. Belgium
3. Czechoslovakia

France 1984

The rules were changed again, as the best two teams of the two groups proceeded to the semi-finals. There was also no match for the third place.

To continue, this European championship will be remembered with the incredible performance of the former UEFA president – Michel Platini. The forward scored in France’s every single game of the tournament. In addition, he bagged two hat-tricks and became the top goal-scorer of the Euro 1984 with 9 goals. France were simply the best team at this tournament. The Blues beat Denmark (1-0), Belgium (5-0), Yugoslavia (3-2), Portugal (3-2) and Spain (2-0 in the final).

1. France
2. Spain

Losing semi-finalists: Denmark and Portugal

West Germany 1988

The first and only European title for Holland, won by the Dutchman at the Olympiastadion in Munich. A remarkable performance by Ruud Gullit and the star forward Marco van Basten, who scored a classic volley in the final match against the Soviet Union. The other hero for Holland was the goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen, who saved Igor Belanov’s shot from the penalty spot. Marco van Basten became the top goal-scorer of the tournament, netting 5 goals. Van Basten scored 3 of his goals in England’s net. However, The Three Lions finished on the bottom of their group with 0 points, which was a complete disappointment for the nation.

On the other hand, the Soviet Union became the country with the biggest number of lost finals. After the success in 1960, The Red Army lost 3 final matches.

1. Holland
2. Soviet Union

Losing semi-finalists: Italy and West Germany

Sweden 1992

UEFA Euro 1992 in Sweden had one of the most surprising denouements in history of football. The whole story began when UEFA disqualified Yugoslavia, because of the breakup of the country and the war at that time. Denmark, which team finished in 2^nd place in the qualifying group took the place of Yugoslavia. No one has expected anything of the Danish team. The head coach Richard Møller Nielsen has urgently selected the players, who have already been on a vacation. By the way, Nielsen has been criticized a lot before the start of the European championship.

However, Denmark started with a 0-0 draw against England and again at this stage no one could believe what are the Danish players going to achieve. Then, the host nation Sweden recorded a minimal 1-0 victory against The Red Dynamite and it looked like Denmark will head for home after the third match of their group against the favourites France. But, as a joke, Denmark recorded an incredible 2-1 victory against France and took the second place of their group, as England lost 2-1 to Sweden.

The next heroic moment for Nielsen’s players was in the semi-finals against the defending champions Holland. At the end of the match the score was 2-2, so both teams needed to take penalties, in order to decide who goes to the final. Surprisingly, Marco van Basten missed from the penalty spot and sent Denmark in the final for the first and only time in their history.

Surprise after surprise at the Euro 1992… In the final match, John Jensen, who had scored less than 15 goals in his overall career, opened the score. The defensive midfielder found the net with a clinical finish from about 20 metres. Vifort scored the second goal for Denmark against Germany, 12 minutes before the final whistle. But the real hero for the Red Dynamite was the legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who made over 10 saves against Klinsmann and co.

1. Denmark
2. Germany

Losing semi-finalists: Sweden and Holland

England 1996

The first European championship in England in 1996 was one of the most glorious for The Three Lions. There was a new rule, which included 8 more teams in the final tournament, so the total number of the teams became 16. England had a very strong team. Alan Shearer (who became the top goal-scorer with 5 goals), Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince and Teddy Sheringham were part of the English squad at the Euro 1996.

England recorded a draw against Switzerland (1-1) on the opening day. But, then The Three Lions showed really good performance and smashed Scotland and Holland, to find their place at the quarterfinals. In the knockout stage, the task was far from easy. But, England beat Spain on penalties after 0-0 draw in the regular time. But, we all know that England are always unlucky against the Germans, and Germany beat The Three Lions on penalties to find their place in the final.

Surprisingly, the other finalist was the Czech Republic, but they had a very good team and reaching the final for them wasn’t accidentally. Karel Poborsky scored one of the most amazing goals in the tournament in the 1-0 victory against Portugal after a great lob shot from about 20 metres. Other key players in Czech Republic’s team were Pavel Nedved, Patrik Berger, Kadlec and many other quality footballers.

The Czech Republic were about to make another surprise at the European championship after Patrik Berger scored from the penalty spot against Germany in the 59^th minute of the final match. Then, the German head coach Berti Vogts played Oliver Bierhoff. The forward equalized just 4 minutes after he came from the bench and led the match to extra time. In the 95^th minute, Bierhoff again took a shot towards Kouba’s goal and the goalkeeper made a terrible mistake, allowing the striker to find his net again. There was the rule for “golden goal”, which meant Germany won the game after their goal in the extra time.

1. Germany
2. Czech Republic

Losing semi-finalists: England and France

Belgium & Holland 2000

UEFA Euro 2000 was the first European championship, which was held in two countries. Both, Belgium and Holland, qualified as co-hosts. England also find their place at the tournament, after a 2-0 victory in the playoffs against Scotland with 2 goals, scored by Paul Scholes.

England led by 2-0 against Portugal in the first match of the group stage, but eventually lost 2-3. However, Alan Shearer secured a 1-0 victory against the defending European champions Germany, which meant that The Three Lions need just 1 point against the underdogs Romania. But Phil Neville made a stupid foul in the box which was crucial for the final score of 3-2 in Romania’s favour. Another huge disappointment for The Three Lions…

France become the champions of Europe for the second time in their history, but they were so lucky to do it with 2 golden goals (in the semi-final against Portugal and in the final match against Italy). The Frenchmen were about to lose the final against Italy, when, in the 3^rd minute of the added time of the game Wiltord found Toldo’s net. Then, David Trezeguet scored an incredible golden goal and secured the second European title for the French team. Zinedine Zidane became the best player of the tournament.

1. France
2. Italy

Losing semi-finalists: Holland and Portugal

Portugal 2004

Even more surprising than the Euro 1992, UEFA Euro 2004 was full of unexpected results. As an outcome, the total underdogs Greece lifted the trophy in their second ever participation at the European championships for everyone’s amusement. The Greeks started with a victory in the opening match against the host nation Portugal (2-1). Then, Greece surprised Spain, finishing with a 1-1, which was enough for them to go through the knockout stage. In the final game of the group stage, they lost 1-2 to Russia. However, Charisteas, then scored the only goal in the quarterfinal match against France. Otto Rehhagel’s players eliminated Czech Republic in the semi-finals, after Traianos Dellas goal in the extra time of the game.

The final match was a repetition of the first match of the group stage – Portugal against Greece. No one has expected that the Greeks can repeat their performance from the first match against the Portuguese team, in which there were names like Luis Figo, Deco, Pauleta, Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo. But, Charisteas made the whole host nation cry, after he found the net in the 57^th minute.

1. Greece
2. Portugal

Losing semi-finalists: Czech Republic and Holland

Austria and Switzerland 2008

UEFA Euro 2008 was the beginning of Spain’s domination at international level. The Spaniards won their second major international tournament in 2008. La Furia Roja went unbeaten in their group, winning all of their 3 matches (against Russia, Sweden and Greece). Then, Spain beat Italy (on penalties), Russia (in the semi-finals) and Germany (1-0 in the final), before they lifted the most prestigious trophy in Europe.

However, the biggest surprise at the tournament were the teams of Russia and Turkey. The Russians beat Sweden and Greece in the group stage. Then, they won against Holland 3-1, with two goals, scored in the extra time of the match, before losing in the semi-finals against the then-champions Spain. The Turkish team was very close to reach the final, but lost at the semi-finals to Germany with Lahm’s goal in the very last minute of the match.

In conclusion, the Spaniards were just better than every other team in the competition. They scored 12 goals in 6 games. David Villa became the top goal-scorer with 4 goals.

1. Spain
2. Germany

Losing semi-finalists: Russia and Turkey

Poland & Ukraine 2012

That was the second consecutive European title for Spain, and the 3^rd for La Furia Roja. Their remarkable performance unimpeded lead them to the final match against Italy, won by the Spaniards with the smashing 4-0.

Holland were the disappointment of the tournament, finishing in 4^th position of their group, losing all of their matches. Another big surprise in the tournament was that Italy found their place in the final match after a 2-1 victory against the favourites of Germany. Balotelli found the German net twice, before Ozil scored from the penalty spot in the last minute of the game.

Deservedly, Andres Iniesta became the best player of the tournament. The playmaker of Barcelona was simply unstoppable, after he had already boosted his confidence after winning the World Cup in 2010.

1. Spain
2. Italy

Losing semi-finalists: Portugal and Germany