History of the European Championship

Since 1960, the UEFA European Championship (commonly called the Euro Cup, not the European Cup) has been played between national teams. It is regarded as the most esteemed competition in the world.

The UEFA European Championship was first held in 1980 when four teams (Czechoslovakia, France, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia) would be added to the tournament. Since then, the tournament has been extended on two additional occasions.

 

History of European football

Even though the first European Championships were held in 1960, the philosophy behind them dates back as far as 1927 when the French Football Federation’s administrator Henri Delaunay proposed the idea for a pan-European championship. Although Delaunay would later contribute to UEFA as the first General Secretary, the tournament already started when he had already passed away. In his honor, the tournament trophy is named in his honor.

 

In 2008, the trophy was remodeled and redesigned to make it larger and more in line with UEFA’s modern awards. It still features a juggling boy and the words "Championnat d'Europe" on the back. The new trophy is made of sterling silver, measures 60 centimeters tall, and weighs 8 kilograms (18 lb). The countries' names are now engraved on the back.

 

Germany and Spain, with three titles each, have won the most titles at the tournament. Despite that Spaniards have won the tournament more than once, they have only successfully defended their titles in 2012. German national teams have played the most matches in the tournament, this year scoring the most goals and recording the most victories. France has been the only nation to win all of its matches in a tournament. In 1992, Denmark won the title with just two victories in five games.

 

Over time, viewers of the European Champions have become increasingly interested. In 2016, the total live audience was 2 billion viewers for a 51-match tournament. When compared to the pre-Euro 2012 event, this was 100 million more viewers. The numbers were mostly influenced by audiences in Brazil and China, where the 1300 GMT time slot had a significant impact. The final match between France and Portugal drew 600 million people.

All host countries of the Euro

1960: France 

1964: Spain 

1968: Italy 

1972: Belgium 

1976: Yugoslavia 

1980: Italy 

1984: France 

1988: West Germany 

1992: Sweden 

1996: England 

2000: Belgium and Netherlands 

2004: Portugal 

2008: Austria and Switzerland 

2012: Poland and Ukraine 

2016: France

Finals of all European competitions

All finals including winners and runners-up of Euro 1960-2016.

Year	Home team*	Away team*	Result
2016	Portugal	France	1-0
2012	Spain	Italy	4-0
2008	Germany	Spain	0-1
2004	Portugal	Greece	0-1
2000	France	Italy	2-1
1996	Czech Republic	Germany	1-2
1992	Denmark	Germany	2-0
1988	Soviet Union	Netherlands	0-2
1984	France	Spain	2-0
1980	Belgium	West Germany	1-2
1976	Czechoslovakia	West Germany	5-3 (pen.)
1972	West Germany	Soviet Union	3-0
1968	Italy	Yugoslavia	2-0 (replay)†
1964	Spain	Soviet Union	2-1
1960	Soviet Union	Yugoslavia	2-1 (a.e.t.)

* The home and away teams are only technical.

* The first match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.

a.e.t. stands for after extra time.

pen. stands for penalties, meaning the match was decided after a penalty shootout.

Format

2016: The final phase included group play with six groups, from which two or three teams each did advance from. The knockout stage consisted of a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final. 1996-2012: The final phase included group play with four groups, which two teams each did advance from. The knockout stage consisted of quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final. 1984-1992: The final phase included group play with two groups, which two teams each did advance from. The knockout stage consisted of the semi-finals and a final. 1980: No semi-finals were played. The group winners played each other in the final and the second-placed teams in the groups played a third-place match. 1960-1976: The final tournament phase consisted of semi-finals, third-place games, and final (five games were played in 1968 since the final were decided on a replay).

Best goalscorers

Most goals were scored by these players in the European Championship.

Michel Platini (9 goals), Christiano Ronaldo (9 goals), Alan Shearer (7 goals), Henry Thierry (6 goals), Zlatan Ibrahimović (6 goals), Patrick Kluivert (6 goals), Nuno Gomez (6), and Ruud van Nistelrooy (6 goals).