Sport and Leisure/UEFA European Championship
History
The idea for a pan-European football tournament was first proposed by the French Football Federation's secretary-general Henri Delaunay in 1927, but it was not until 1958 that the tournament was started, three years after Delaunay's death. In honour of Delaunay, the trophy awarded to the champions is named after him
1960 France
Qualifying competition
The 1960 UEFA European Nations' Cup was the first European Football Championship. Just 17 teams entered with some notable absences, West Germany, Italy and England among them
Czechoslovakia beat Republic of Ireland in Preliminary round
Spain, still under Francisco Franco's far-right dictatorship, refused to travel to the Soviet Union, and withdrew from the tournament
Semi-finals
France 4 Yugoslavia 5
Czechoslovakia 0 Soviet Union 3
Third place playoff
Czechoslovakia 2 France 0
Final
Soviet Union 2 Yugoslavia 1. Played at Parc des Princes, Paris
Winning captain – Igor Netto
Winning manager – Gavriil Kachalin
Referee – Arthur Ellis (England)
Top scorer(s) all with 2 goals: Viktor Ponedelnik, Milan Galić, Dražan Jerković, Valentin Ivanov, François Heutte
1964 Spain
Qualifying competition
29 teams entered the 1964 European Nations' Cup. The teams played home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known
England drew 1-1 with France at Hillsborough, but lost the second leg 5-2 in Paris
Luxembourg beat Netherlands, but lost to Denmark in the quarter-finals after a replay
Greece withdrew after being drawn against Albania, with whom they were still at war
Semi-finals
Spain 2 Hungary 1
Denmark 0 Soviet Union 3
Third place playoff
Hungary 3 Denmark 1
Final
Spain 2 Soviet Union 1. Played at Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid
Winning captain – Ferran Olivella
Winning manager – Jose Villalonga
Referee: Arthur Holland (England)
Top scorer(s) all with 2 goals: Jesús María Pereda, Ferenc Bene, Dezső Novák
1968 Italy
Qualifying competition
The tournament changed its name from the European Nations' Cup to the European Championship
There were some changes in the tournament's qualifying structure, with the two-legged home-and-away knock-out stage being replaced by a group phase, with eight groups. The quarter-finals were played by the group winners in two legs on a home-and-away basis
Group 8's results were formed by combining the results of the 1967 and 1968 British Home Championships
England beat Spain in the quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Italy 0 Soviet Union 0. Italy won on a coin toss
England 0 Yugoslavia 1
Third place playoff
England 2 (Charlton, Hurst) Soviet Union 0
Final
Italy 1 Yugoslavia 1. Played at Olympic Stadium, Rome
Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)
Replay – Italy 2 Yugoslavia 0. Played at Olympic Stadium, Rome
Winning captain – Giacinto Facchetti
Winning manager – Ferruccio Valcareggi
Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)
Top scorer: Dragan Džajić (2 goals)
1972 Belgium
Qualifying competition
In the quarter-finals, England lost 3-1 at home to West Germany, with Francis Lee scoring for England. The second leg, played in Berlin, was a 0-0 draw
Semi-finals
Belgium 1 West Germany 2
Hungary 0 Soviet Union 1
Third place playoff
Belgium 2 Hungary 1
Final
West Germany 3 Soviet Union 0. Played at Heysel Stadium, Brussels
Winning captain – Franz Beckenbauer
Winning manager – Helmut Schon
Referee: Ferdinand Marschall (Austria)
Top scorer: West Germany Gerd Müller (4 goals) - two goals in the semi-final and two goals in the final
1976 Yugoslavia
Qualifying competition
The 1976 tournament in Yugoslavia was the last in which only four teams took part in the final tournament, and the last in which the hosts had to qualify
Czechoslovakia finished a point ahead of England in Group 1
Malcolm Macdonald scored five goals in a match against Cyprus
Wales won Group 2, but lost in the quarter-finals to Yugoslavia
Semi-finals
Czechoslovakia 3 Netherlands 1
Yugoslavia 2 West Germany 4
Dieter Muller scored a hat-trick for West Germany
Third place playoff
Netherlands 3 Yugoslavia 2
Final
Czechoslovakia 2 West Germany 2. Played at Marakana Stadium, Belgrade
Czechoslovakia won 5-3 on penalties
Winning captain – Anton Ondrus
Winning manager – Vaclav Jezek
Referee: Sergio Gonella (Italy)
Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in the newly introduced penalty shootout. Uli Hoeness missed, and Antonin Panenka scored the winning penalty, with an audacious chip over Sepp Maier which is now known as a “Panenka penalty”
It was the first and only time that all four matches in the final tournament were decided after extra time, either on penalties or by goals scored
Top scorer: Dieter Müller (4 goals)
1980 Italy
Qualifying competition
The competition was expanded to eight teams in the 1980 tournament, hosted by Italy for the second time. It involved a group stage, with the winners of the groups going on to contest the final, and the runners-up playing in the third place play-off
England were undefeated in Group 1, with Kevin Keegan scoring seven goals
Group stage
West Germany won Group A, with Klaus Allofs scoring a hat-trick against Netherlands
England finished third in Group B, after a 1-1 draw against Belgium, a 1-0 loss to Italy, and a 2-1 win against Spain
Third place playoff
Czechoslovakia 1 Italy 1
Czechoslovakia won 9-8 on penalties
Final
West Germany 2 Belgium 1 Played at Olympic Stadium, Rome
Horst Hrubesch scored both goals for West Germany
Winning captain – Bernard Dietz
Winning manager – Jupp Derwall
Referee: Nicolae Rainea (Romania)
The official mascot was Pinocchio. First mascot in the European Championship
Top scorer: Klaus Allofs (3 goals)
1984 France
Qualifying competition
England beat Luxembourg 9-0, with Luther Blissett scoring a hat-trick
Denmark qualified after beating England 1-0 at Wembley, with Allan Simonsen scoring the winning goal
Northern Ireland failed to qualify, despite beating West Germany both home and away
Spain went into the very last match needing to beat Malta by eleven goals in order to qualify ahead of the Netherlands. Spain won the match 12-1
Group stage
Group A was won by France, with Michel Platini scoring hat-tricks against Belgium and Yugoslavia
Spain won Group B, after beating West Germany in their final match
Semi-finals
France 3 Portugal 2
This match is often considered one of the best matches in the history of the European Championship. Michel Platini scored the winning goal after 119 minutes
Spain 1 Denmark 1
Spain won 5-4 on penalties
Final
France 2 Spain 0. Played at Parc des Princes, Paris
Winning captain – Michel Platini
Winning manager – Michel Hidalgo
Referee: Vojtech Christov (Czechoslovakia)
Top scorer: Michel Platini (9 goals)
1988 West Germany
Qualifying competition
England were unbeaten in Group 4. They beat Northern Ireland both home and away, and beat Turkey 8-0 with Gary Lineker scoring a hat-trick
Group stage
In Group A, West Germany and Italy were both unbeaten
In Group B, England lost their opening match to Republic of Ireland, with Ray Houghton scoring the only goal. England then lost 3-1 to Netherlands, with Bryan Robson scoring for England, and Marco van Basten scoring a hat-trick. England lost their final match 3-1 to Soviet Union, with Tony Adams scoring the England goal. Republic of Ireland failed to qualify after losing their final match 1-0 to Netherlands
Semi-finals
West Germany 1 Netherlands 2
First time Netherlands had beaten West Germany in a competitive match
Soviet Union 2 Italy 0
Final
Netherlands 2 (Gullit, Van Basten) Russia 0. Played at Olympic Stadium, Munich
Van Basten's goal would later be described as one of the greatest goals in the history of the European Championships
Winning captain – Ruud Gullit
Winning manager – Rinus Michels
Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)
Top scorer: Marco van Basten (5 goals)
Euro 88 was a rare instance of a major football tournament ending without a single sending-off or goalless draw, nor any knockout matches going to extra time or penalties
1992 Sweden
Qualifying competition
Sweden were chosen over Spain to host the event
England qualified ahead of Republic of Ireland, with both teams being unbeaten
Scotland qualified for the finals for the first time
Germany qualified, despite losing to Wales 1-0 in Cardiff, with Ian Rush scoring the only goal
The Soviet Union qualified for the finals shortly before the break-up of the country, and took part in the tournament under the banner of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Originally, Yugoslavia qualified for the final stage, but due to the Yugoslav wars, the team was disqualified and their qualifying group's runner-up, Denmark, took part in the championship
Group stage
In Group 1, England drew 0-0 with Denmark and France, and lost 2-1 to Sweden with David Platt scoring for England and Tomas Brolin scoring the late winner for Sweden
In Group 2, Scotland lost 1-0 to Netherlands and 2-0 to Germany, then beat CIS 3-0 with goals from McStay, McClair and McAllister
Semi-finals
Sweden 2 Germany 3
Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice for Germany
Netherlands 2 Denmark 2
Denmark won 5-4 on penalies. Van Basten was the only player to miss in the penalty shoot-out, his penalty being saved by Peter Schmeichel
Final
Denmark 2 (Jensen, Vilfort) Germany 0. Played at Ullevi, Gothenburg
Winning captain – Lars Olsen
Winning manager – Richard Moller Nielsen
Referee: Bruno Galler (Switzerland)
Top scorers: Dennis Bergkamp, Tomas Brolin, Henrik Larsen, Karl-Heinz Riedle (3 goals each)
This was the last tournament with only eight participants, the last to award the winner of a match with only two points, and the last tournament before the introduction of the back-pass rule
1996 England
Qualifying competition
This was the first European Championship to feature 16 finalists
Scotland finished second to Russia in Group 8, but qualified as one of the best runners-up
The bottom two runners-up took part in a play-off on a neutral ground to determine the final team to qualify. Netherlands defeated Republic of Ireland 2-0 at Anfield, with Patrick Kluivert scoring both goals
Group stage
The teams finishing in the top two positions in each of the four groups progressed to the quarter-finals
England 1 (Shearer) Switzerland 1
England 2 (Shearer, Gascoigne) Scotland 0
Gascoigne received the ball from Darren Anderton outside the Scotland penalty area, flicked the ball over Colin Hendry with his left foot and changed direction; Hendry was completely wrong-footed and, as the ball dropped, Gascoigne volleyed it with his right foot past Andy Goram. The goal was followed by the "dentist's chair" celebration
England 4 (Shearer (2), Sheringham (2)) Netherlands 1
Patrick Kluivert's late goal for the Netherlands secured second place in the group and ensured that Scotland would exit another major competition on goal difference
Scotland’s only goal in the tournament was scored by Ally McCoist, against Switzerland
Turkey became the first team since the introduction of a group stage to be eliminated without gaining a point or scoring a goal
Quarter-finals
England 0 Spain 0
England won 4-2 on penalties. Pearce scored, having missed a penalty against Germany in the 1990 World Cup semi-final. David Seaman saved two penalties
France 0 Netherlands 0
France won 5-4 on penalties
Clarence Seedorf was the only player to miss a penalty in the shoot-out
Germany 2 Croatia 1
Czech Republic 1 Portugal 0
Semi-finals
France 0 Czech Republic 0
Czech Republic won 6-5 on penalties
England 1 (Shearer) Germany 1 (Kuntz)
Germany won 6-5 on penalties
Shearer, Platt, Pearce, Gascoigne and Sheringham scored. Southgate missed
Andreas Moller scored the winning penalty
Final
Germany 2 (Bierhoff (2)) Czech Republic 1 (Berger). Played at Wembley Stadium
Germany won the tournament, with a golden goal during extra time; this was the first major competition to be decided using this method. This was Germany's first major title won as a unified nation
Winning captain – Jurgen Klinsmann
Winning manager – Berti Vogts
Golden Boot – Alan Shearer (5 goals)
Player of the tournament – Matthias Sammer (Germany)
The official mascot was Goaliath, who was designed in a similar fashion to World Cup Willie
2000 Belgium and Netherlands
Qualifying competition
England finished as runners-up to Sweden in Group 5, and faced Scotland in a play-off over two legs
Scotland 0 England 2 (Scholes (2)); England 0 Scotland 1 (Hutchison)
Group stage
Portugal 3 England 2 (Scholes, McManaman)
England were 2-0 up after18 minutes
England 1 (Shearer) Germany 0
Romania 3 England 2 (Shearer, Owen); Ganea scored the winning penalty for Romania in the 89th minute
Denmark's three losses with eight goals conceded and none scored set a new record for the worst team performance in the group stages of a European Championship
Quarter-finals
Portugal 2 Turkey 0
Italy 2 Romania 0
Netherlands 6 Yugoslavia 1; Kluivert scored a hat-trick
France 2 Spain 1
Semi-finals
France 2 Portugal 1
Winning goal scored by Zidane in extra time
Italy 0 Netherlands 0; Italy won 3-1 on penalties. Jap Stam missed a penalty which was described by the BBC as "one of the worst spot kicks ever"
Final
France 2 (Wiltord, Trezeguet) Italy 1 (Delvecchio). Played at Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam
France won the tournament, with a golden goal during extra time
Winning captain – Didier Deschamps
Winning manager – Roger Lemerre
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
Golden Boot – Patrick Kluivert and Savo Milosevic (5 goals)
Player of the tournament – Zinedene Zidane
2004 Portugal
Qualifying competition
England were unbeaten in their qualifying group, finishing one point ahead of Turkey
Latvia made its first appearance in a major football competition, while Greece returned to the European Championship finals after a 24-year absence
For the first time in an international football tournament, the silver goal system was applied, whereby the team that led the game at the half-time break during the extra time period would be declared the winner
Group stage
England 1 (Lampard) France 2; Zidane scored twice for France in stoppage time
England 3 (Rooney (2), Gerrard) Switzerland 0
England 4 (Rooney (2), Scholes, Lampard) Croatia 2
Germany failed to advance from the group stage for the second consecutive time
Czech Republic were the only team to win all three of their group matches
Quarter-finals
Portugal 2 England 2 (Owen, Lampard); Portugal won 6-5 on penalties
Beckham and Vassell missed in the penalty shoot-out. Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo scored the deciding penalty
Greece 1 France 0
Netherlands 0 Sweden 0
Netherlands won 5-4 on penalties
Czech Republic 3 Denmark 0
Semi-finals
Portugal 2 Netherlands 1
Greece 1 Czech Republic 0
Traianos Dellas scored the first and only silver goal in a European Championship
Final
Greece 1 (Charisteas) Portugal 0. Played at Stadium of Light, Lisbon
Winning captain – Theodoros Zagorakis
Winning manager – Otto Rehhagel
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
Golden Boot – Milan Baros (5 goals)
Player of the tournament – Theodoros Zagorakis
2008 Austria and Switzerland
Qualifying competition
Croatia and Russia qualified from Group E, after England lost their final game 3-2 at home to Croatia with Petric scoring the winning goal
Northern Ireland failed to qualify, despite David Healy being the leading scorer in qualifying with 13 goals
Poland qualified for the first time
Group stage
Greece lost all three matches
Austria and Switzerland both failed to qualify, making Euro 2008 the first European Championship not to have one of the host nations present in the knockout phase
Quarter-finals
Germany 3 Portugal 2
Turkey 1 Croatia 1; Turkey won 3-1 on penalties
Spain 0 Italy 0; Spain won 4-2 on penalties
Russia 3 Netherlands 1
Semi-finals
Germany 3 Turkey 2
Spain 3 Russia 0
Final
Spain 1 (Torres) Germany 0 Played at Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna
Winning captain – Iker Casillas
Winning manager – Luis Aragones
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
Golden Boot – David Villa (Spain) (4 goals)
Golden Ball – Xavi (Spain)
The official mascots were Trix and Flix
The match ball, manufactured by Adidas, was named the Europass
2012 Poland and Ukraine
Qualifying competition
Ukraine made their debut as an independent nation
England were unbeaten in their qualifying group, and beat Wales twice
Republic of Ireland finished as runners-up to Russia, and beat Estonia in a play-off
Group stage
England 1 (Lescott) France 1 (Nasri)
England 3 (Carroll, Walcott, Welbeck) Sweden 2; Glen Johnson scored the only own goal of the tournament
England 1 (Rooney) Ukraine 0
Ukraine were denied a goal when Dević's shot was hooked clear from behind the England goal-line by John Terry
Ashley Cole set a new record of 21 appearances in tournaments for England
Ukraine vs France match suspended due to a thunderstorm
Germany were the only team to win all three matches
Netherlands and Republic of Ireland lost all three matches
As at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, both 2012 host nations were eliminated in the group stage
Quarter-finals
England 0 Italy 0; Italy won 4-2 on penalties; Gerrard and Rooney scored penalties. Young and Cole missed penalties
Germany 4 Greece 2
Spain 2 France 0
Portugal 1 Czech Republic 0
Semi-finals
Italy 2 (Balotelli (2)) Germany 1 (Ozil)
Spain 0 Portugal 0; Spain won 4-2 on penalties
Final
Spain 4 (Silva, Alba, Torres, Mata) Italy 0. Played at Olympic Stadium, Kiev
Winning captain – Iker Casillas
Winning manager – Vicente del Bosque
Referee: Pedro Proença (Portugal)
Golden Boot – Fernando Torres (Spain) (3 goals)
Golden Ball – Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships, and also three straight major tournaments (Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012)
The official mascots were Slavek and Slavko, twins that wore the national colours of the two host nations
The match ball, manufactured by Adidas, was named the Tango 12
2016 France
Qualifying competition
France was chosen as the host nation in 2010, after a bidding process in which they beat Italy and Turkey for the right to host the finals
For the first time, the European Championship final tournament was contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996. Under this new format, the finalists contested a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed by a knockout stage including three rounds and the final
Five teams secured their first-ever qualification to a UEFA European Championship final tournament: Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales
England won all 10 qualifying matches in Group E
Republic of Ireland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in a play-off
Scotland were the only team from the British Isles not to qualify for the finals
Former winners Greece, Netherlands and Denmark all failed to qualify
Group stage
England 1 (Dier) Russia 1. Played in Marseilles
Russia given suspended qualification following crowd trouble during match against England
England 2 (Vardy, Sturridge) Wales 1 (Bale). Played in Lens
First time that England have won a game coming from behind in a major tournament
England 0 Slovakia 0. Played in St Etienne
Northern Ireland 2 Ukraine 0
Ireland 1 (Brady) Italy 0
Croatia 2 Spain 1. First defeat for Spain in the tournament since 2004
No teams won all their matches
Ukraine were the only team to gain no points and score no goals
Wales beat Slovakia and Russia. Gareth Bale scored in all three games
Granit Xhaka of Switzerland played against his brother Taulant Xhaka of Albania
Albania won their first ever match at a major championships, beating Romania
Iceland won their first ever match at a major championships, beating Austria
Round of 16
England 1 (Rooney) Iceland 2 (Sigurdsson, Sigthorsson). Played in Nice
Roy Hodgson resigned as England manager
Wales 1 (McAuley o.g.) Northern Ireland 0. Referee – Martin Atkinson
France 2 (Griezmann (2)) Ireland 1 (Brady)
Italy 2 Spain 0
Quarter-finals
Portugal 1 Poland 1; Portugal won 5-3 on penalties
Wales 3 (Williams, Robson-Kanu, Vokes) Belgium 1
Lukaku brothers (Jordan and Romelu) played for Belgium
Germany 1 Italy 1; Germany won 6-5 on penalties; Germany missed three penalties in shootout
France 5 Iceland 2
Semi-finals
Portugal 2 (Ronaldo, Nani) Wales 0
France 2 (Griezmann (2)) Germany 0
Final
Portugal 1 (Eder) France 0. Played at Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Winning captain – Ronaldo
Winning manager – Fernando Santos
Referee – Mark Clattenburg
Golden Boot – Antoine Griezmann (France) (6 goals)
Golden Ball – Dimitri Payet (France)
Young Player – Reanto Sanches (Portugal)
The official mascot was Super Victor, a child superhero in the kit of the France national football team, with a red cape at the back
The match ball, manufactured by Adidas, was named the Beau Jeu
2020 Pan-European
The tournament is being hosted in several nations is a one-off event to celebrate the 60th "birthday" of the European Championship competition. Wembley Stadium will host the semi-finals and final of the tournament.
