Who won the previous European Football Championship. History of the European Football Championships

The first European Football Championship among national teams took place largely thanks to the initiative of the first secretary of UEFA, Frenchman Henri Delaunay. 17 teams took part in the tournament, which was held according to the Olympic system, while many high-status teams, such as England, Italy, Germany, Sweden, refused to play, citing the workload of football players in the clubs. The semi-finals and the decisive match took place in France. In the final match, the teams of Yugoslavia, which was 1/2 stronger than the hosts, and the USSR, which defeated Czechoslovakia, met. Regular time ended in a 1:1 draw, and in overtime the victory for the Soviet team, and with it the title of the first European Champion, was brought by striker Viktor Ponedelnik.

The second European Championship significantly expanded the number of participants - this time 29 teams entered the fight for the trophy. As four years earlier, four teams reached the final stage. In addition to the hosts, the Spaniards, the teams of the USSR, Hungary and Denmark reached the semi-finals. If the Soviet team had virtually no problems in the confrontation with the Danes, then Spain had to work hard to break the resistance of Hungary. However, an additional 30 minutes of play in the semi-finals did not prevent Furia Roja from winning the final match. The decisive blow against the USSR national team with the score 1:1 at the end of the game was struck by Marcelino.

During the third European Championship, the organizers changed the tournament system. 31 participants were divided into eight groups, the winners of which advanced to the playoffs. The final stage this time was hosted by Italy, accompanied by England, the USSR and Yugoslavia. In the match between the hosts and the Soviet team, the final whistle of the referee recorded the score 0:0. Since at that time the penalty shootout had not yet been invented, the winner had to be determined by lot, which was favorable to the Italian team. In the other pair, Yugoslavia turned out to be stronger, which, however, could not oppose anything to the hosts in the final - goals by Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi made Italy the third European champion.

The final stage of Euro 1972 took place in Belgium, which, like the other teams, passed through the group stage and the first round of the playoffs and reached the semi-finals. One step away from the main match, the Belgians were stopped by the German team, which included Franz Beckenbauer, Günther Netzer and Gerd Müller. It was the latter who predetermined the outcome of the match, scoring two goals. In the second semi-final, the USSR national team defeated Hungary thanks to an accurate shot by Anatoly Konkov. In the final, however, the fight did not work out - Muller, who was recognized best player tournament, scored twice against Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper Evgeniy Rudakov, and Herbert Wimmer scored another goal.

The fifth European Championship was the last in which only four teams reached the finals. For the first time, the USSR national team was not in the semi-finals; Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Germany were to compete for the title at the stadiums in Zagreb and Belgrade. Despite the presence of such stars as Cruyff and Neeskens, the Dutch lost to the Czechs in overtime. Extra time was also needed for the other semi-final - here Yugoslavia led with a score of 2:0, but lost their advantage and eventually lost, conceding three goals from Gerd Müller. The Euro 1976 final went down in history as the first match of the tournament to go to penalties. In regular time, the Germans saved themselves thanks to Helzenbein's goal in the 90th minute, but in the football lottery the players of the Czechoslovak national team had stronger nerves. The decisive blow was struck by Antonin Panenka, after whom the penalty kick was later named, taken with a “soft” kick in the center of the goal.

Euro 1980 was to some extent revolutionary - UEFA decided to expand the composition of participants in the final stage to eight teams, which included the seven winners of the qualifying groups and Italy as the host of the tournament. The teams were divided into two subgroups, the winners of which went directly to the finals, and the teams that took second place played a match for third place. In Quartet A, the German team scored the most points, beating Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands, and also tied with Greece. The best of Quartet B were the Belgians, who only needed a victory over Spain and draws with Italy and England to reach the final. The hero of the decisive game was German national team forward Horst Hrubesch, who scored two goals against one of the best goalkeepers of that time, Jean-Marie Pfaff.

The 1984 European Championship was a triumph for the French team, which hosted the tournament. The system of holding the championship has again undergone changes - now two teams leave the group and get to the semi-finals. In Group A, Denmark, Yugoslavia and Belgium were unable to compete with France, while the Danes came second. Portugal and Spain advanced from Group B to the top four, leaving Romania and Germany out of the competition. In the semi-finals, France only put the finishing touches on Portugal in overtime, and Spain was able to defeat Denmark in a penalty shootout. In the final game, the home team won thanks to accurate shots from Bruno Bellon and Michel Platini. By the way, the future UEFA president set a unique achievement - he scored nine goals in all five matches of his team’s tournament.

After a long break, the USSR national team again made it to the finals of the continental championship. The team, which was based on Dynamo Kyiv players, led by Valery Lobanovsky, defeated the Dutch and English in the group stage, and also tied with the Irish. The second in Quartet B was the Dutch team. On a parallel course, Italy and the hosts of the championship, the German team, reached the semi-finals. In the first game to reach the final, the Dutch achieved a strong-willed victory over the Germans, and the next day the USSR national team beat Squadra Azura. As a result, the Cup went to the Dutch team, which scored twice against the Soviet team in the decisive game. At the same time, Marco van Basten's goal was recognized as one of the best in the history of the European Championships.

The European Championship, which will forever remain in the history of football as an example of romance and miracle. The crown went to the sensational Danish team, which found out about its participation in the tournament only a few days before it began. Yugoslavs by political reasons were excluded from the competition, and it was the Danes who took their place.

Also noteworthy is the participation of the CIS team in the Euro, the successor to the team from the USSR. This tournament is the last, in the final part of which only eight teams took part. The sensational Danes were up against the reigning world champions in the final, but the Bundesteam could not do anything about Peter Schmeichel and company.

The tenth anniversary European Championship, which took place in England, was won by the German team. The discovery of this tournament was the Czechs, who made it to the playoffs and then to the finals of the forum from the same group as the Germans (Germany - first, Czech Republic - second).

The last Euro winner, the Danish team, did not even make it out of the group. It was at the 1996 European Championship that the golden goal rule was used for the first time. However, the innovation only worked in the final match, when Oliver Birkoff scored against the Czech national team in the 96th minute. At the previous stages of the playoffs, only two matches ended in regular time (in the quarterfinals, the Germans beat the Croats, and the Czechs beat the Portuguese). The remaining pairs determined the winner through a penalty shootout.

The first tournament in history, the hosts of which were two countries at once - Belgium and Holland. The forum is also notable for the fact that for the first time the rule of canceling yellow and red cards after the group stage was applied. The initial stage of the tournament brought several sensations: the British and Germans did not make it out of the group. The Czechs and the tournament's co-hosts, the Belgians, also failed.

The quarter-finals were remembered for the destruction of the Yugoslavs by the Dutch national team players - 6:1. However, representatives of the country of tulips were forced to withdraw from the race in the semi-finals, allowing the Italians into the main match of the tournament. There, in the finale, a real drama took place. Dino Zoff's team, through the efforts of Delvecchio, opened the scoring on the 55th revolution of the second hand and held the advantage until the third added minute. And when it seemed that the Italians would become champions, Sylvain Wiltord scored a saving goal for the French. And already in extra time, the depressed Italians missed the “golden goal” from David Trezeguet.

Greece, phenomenal Greece. To this day, Otto Rehhagel’s team is cited as an example of endurance, organization, determination and discipline. The hosts, the Portuguese, advanced quite confidently in the playoff bracket, while the Greeks achieved strained, inconspicuous (from the point of view of the winners' performance) victories over France and the Czech Republic.

In the final, naturally, everyone expected the Portuguese to win, especially since the “European Brazilians” owed a debt to the Hellenes for their defeat in the group stage. But, like a few weeks earlier, it was the Greek team that turned out to be more successful. Angelos Charisteas's goal shocked the whole of football Europe.

Tournament in Austria and Switzerland. It was with him that the golden era of the Spanish national team began. Luis Aragones, even before the start of the European Championship, came under serious criticism due to his decision not to include one of the most bright stars spanish football Raul Gonzalez. But after the final whistle of Italian Roberto Rosetti, who recorded the Spanish victory 1:0 over the Germans

in the final of the European Championship, the skeptics subsided. The Spaniards had someone to score even without Raul. David Villa became the best scorer of the tournament, Fernando Torres also performed well (for all previous mistakes El Niño recovered with accurate shots against Jens Lehmann) and Daniel Guis. The time has come for total domination of the Spanish national team.

For the first time in history, the European Championship has moved so deep into the East of the European continent. Ukraine and Poland received the right to host matches at the forum and Donetsk, where five matches were played, became the easternmost city to ever host Euro matches. But Donetsk was not happy for the Ukrainian team.

At the Donbass Arena, Oleg Blokhin's team lost to the French and English, and therefore the victory over the Swedes in Kyiv (two phenomenal goals by Andrei Shevchenko) was completely worthless. One of the main sensations of the tournament was, perhaps, the semi-final victory of the Italians over the Germans. These were the moments of glory of the odious Mario Balotelli. But in the final, the Italians were unable to oppose anything to the super-powerful Spaniards - they lost 0:4.

For the third time in history, the European Championship will be held on the fields of France. For the first time, 24 teams will play in the final part of the tournament. Thanks to Platini’s reform, the football teams of Albania, Hungary, and Northern Ireland, which are very exotic for our time, were given the opportunity to become part of the grandiose football festival.

Unexpectedly, Wales and Iceland also qualified confidently. On the contrary, the Dutch found themselves left out of the Euro and forced to deal with an internal crisis. For the first time, Ukraine also qualified for the forum (in 2012, the “yellow-blues” made it to the final part as co-hosts of the tournament), finally overcoming the “play-off curse.”

Already the first attempt of the USSR national team to become the best on the continent twice in a row was almost crowned with success. The Soviet team successfully passed the selection, which was played out according to the playoff system, confidently defeating Italy (3:1) and Sweden (4:2) on aggregate, without losing a single match.

Our team started the final part no less confidently – a crushing 3:0 victory over the Hungarian team. But in the final, having exchanged goals with the hosts, the Spaniards, in the opening of the match, the USSR national team missed the decisive goal in the 84th minute.

However, few people could win that match at the Santiago Bernabeu in the presence of 80 thousand spectators, including Francisco Franco. The leaders of the Soviet state decided that ours had lost to the Nazis, as a result of which Konstantin Ivanovich Beskov was fired from his post as coach of the national team.

These were the times in our football when second place on the continent could be regarded as a failure.

Euro 1968

• Current champion: Spain.

But the Spanish team failed to qualify for the next tournament. Having taken first place in the qualifying group with the teams of Czechoslovakia, Ireland and Turkey, in the next qualifying stage the Spaniards lost twice 0:1 and 1:2.

Euro 1972

• Current champion: Italy.
• Result: did not make it to the final stage.

Four years later, the same fate befell the Italian national team. Having confidently won their qualifying group, the Italians lost to the Belgian national team, playing a goalless draw at home and losing away 1:2.

Euro 1976

• Current champion: Germany.
• Result: 2nd place.

Unlike the Spaniards and Italians, the German national team took part in the final tournament in 1976. In the group, the Germans confidently took first place, without losing a single match, and beat the Spanish national team in the next stage - 1:1 in Madrid and 2:0 in Munich.

In the final part, the German team demonstrated its characteristic strong-willed qualities. Losing to the Yugoslavs 0:2 in the semi-finals, the Germans first equalized the score and scored twice more in extra time. It is noteworthy that the Germans' second goal in the 81st minute was scored by Dieter Müller, who had appeared on the field a minute earlier. He also scored both goals in extra time.

In the final with Czechoslovakia, it was again 0:2 by the middle of the second half and 2:2 by the final whistle, and this time the Germans scored the second goal in the last minute of the meeting.

True, in extra time the score did not change, and luck smiled on the Czechoslovakian football players in the penalty shootout, where.

Euro 1980

• Current champion: Czechoslovakia.
• Result: 3rd place.

Four years later, 8 teams qualified for the final tournament, which were divided into two groups, the winners of which directly qualified for the final. Fate brought Czechoslovakia and Germany together in one group, and they met already in the first round.

The German players took revenge with the only goal scored by Rummenigge. A draw with the Dutch team and a victory over Greece was only enough for the reigning European champions to take second place.

And in the match for third place, the Czechoslovakian team defeated the Italian team, which is noteworthy, also in a penalty shootout.

Euro 1984

• Current champion: Germany.
• Result: did not leave the group.

In the 1984 European Championship, a rare incident occurred when the German national team failed to qualify from the group. Having played 0:0 with Portugal and defeated the Romanians 2:1, the Germans were leading the group.

In the match with the Spanish team last minute the score was not opened, which suited the West German team quite well, but in the 90th minute Maceda still scored the ball against Harald Schumacher, sending the Germans home.

Euro 1988

• Current champion: France.
• Result: did not make it to the final stage.

The 1984 champions, the French, failed in the qualifying tournament for the next European Championship. In eight meetings, only one victory was won - at home over the Iceland team. And the national teams of the USSR, East Germany and Norway took only one point each. As a result - third place in the group.

In fairness, it should be noted that the French national team was experiencing a generational change - such players as Bossis, Giresse, and, of course, Platini finished playing for the main team of the country.

Euro 1992

• Current champion: Holland.
• Result: defeat in the semi-finals.

In 1992, the Dutch team was determined to defend the title. There was every reason for this: after the failure at the 1990 World Cup, the team was again led by the legendary Rinus Michels. The main stars of the team: Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten were at the peak of their careers, reaching the level of the national team.

The Dutch confirmed the seriousness of their claims with their performances in the group, confidently taking first place and defeating the current world champions, the German national team, 3:1. And the game demonstrated by the Dutch aroused the admiration of all fans and specialists. But in the semi-finals, unexpectedly for everyone, they drew with the main sensation of that tournament - and lost to them in a penalty shootout.

Euro 1996

• Current champion: Denmark.
• Result: did not leave the group.

No one believed that the Danes would defend their title on the fields of Foggy Albion. And so it happened - in the group the Danish team took third place with one victory, one draw and one defeat, behind Portugal and Croatia.

This cannot be called a failure, the Danes performed at their best, and the result four years ago was not even a leap over one’s head, but something much greater.

Euro 2000

• Current champion: Germany.
• Result: did not leave the group.

And the Germans’ attempt to defend the title in 2000 again ended in failure. Having drawn with the Romanians in the first round, the German team lost to the British, and in the third round they were unexpectedly defeated by the Portuguese team 0:3.

Euro 2004

• Current champion: France.
• Result: defeat in the quarter finals.

The French national team at the 2004 European Championship started off strong - an incredible 2:1 victory over the English (remember Beckham's missed penalty and Zidane's two goals in stoppage time?), a draw with Croatia and a confident victory over the Swiss team.

However, already in the 1/4 finals, the French attack could not do anything with the Greek team’s defense, and Charisteas was able to hit Barthez’s goal. Later, the Greeks did the same trick with the Czechs and Portuguese and sensationally won the tournament.

Euro 2008

• Current champion: Greece.
• Result: did not leave the group.

But four years later in Salzburg, Austria, where the Greek team played all three group stage matches, they faced failure. Three defeats, including from the Russian national team, and only one goal scored.

Euro 2012

• Current champion: Spain.
• Result: champion.

And only in 2012, for the first time in history, the reigning European champion did not resign. The excellent Spanish team won the tournament comfortably, with four wins and two draws, with a goal difference of 12-1.

The apotheosis was the final against Italy, which ended with a score of 4:0 - the largest in the history of European Championship finals.

Only once did the champions hang by a thread - in the series after match penalties in the semi-finals. However, the Spaniards’ nerves turned out to be all right.

Euro 2016

• Current champion: Spain.
• Result: defeats in the 1/8 finals.

The European Football Championship is one of the most prestigious football championships. The continent's best teams have been taking part in the European Championship since the 1960s, since that was when the first tournament was held.

Since then, the list of European Football Champions has constantly increased - each team wanted to prove its superiority, some succeeded, and others did not.

Thanks for that time, Secretary General Union of European Football Associations Henri Delaunay, the European Championship is still held today.

On the eve of the upcoming world football championship, we decided to remember all the teams that became European champions in different years.

German national team – 1972, 1980, 1996

The Bundesteam have always been considered one of the strongest European football teams, so the fact that they have been crowned European football champions three times does not surprise anyone.

The Germans also won the World Championships 4 times (1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014). In addition to winning the European Championship three times (1972, 1980, 1996), they won silver at the European Championship three times (1976, 1992, 2008).

In the entire history of the existence of the German “machine” (as the Germans call their national team), football players only once failed to reach the final stage of one of the most prestigious tournaments in Europe. This happened back in 1968.

If at the World Cup Germany never missed the playoffs, then at the European Championship they left the tournament three times at the group stages - 1984, 2000, 2004.

Spain national team – 1964, 2008, 2012

The Spaniards first proved that they were leaders in Europe at the 1964 tournament. At their stadium at the Santiago Bernabeu, they were able to beat the first European champion, the USSR national team, with a score of 2:1.

Since then, however, the “Red Fury” (Spanish national team) has not been able to achieve the desired result, not counting 1984, when the Spaniards reached the final of the European Championship.

The series of losses for the Spanish national team ended in 2008, when Vincente del Bosque's team beat the German national team in the final of the European tournament with a score of 1:0.

In 2010, Spain consolidated its result and proved that it is worthy of the title of world champion.
Well, in 2012, the Spaniards defeated the Italian team at the Euro with a score of 4:0. Thus, the Spanish national team became the first team in the history of the European Championship to defend its title 2 times in a row.

French national team - 1984, 2000

European national football champions have always proven their European superiority more than once, and the French national team was no exception.

The French first proved that they could add their name to the list of all-time European football champions in 1984.

In 1998, France became world champion. And in 2000 they again became European champions. Thus, after the Germans, France became the second team that managed to simultaneously be the world and European champion.

And only once, in 1988, the French failed to qualify for the continental championship.

USSR national team - 1960

Few people know that the first European football champions were the USSR national team. And in principle, this is not surprising, because at that time the legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin was at the goal. The team won against Yugoslavia with a score of 2:1.

The 1960 European football champions have since reached the final of the continental tournament three times, but lost all three times (1964, 1972, 1988).

After the country became the first European football champion, it began to compete as the Russian national team, and there were no more such successes. In 2000, the Russian team did not play at all in the tournament, and in 1992, 1996 and 2004 they were able to win only once in 9 games.

Italy national team - 1968

As for the World Championships, Squadra Azzurra has practically no equal there. She became Champion 4 times - 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006. But the team was not very lucky with the European Championship.

It was only in 1986 that the Italian team was able to win European gold, beating Yugoslavia 2-0 after two games, as there had previously been no penalty shoot-out.

The Italian national team had its ups and downs - they reached the semi-finals of the continental championship, or could not reach the playoff stage at all. And in 2000 and 2012, the Italians were able to win silver.

Czechoslovakia national team - 1976

European football champions by year show that the strong teams used to be those that many have now forgotten. One of these teams was Czechoslovakia. In 1976, they were able to beat the then strong German team and win gold at the European Championship.

The Czechoslovakian national team twice became the silver medalist of the European Championship - 1934, 1962.

In 1996, the Czech national team appeared instead of Czechoslovakia, and immediately won silver. In 2004, the Czechs were able to reach the semi-finals. After that, they could not get to the European Championships, and only in 2012 they not only got into the tournament, but also reached the 1/4 finals.

Netherlands national team - 1988

The Dutch team made its debut at the European Championships only in 1976 and immediately managed to win bronze. But the team took confident steps towards victory, and in 1988 it came finest hour, when the Netherlands won gold at the European Championships.

From that moment on, the Netherlands constantly qualified for the European Championship. After 2004 the Dutch were no longer able to demonstrate good result in the European Championship

Denmark national team - 1992

Denmark has the richest experience of participating in the European championship (they made their debut in 1964 and immediately took 4th place). In 1984 they were able to reach the semi-finals. It was only in 2008 that the Danish national team failed to qualify for the EURO.

In 1992, the team was able to prove that it was the best and won gold at the European Championship. And in 2016, Denmark failed to reach the final part of the European championship.

Greece national team - 2004

The Greeks made it to the European Championship for the first time in 1980, but then they were unable to prove themselves and earned only 1 point in three matches.

And only 24 years later the Greek team was able to play at the European Championships again. It was in 2004 that the Greeks managed to exceed their wildest expectations and became European champions.

In 2016, Greece failed to make it to the finals of the football tournament. This is where the team's triumphs ended for now.

Portugal national team - 2016

The current European football champions, the Portuguese national team, managed to beat the French national team with a score of 1:0 in the EURO 2016 final.

In 2008, the European Championship was not easy for the Portuguese, and after losing to the German team, the Portuguese went home. And in 2012, at the European Championships, the Portuguese were able to win bronze.

And only in 2016 they proved that they deserve to bear the title of European champions.

The next European Championship will be held in 2020, maybe a new team will join this list of winning teams, because there are many worthy ones. In the meantime, we are looking forward to the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Years

Coach: Joachim Loew.

One of the strongest teams in European football. The Germans (from 1945 to 1990 - the German national team) won the world championship four times (1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014), became the strongest in Europe three times (1972, 1980, 1996) and won silver medals at the European Championship the same number of times - in 1976, 1992 and 2008. In the final tournaments they won 23 matches out of 43. The German national team only once failed to make it to the final stage of the European tournament, missing the 1968 European Championship.

The German national team took second place at the world championship four times (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002) and third on four occasions (1934, 1970, 2006, 2010). In the history of the World Cup, no other team has played more matches (106) than the German national team.

At the World Championships, the German national team never found itself left out of the playoffs, while the European Championship ended three times for it in the group stage - in 1984 and 2004, the Germans finished third, and in 2000 they took last place in their quartet.

Spain

European champion 1964, 2008, 2012.

Coach: Vicente del Bosque.

The European Championship was first won by the Spaniards in 1964. The USSR team was defeated with a score of 2:1 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. After that and until 2008, the best result of the Spaniards was reaching the final of the 1984 European Championship. In 2008, Germany was defeated in the final match with a score of 1:0. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Spanish team became the first European team to win the World Cup on a foreign continent.

In the Euro 2012 final, the Spaniards defeated Italy with a score of 4:0 in Kyiv (Ukraine) and also became the first to defend the title of European champions. They failed to defend the title of world champions in 2014.

France

European champions 1984, 2000

Coach: Didier Deschamps.

Coach: Danny Blind.

At their debut European Championship in 1976, the Dutch won bronze, losing to the Yugoslavs in the semi-finals in extra time.

Finest hour The 1988 European Championship in Germany became “orange”. Having defeated the USSR team in the final, the Dutch became European champions.

Since then, the Dutch team has been a regular participant in the European Championship finals, reaching the semi-finals in 1992, 2000 and 2004. In 2008, the Dutch team lost to Russia in the quarterfinals in extra time, and did not make it out of the group at Euro 2012. In 2016, the Dutch team did not make it to the finals of the European Championship.

Coach: Aage Hareide.

The Danish national team has extensive experience in participating in European championships. The Danes qualified from the group at their debut final tournament in 1964, when they took fourth place, and again reached the semi-finals in 1984. Since then, the Danish national team has not played in only one continental championship - in 2008. The team's finest hour was the 1992 tournament. The triumph in Sweden was notable for the fact that the Danes entered the championship at the very last moment instead of the canceled Yugoslavia. England and France were defeated in the group stage, and the defending champions, the Dutch, were defeated on penalties in the semi-finals. In the championship final, the Danes defeated the Germans with a score of 2:0.

In 2004, the Danish team reached the quarter finals, but conceded three goals early in the second half and recognized the superiority of the Czech Republic. The Danes did not qualify for the 2008 European Championship, and did not make it out of the group at Euro 2012, although they beat the Netherlands in the first round.

Since then, the Danes have competed at the World Cup three more times (1998, 2002, 2010), reaching the quarterfinals in France in 1998.

Coach: Michael Skibbe.

The Greek national team first played at the European Championships in 1980 and scored only one point in three matches. The next time the Greeks played in the final tournament was 24 years later. Under the leadership of German coach Otto Rehhagel, the Greeks exceeded their wildest expectations and won gold at Euro 2004. As champions at Euro 2008, the Greeks lost all three group stage matches, and at Euro 2012 they lost to the Germans in the quarterfinals.

In 2016, the Greek team did not make it to the finals of the continental championship.

The Greeks made it to the FIFA World Cup three times - in 1994, 2010 and 2014.

Prepared based on open source materials

A lot has been read, said and shown about this, but still it would not be amiss to once again recall the names of the champions who have ever won the prestigious European tournament.

Over the 56-year history of the European Football Championship, only 9 different teams have become winners. 8 out of 14 finals ended in a clean sheet, 2 times the winner was determined by a golden goal, 1 time thanks to post-match penalties and 1 more time as a result of a replay.

1. The first European football champion, in 1960, was the USSR national team, which beat strong Yugoslavia in the final. The winning goal was scored by the legendary Victor Ponedelnik, thereby writing his name in history.

2.After 4 years, the USSR national team again reached the final, where it faced Spain. This time the clash did not end in favor of the Soviet football players.

3.1968 The Italian team wins the home tournament. In the final, the Italians played against the Yugoslav national team. This was the second and last final for the Yugoslavs. They failed to win the prestigious tournament.

Italian fans in ecstasy:

4.1972 The next European Cup was held in Belgium. The USSR team reached the final again and lost again. The Soviet team was opposed by Germany. Only this can explain the big score 3:0.

5.In 1976, Czechoslovakia won the European Championship. In the final they were played by the current champion Sat. Germany, but the status did not help the Germans. Having played 2-2 in regulation time, Czechoslovakia took the trophy. 5-3 on penalties.

6. I propose to play a quiz: which team reached the final for the third time in a row, in 1980, and regained the Cup? Right. Germany.

7.The 1984 European Championship was held in France. The French celebrated their victory in the tournament for the first time, beating the Spaniards in the final with a score of 2-0. The famous Michel Platini, whose reputation was tarnished as the head of UEFA in 2015, played in that team.

8. In 1988, Holland and the last USSR national team reached the final. The Dutch won that match, and Renat Dasaev’s goal was scored by a ball from Marco van Basten, which is still admired to this day.

Van Basten's goal from a disgusting angle:

9.EURO 1992 was a pleasant shock for the football community. That Championship was won by Denmark, which got into the final part of the tournament completely by accident. In the qualifying group, the Danes took 2nd place, 1 line below Yugoslavia. But for political reasons, the Yugoslavs were excommunicated from the tournament and their place was taken by future champions. The result of this castling was a historic victory in the final over Germany with a score of 2-0.

10.But Germany always comes back. The tenth European Championship took place in England. For the eternal losers - the English - holding a European tournament at home seemed like a good opportunity to finally cling to victory, but in the semi-finals they lost to the eventual winners - the Germans.

11.The last tournament in the outgoing millennium - EURO 2000 - took place on the fields of Belgium and the Netherlands, and was replete with unexpected results, the main one of which was the failure of the England and Germany teams to leave the group. The French and Italians made it to the final, where the last golden goal in major football tournaments was scored. David Trezeguet's strike will bring victory to the French. Another interesting statistical observation attracts attention: the EURO 2000 final was the 7th in a row, since 1976, in which the winner scored 2 goals.

12.European Championship 2004 is somewhat reminiscent of the 1992 tournament. First of all, the winner was a team whose victory was hard to believe, even when the trophy was over the captain’s head. Greece won, defeating Portugal in the final. Who would have thought?

14...repeated the achievement in 2012, beating the Italian team. The final score in that final - 4:0 - is the largest in the history of the tournament.

Currently, EURO 2016 is taking place in France, with a record number of teams participating in the final part - 24. Now it is difficult to say what it might be remembered for, but we hope that after its end there will be a serious reason to write a lot of detailed reviews.