UEFA European Championship Quiz

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Here are 15 questions to test how well you know about the European Competition. Put your knowledge to test and see how well you perform in this UEFA European Championship Quiz.

Spain won the 2008 UEFA Championship and also captured the 2010 FIFA World Cup titleUEFA Euro: Question 1
Which team has managed to win the UEFA European Championship and added a World Cup victory to the honor?

a. West Germany
b. Italy
c. France
d. Spain


UEFA Euro: Question 2
How many different nations have been crowned European Champions?

a. Ten nations
b. Seven nations
c. Nine nations
d. Eight nations


UEFA Euro: Question 3
Which goalkeeper has managed to play most minutes without conceding a goal?

a. Dino Zoff of Italy
b. Edwin van der Sar of Netherlands
c. Fabien Barthez of France
d. Iker Cassilas of Spain


UEFA Euro: Question 4
Germany has featured in all tournaments from 1988 to 2012. Which other nation matches this achievement?

a. France
b. Netherlands
c. Spain
d. Italy


UEFA Euro: Question 5
The youngest player to play in the finals was?

a. Pietro Anastasi of Italy
b. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal
c. Jetro Willems of Netherlands
d. Dieter Muller of Germany


UEFA Euro: Question 6
Who has recorded most hat-tricks in the Euro tournament?

a. The Frenchman Michel Platini
b. The German Gerd Muller
c. The Dutch Marco van Basten
d. The Spaniard David Villa


UEFA Euro: Question 7
No player has played in more than four Euro tournaments. Aron Winter of Netherlands played in four tournaments, which other Dutch player has?

a. Marco van Basten
b. Edwin van der Sar
c. Ruud van Nistelrooy
d. Johan Cruyff


UEFA Euro: Question 8
When was the title of the tournament changed to UEFA European Championship?

a. 1976
b. 1964
c. 1972
d. 1968


UEFA Euro: Question 9
Which change was implemented the 1984 tournament?

a. Number of participants was expanded to 8
b. Third place playoff was eliminated
c. Qualifying groups were introduced
d. Defending Champions qualified automatically


UEFA Euro: Question 10
Which final match had the biggest winning/losing margin?

a. 2012
b. 1988
c. 1972
d. 2000


UEFA Euro: Question 11
The team has one UEFA European Championship title. It made it to the final through a coin toss. Which nation was it and when was this?

a. Netherlands in 1988
b. The Soviet Union in 1960
c. Italy in 1968
d. Czech Republic in 1976


UEFA Euro: Question 12
Who has most appearances in the final both as player and coach?

a. Dino Zoff, Italy
b. Frank Rijkaard, Netherlands
c. Morten Olsen, Denmark
d. Berti Vogts, Germany


UEFA Euro: Question 13
England’s best finish in the UEFA Euro Championship was?

a. As Champions
b. As Runner-Up
c. In Third place
d. In Fourth Position


UEFA Euro: Question 14
Which team does UEFA consider to have “pulled off arguably the biggest shock at a major football tournament”?

a. Denmark
b. Greece
c. Yugoslavia
d. Portugal


UEFA Euro: Question 15
Who scored the most decisive penalty that won the 1976 Euro final?

a. Antonin Panenka
b. Hans Bongartz
c. Marian Masny
d. Ladislav Jurkemik

 

Answers to the Euro Quiz

UEFA Euro: Answer 1

d. Spain

Spain won the UEFA Euro 2008 and later was the world champion in the 2010 World Cup. In 2012 Spain successfully defended their title to become the only team to win the three prestigious titles in a row. Earlier, France boasted of winning the Euro tournament as World Champions in 2000.


UEFA Euro: Answer 2

c. Nine nations

There have been fourteen tournaments held since the first competition in 1960 and nine different nations have claimed the honors. Spain and Germany lead the pack with three titles each. France comes in third with two titles and Denmark, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Netherlands and Greece each has one title. In addition, Germany has featured in most finals to date, 6, and has finished in the top four 8 times.


UEFA Euro: Answer 3

d. Iker Cassilas of Spain

Cassilas played 509 minutes of the 2012 finals tournament without conceding a goal. After conceding one in the opening group match against Italy, he managed 5 consecutive clean sheets in Spain’s rampant campaign to winning the final.


UEFA Euro: Answer 4

b. Netherlands

Germany has qualified seven consecutive times since 1988. Netherlands is the other team to achieve that by playing in all tournaments since and this stretch began after winning the title in 1988. On the other hand, France became the only defending nation with the worst finish in the subsequent competition for failing to qualify after emerging champions in 1984.


UEFA Euro: Answer 5

b. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is the youngest player to play in the competition. He played in the 2004 final when aged 19 years and 150 days. Pietro Anastasi is the youngest player in a winning team after Italy became Champions of Europe in 1968.


UEFA Euro: Answer 6

a. The Frenchman Michel Platini

The competition has had a total of eight hat tricks by seven different players in its history. This suggests only one player has managed one more than the rest. It is none other than Michel Platini. The French player achieved this by scoring three goals against Belgium and Yugoslavia in 1984.

He finished as the top scorer with nine goals, the highest number of goals scored in one edition of the final round of the European competition. More so, the three goals against Yugoslavia were within 18 minutes, the fastest to date, and boosted the team to outscore the opponent 3-2 at the group stage.


UEFA Euro: Answer 7

b. Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar represented Netherlands in the tournament between 1996-2008. This matched Aron Winter's achievement for featuring from 1988 to 2000. Van der Sar has another joint achievement, alongside Lilian Thuram of France, for most appearances in the finals. Each has played a record 16 times.


UEFA Euro: Answer 8

d. 1968

Just two tournaments were played under the initial title, UEFA European Nations Cup. In 1968, UEFA changed the title to become the UEFA European Championship. As from 1996, the name Euro has been used and applied retrospectively. For instance, the most recent tournament was referred to as UEFA Euro 2012, or simply Euro 2012.


UEFA Euro: Answer 9

b. Third place playoff was eliminated

The first competition to have 8 teams taking part in the finals was in 1980 hosted by Italy. Previously, it was only four teams. 16 teams have played since Euro 1996 and most recently it was approved that 24 nations will qualify for this phase as from the 2016 competition.

West Germany was the champion under the new format introduced in 1980 as they beat Belgium in the final 2-1. In that tournament, the group winners played in the final while second placed teams faced off for the third position spot. However, this was changed in the following edition to have the top two teams in the groups compete in the semi finals in order to determine the finalists. There was no third place play off to be played henceforth.


UEFA Euro: Answer 10

a. 2012

Spain recorded the biggest winning margin when they thrashed Italy in the final of the 2012 tournament. Goals by David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata secured the title for Spain. Earlier, the record was held by West Germany after winning 3-0 in 1972 against Soviet Union.


UEFA Euro: Answer 11

c. Italy in 1968

Italy and the Soviet Union played in the semifinal of the 1968 tournament, and the match ended goalless. To break the tie, a coin toss was used for the very first and last time in the tournament to decide the finalist. Italy won the toss and faced Yugoslavia in the final. Once again Italy drew the first leg of the final but managed to overpower their opponents in the second match 2-0. Having made it to the finals proved to be a fulfilling chance as they became the European champions for the first time.


UEFA Euro: Answer 12

a. Dino Zoff, Italy

Dino Zoff appeared in the 1968 final as a goalkeeper and in 2000 as a coach. Zoff set another record for playing most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. In this run, he attained eight clean sheets. Frank and Olsen managed to set the record of most appearances as player and coach which stands at 14. Vogts was a squad member in 1972 when West Germany lifted the title, though he did not play. He lifted the title once more in 1996, but this time as the coach of the German team.


UEFA Euro: Answer 13

c. In Third place

England's best finish was in third place in 1968 when they lost to Yugoslavia in the semis but beat Soviet Union in the playoff. Only four teams participated in the final tournament. In the format of 16 teams, they also reached the semifinals in 1996 but there was no playoff. England has exited the competition at the quarter finals in 2004 and 2012.


UEFA Euro: Answer 14

b. Greece

Greece defeated the 2004 tournament hosts, Portugal 1-0 to claim their first European Championship title. Forward Angelos Charisteas snatched the winner in the 57th minute to set forth a major upset in the tournaments history. Despite winning their opening match against Portugal, few expected Greece to repeat the performance at the finals but clearly Portugal did not stand a chance against the remarkable Greeks, who had knocked out Czech Republic and holders France on the road to the final.


UEFA Euro: Answer 15

a. Antonin Panenka

Antonin Panenka deftly chipped the penalty that won Czechoslovakia the trophy in 1976 when they played against West Germany in the final. Despite failing to score on route to the final, he turned to be the one to be praised for showing off his skill from the spot to make it 5-3 after the match had ended 2-2.