UEFA European Championship winners list

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The first UEFA European Football Championship was organized in 1960. It was previously called the European Nations Cup.

Europe’s national teams contest the award every four years since that time. Currently, 9 nations have won the UEFA European Championship title with Germany and Spain being the most successful teams, each having three titles. Here is the UEFA Euro Championship winners list.

European Championship 1960 winner - The Soviet Union1960 UEFA European Championship

Winner: The Soviet Union
Runners-up: Yugoslavia
Final scores: 2-1 (Extra-time)
Host country: France

The first final went into extra time after a 1-1 draw between the Soviet Union and their opponents, Yugoslavia. Viktor Ponedelnik found the net with a header in the second half of the extra time to give the Soviet Union a win at the Parc des Princes, Paris.

 

European Championship 1964 winner - Spain1964 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Spain
Runners-up: The Soviet Union
Final scores: 2-1
Host country: Spain

The Soviet Union got to defend their title four years later, reaching the finals of the tournament. They played the host nation, Spain, with the score line remaining 1-1 up to the final minutes of the match. Marcelino won Spain the title with a goal six minutes to the final whistle.

 

European Championship 1968 winner - Italy1968 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Italy
Runners-up: Yugoslavia
Final scores: 2-0 (Rematch)
Host country: Italy

Once more, the host nations qualified for the final. But this time it was Italy that was to battle it out with Yugoslavia in the 1968 European Football Championship final. Italy’s semi-final opponents, the Soviet Union, had been eliminated from the tournament after losing a coin toss used to determine 'the winner’ of the goalless draw. Italy won their first title after the final went for a rematch and ended 2-0 in their favor, two days after they tied 1-1.

 

European Championship 1978 winner - West Germany1972 UEFA European Championship

Winner: West Germany
Runners-up: Soviet Union
Final scores: 3-0
Host country: Belgium

The performance of the Soviet Union team was still outstanding as they made it to the finals for the third time. West Germany won the match 3-0 with two goals from Gerd Muller and another from Herbert Wimmer, at the Heysel Stadium.

 

European Championship 1976 winner - Czechoslovakia1976 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Czechoslovakia
Runners-up: West Germany
Final scores: 2-2 (5-3 pen)
Host country: Yugoslavia

West Germany defended their title in 1976 and qualified for the finals. The Germans forced the match against Czechoslovakia into extra time after Bernd Holzenbein equalized 2-2 in the final minutes of the normal play time. The fight was on but eventually the winner was to be determined through a penalty shoot-out. Czechoslovakia won the shoot-out 5-3 after capitalizing on a miss by the German Uli Hoeneb.

 

European Championship 1980 winner - West Germany1980 UEFA European Championship

Winner: West Germany
Runners-up: Belgium
Final scores: 2-1
Host country: Italy

West Germany was at the finals for a third consecutive time, this time facing Belgium. Two goals from Horst Hrubesch made it 2-1 for Germany and they were crowned the European Champions for the second time.

 

European Championship 1984 winner - France1984 UEFA European Championship

Winner: France
Runners-up: Spain
Final scores: 2-0
Host country: France

The 1984 European Football Championship final was a match between Spain and the host nation France. France had a successful contest having one of their players, Michel Platini, achieve a nine-goal record in the tournament. His ninth goal came in the final when they outscored Spain 2-0 to win heir first title.

 

European Championship 1988 winner - Netherlands1988 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Netherlands
Runners-up: Soviet Union
Final scores: 2-0
Host country: West Germany

Netherlands and the Soviet Union met in the 1988 final held in West Germany. The most memorable moment of the match is the spectacular second goal by Marco van Basten. The stunning volley sealed the 2-0 win for Netherlands, who were playing in the final for the first time.

 

European Championship 1992 winner - Denmark1992 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Denmark
Runners-up: Germany
Final scores: 2-0
Host country: Sweden

In 1992, Germany had been unified and they got into the finals once again. This time their opponents were the newcomers Denmark. Denmark who had eliminated the Dutch in the semi finals. The Danes took the lead in the first half through a shot by John Jehsen and further extended it in the 78th minute to seal a 2-0 win.

 

European Championship 1996 winner - Germany1996 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Germany
Runners-up: Czech Republic
Final scores: 2-1 (Extra-time-Golden goal)
Host country: England

The 1996 final went into extra time after Germany and the Czech Republic still tied 1-1 at the 90th minute. Olivier Bierhoff of Germany scored his second for the match five minutes into the extra time and this was the first golden goal in the European Football Championship history.

 

European Championship 2000 winner - France2000 UEFA European Championship

Winner: France
Runners-up: Italy
Final scores: 2-1 (Extra-time-Golden goal)
Host countries: Belgium / Netherlands

France met Italy in the 2000 final of the tournament. They came into the competition having won the World Cup two years earlier and were contesting for a second title in the European tournament. France secured a late equalizer to break Italy’s 1-0 lead and the match went into the extra time. The final was determined by a golden goal 13 minutes later after David Trezeguet pushed France to win the match at 2-1.

 

European Championship 2004 winner - Greece2004 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Greece
Runners-up: Portugal
Final scores: 1-0
Host country: Portugal

Greece made it to the final of the tournament for the first time having played in two European Championships. Though they had earlier on lost to Greece in the group stage, Portugal remained the favorites to win the match. Greece presented a major surprise by defeating the host nation by 1-0 in the 2004 final, thanks to a goal by Angelos Charisteas. 

 

European Championship 2008 winner - Spain2008 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Spain
Runners-up: Germany
Final scores: 1-0
Host countries: Austria / Switzerland

Germany faced Spain in the 2008 final held in Vienna, Austria. The match’s lone goal was scored in the 33rd minute by Fernando Torres pushing Spain to win the title. Spain was in great form as they won the tournament unbeaten. 

 

European Championship 2012 winner - Spain2012 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Spain
Runners-up: Italy
Final scores: 4-0
Host countries: Poland / Ukraine

The World Champions, Spain, came to defend their title in Ukraine. The final match was against Italy and by half-time the Spaniards were leading by 2-0. The Italians had to play the better part of the second half with 10-men after Thiago Motta was injured. Two more goals from Fernando Torres and Juan Mata made it 4-0, the biggest winning margin in the European Football Championship final. This made Spain the only team that has defended the European Championship title so far.

The 15th European Championship will be held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. It will consist 24 teams competing, a transformation from the previous system of 16 participants.

2016 UEFA European Championship

Winner: Portugal
Runners-up: France
Final Score: 1-0 (Extra-time)
Host: France

For the first time, the European Championship final tournament was being contested by 24 teams. Each national team had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers. Portugal led by football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo won the finals against the host country France. The substitute Éder won the European Championship for Portugal with a brilliant goal after Cristiano Ronaldo went off injured in the first half. Before the game, Portugal have lost 10 matches against France but avenge those defeats by capturing the EURO 2016 gold. They have won their first Eurpean Championship and first major trophy with this victory.

 

Most UEFA European Championship wins by country

COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
WON		 RUNNERS-UP
Germany 3 3
Spain 3 1
France 2 0
Soviet Union 1 1
Italy 1 2
Czech Republic 1 1
England 1 0
Denmark 1 0
Greece 1 0
Yugoslavia 0 2
Belgium 0 1
Purtogal 0 1

UEFA European Championship Defending Champions Results

YEAR PLAYED CHAMPION COUNTRY FINISH
1964 Soviet Union Runners-up
1968 Spain Did Not Qualify
1972 Italy Did Not Qualify
1976 West Germany Runners-up
1980 Czechoslovakia Third Place
1984 West Germany Group Stage
1988 France Did Not Qualify
1992 Netherlands Semi-finalist
1996 Denmark Group Stage
2000 Germany Group Stage
2004 France Quarter-finalist
2008 Greece Group Stage
2012 Spain Champions