EURO 1960 - 2016 Winners, Photos, Full Details: UEFA European Football Championship

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The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form "Euro 2012" or whichever year is appropriate.


Prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations (which qualify automatically) compete in a qualifying process. The championship winners earn the opportunity to compete in the following FIFA Confederations Cup, but are not obliged to do so.


The 13 European Championship tournaments have been won by nine different national teams. Germany is the most successful team in the history of the tournament, winning three times in six final appearances. France and Spain are the only other multiple-time winners with two titles each. The other European Championship winners have been Italy, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and inaugural winners Soviet Union, with one title each. Since the tournament started in 1960, no team has managed consecutive wins.


The last championship, co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria in 2008, was won by Spain, who beat Germany 1–0. The 2012 European Championship is currently being co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine from 8 June to 1 July.




1960, USSR



1960 was the year when UEFA European Nation's Cup hit the road. The final tournament, held in France, was won by the USSR who defeated Yugoslavia 2-1 with a goal in the extra-time.

The format of the tournament was a knock-out style with 17 participating nations. West Germany, Italy and England were the absentees. Teams had to play home and away matches until the semi-finals. The venue for semis was decided after the teams became known.

Spain, under Francisco Franco's dictatorship, did not travel to the Soviet Union and later withdrew from the championships to hand USSR victories due to forfeiture. As a result three of the semi-finalists were communist nations - USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The hosts, France, were the last team in the semis.

The Soviet Union was led by the goalkeeping legend Lev Yashin in the tournament. It is difficult to imagine a USSR victory without him being there at the 1960 championships. In the first round, USSR defeated Hungary 4-1 while Yugoslavia beat Bulgaria 3-1 on aggregate.

Th quarter-finals saw Yugoslavia smashing Portugal 6-3 over two legs. USSR did not have to do much to get to the semis as Spain had decided not to play in the USSR.

The semi-finals were mixed bags as Yugoslavia rallied to beat hosts France after being 4-2 down with less than half an hour to go. Yugoslavia must have gained tremendous confidence going into the finals as they came back from the dumps to beat the hosts 5-4. On the other hand, the Soviet Union side had it easy in their semis defeating Czechoslovakia 3-0.

Yugoslavia, buoyed by their semi-final performance, netted a scrambling goal in the 43rd minute of the tournament decider. Soviet went into the break with lots to ponder upon. They needed to come up with something special to go one up on their confident opponents and they did so in style. Lev Yashin was brilliant behind the goal and kept the Soviet side in the hunt until the equaliser came in the 49th minute. The game then drifted into extra-time and Viktor Ponedelnik, who was drafted from a second-division club, netted with just 7 minutes remaining. He became the hero of the nation and deservedly so.

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1964, Spain

The 1964 European Nation's Cup final tournament was held in Spain and the eventual winners too were the hosts. They defeated defending champions, USSR, 2-1 in the finals.

Luxembourg proved to be the giant-killers of the qualifying rounds; they beat the Netherlands 3–2 on aggregate (1–1 and 2–1), and then drew with Denmark 3–3 and 2–2, before losing the replay 1–0. Denmark were the surprise package and joined USSR, Spain and Hungary in the semi-finals.

In the pre-quarters, Spain defeated Northern Ireland 2-1 on aggregate while USSR had a 3-1 victory over Italy.

In the quarter-finals, Spain had an easy time over the Republic of Ireland, defeating them 7-1 on aggregate and thus looking ominous for the business end of the championships. USSR too had it easy over Sweden with a 4-2 victory on aggregate.

The semi-finals saw Spain pitted against Hungary and USSR taking on the surprise package Denmark. Although the Soviet Union side had it easy with a 3-0 romp, Spain had to struggle against a spirited Hungary side. Spain eventually had it their way in the extra-time, edging out Hungary 2-1.

Spain were on home soil and against a side whom they had refused to play during the 1960 championships. In front of a boisterous Santiago Bernabéu crowd which included President Franco, the hosts went up early through Jesús María Pereda. The USSR came back on level terms when Galimzyan Khusainov scored. The USSR rearguard held out pretty well, but the absence of defensive midfielder, Alexei Korneev, eventually hurt them. The winner came when Luis Suárez sent another pass out to the right, Pereda crossed, and Marcelino's superb stooping header went low inside the near post. Even the great Lev Yashin, still superb at 34, was left just as a spectator. The Bernabéu erupted.

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1972, West Germany




The fourth European Championship was held in 1972, the year of the infamous Munich Olympics. The final tournament was held in Belgium. This was to be the year when West Germany made their mark on the world stage and a certain Gerd Müller, one of the most prolific goal scorers of all time, came to the fore on the big stage with a bang.

The qualifying stage saw Soviet Union, England, Hungary, Romania, Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia and West Germany top their individual groups.

In the quarter finals, Belgium defeated defending champs Italy, West Germany overcame England, Soviet Union triumphed over Yugoslavia while Hungary had to go that extra mile to defeat Romania. It was all square after two legs and no penalty shoot outs meant that Hungary and Romania had to face each other in a play-off once more. Hungary beat Romania 2-1 to ensure a place in the semi-finals.

Belgium were looking to follow in the footsteps of Italy and Spain and become the third hosts in succession to win the European Championships. But Gerd Müller had other ideas. Although he himself considered his team to be fortunate, his predatory instincts got the better of the hosts on the day. Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer assumed control of the game after half-time, slowing it down to his team's pace, while Gunter Netzer was pulling the strings upfield. Indeed, the latter also set up Germany's second, pinging the ball into the penalty area and to Müller, who controlled before finishing past Belgian goalkeeper Piot.

The second semi saw Soviet Union reach the finals for the third time in four attempts. Anatoliy Konkov's goal was the difference between the two sides. Although five minutes from time, Revaz Dzodzuashvili's infringement resulted in a penalty. Sándor Zámbö took the spot kick but Evgeni Rudakov guessed correctly, diving to his left to preserve his team's advantage. The Soviet side were through.

Gerd Müller had scored 4 goals against the Soviet Union in an encounter in the previous month. They were wary of his threat and looking to contain the attacker in his tracks. West Germany's three most influential players were all involved in the first goal, Beckenbauer bringing the ball out from the back and Netzer volleying almost nonchalantly against the bar. Evgeni Rudakov produced a brilliant save to keep out the rebound but there was Müller to control the ball before pushing it in. His tally of 68 goals in 62 international matches is an astounding total in such a defensive era. Müller then scored another in the second half. The Soviet fears had come true and Beckenbauer's side took the trophy home.

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1976, Czechoslovakia




1976 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. Czech player Antonin Panenka gained fame for innovating the "Panenka penalty", now commonly known as the chip shot in the tournament's final against West Germany.

The round-robin format saw Czechoslovakia, Wales, Yugoslavia, Spain, Netherlands, Soviet Union, Belgium and West Germany qualify for the knock-out stages. The final tournament was held in Yugoslavia.

In the quarter-finals, Czechoslovakia outclassed Soviet Union over the two legs. Yugoslavia defeated Wales while West Germany overpowered Spain to reach the semi-finals. It was Netherlands who looked ominous though, as they thrashed a hapless Belgium 7-1 over their two legs. The semi-finals were held between Netherlands-Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia-West Germany.

Yugoslavia were on the brink of a final berth as they led 2-1, eight minutes from time, when West Germany coach Helmut Schön made one of the most inspired substitutions of all time. He replaced Herbert Wimmer with Dieter Müller and the debutant wasted no time in announcing his arrival. First he scored the equaliser. Then, in extra time, he scored another couple of scorchers to complete his hat-trick as well as take West Germany to the showpiece match. It was a bit harsh on Yugoslavia who were simply superb in the first half but that's how the game goes sometimes.

The second semi was a showdown between the Czechs and the Dutch. For all their reputation as a team of many talents, the Dutch, orchestrated by the marvellous Johan Cruyff, were never shy of showing their teeth in the field of play. Against holders Brazil in the World Cup, for example, they had shown a gritty edge. Here, however, reduced to nine men following the dismissals of Johan Neeskens and Wim van Hanegem, they eventually ran out of steam. Czech captain Anton Ondrus gave his team an early lead only to equalise for the Dutch team with an own goal in the 77th minute. Netherlands held on to take the match into extra time. Zdenek Nehoda and Frantisek Vesely scored a goal each in the extra time to take the Czechs into the finals.

When they had left for the European Championships nobody expected the Czechs to achieve any success there. Yet the fact is that the Czechs had a really strong team; the composition of the team was outstanding, made up of outstanding individuals. West Germany showed their fighting capabilities and resilience yet again as in the semis. They came back from a two goal deficit to level terms through Dieter Müller and Bernd Hölzenbein. But first half strikes by Ján Švehlík and Karol Dobiaš would eventually not go in vain for the Czech side as the match went into penalties. After Hoeness skied West Germany's fourth attempt it was up to Panenka to win the match for Czechoslovakia, and he did so in audacious fashion, achieving immortality by waiting for Maier to dive before chipping down the middle. "If it were patentable, I'd have it patented," he joked later.

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1980, West Germany


Euro 1980 saw a few changes done to the format again. The qualifying round consisted of 31 teams divided into 7 groups. The 7 teams which qualified by the virtue of maximum points in their individual group and hosts Italy were the teams that took part in the final tournament. It was England, Belgium, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Greece and West Germany that qualified for the knock-outs.

The knock-outs were again played in the group format with West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands and Greece in one group while England, Belgium, Spain and Italy rounded off the second group. It was West Germany and Belgium who topped the groups and thus qualified for the showpiece which was to be played at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

Horst Hrubesch, who burst onto the scene in his late 20's, was spearheading the West German attack at the European Championships. At 23 he was still playing in the lower rungs of German football and hardly anyone would have thought at the time that he would be instrumental in bringing home the European glory. It was Klaus Fischer who broke a leg that gave Hrubesch an opportunity. He would have made it to the squad anyway but might not have played a major role in the team's efforts. But as fate had it he was to be the hero for West Germany.

West Germany made a fantastic start as Bernd Schuster, the 20-year-old playmaker, once again dazzled in midfield to set up Hrubesch for the opening goal on ten minutes. Though the Belgians' hopes were raised by René Vandereycken's 75th-minute penalty, Hrubesch struck again at the death to sink them.

With extra time looming, West Germany looked out on their feet, but with seconds remaining, Pfaff came out to meet Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's cross and was pipped to the punch by Hrubesch, whose near-post header found the net. Hrubesch's first goals in international football had decided the most important match of his career. West Germany had won their second European crown.