When is the next European Football Championship? History of the European Football Championships. Russian national team at the European Football Championships

The European Football Championship (called the European Nations Cup until 1968) is main tournament among the national teams of the old world, which has been held under the auspices of UEFA since 1960. The competition was founded by Henri Delaunay, and the first European champion was the USSR team.

European Football Championship: The Winners' Path

Like the World Championship, the European Championship is held every 4 years. Throughout its history, the rules of the final part of the tournament have been changed several times. To a greater extent, this concerned the number of participating teams. UEFA is trying to make the competition more interesting and popular, and at the last European Championship in 2016, the organization decided to increase the number of national teams to 24 teams.

To get to the final part of the tournament, European teams undergo qualification. The choice of the country in which the cup will be held is determined by lot. In 2000, 2008 and 2012, the championship was hosted by two countries, but then there were only 16 participating teams.

The last European Championship was held in France, and in 2020 the tournament is planned to be held on the 13th European countries, since in 2020 the championship will turn 60 years old.

All European football champions by year

1960 - USSR

1964 - Spain

1968 - Italy

1972 - Germany

1976 - Czechoslovakia

1980 - Germany

1984 - France

1988 - Netherlands

1992 - Denmark

1996 - Germany

2000 - France

2004 - Greece

2008 - Spain

2012 - Spain

2016 - Portugal

Germany and Spain won the title of European champions the greatest number of times (3 times each). In addition, the “red fury” managed to become the first team in history to win the tournament twice in a row (in 2008 and 2012).

The FIFA World Cup is international sports tournament, held under the auspices of FIFA, in which the best national teams on the planet compete. , and since then the competition has been held every 4 years (in 1942 and 1946 the tournament was not held due to the events of World War II).

The winner of the first World Cup was Uruguay, who defeated the Argentina national team with a score of 4:2 in the final game at Estadio Centenario. A total of 13 teams took part in the debut World Cup: 7 from South America, 4 from Europe and two from Northern and Central America. Since then, another 20 World Cups have taken place.

Table of all world football champions by year

In the entire history, only 8 teams have won the World Cup. The most titled country in the World Cup is Brazil, which has won the world football championship 5 times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). The current world champion is the French team, which defeated the Croats with a score of 4:2 in the final match of the 2018 World Cup.

Below is a table of winners by country:

Note: Germany has been world champion three times as West Germany (1954, 1974 and 1990).

Some interesting data about the World Cup

According to the current format, 32 national teams are participating in the final part of the World Cup. As mentioned above, 13 teams competed at the first World Cup. From 1934 to 1978 - 16. In 1982, the number of participants was increased to 24 teams.

The current format consists of 32 teams. It was first introduced at the 1998 World Cup in France. In 2026, 48 teams will take part in the World Cup finals.

The best scorer in the history of the World Cup is Germany striker Miroslav Klose. He has 16 goals scored. Brazilian Ronaldo is in second place with 15 goals. Full list You can watch the best goalscorers of the World Cup.

The record holder for the number of matches played at the World Cup is the German national team midfielder Lothar Matthäus (25 games). Behind Matthäus is his compatriot Miroslav Klose (24 games). The top three is completed by Italian national team legend Paulo Maldini (23 games).

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 team was experiencing a generational change - they finished playing for main team countries such players as Bossis, Giresse, and, of course, Platini.

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.

Nobody 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 victory over the English 2:1 (remember Beckham's missed penalty and Zidane's two goals in stoppage time?), a draw with Croatia and 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 matches group stage, failure awaited them. 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.

Years

Coach: Joachim Loew.

One of strongest teams V 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 the same number of times silver medals European Championship - 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.

The Orange's finest hour was the 1988 European Championship in Germany. 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