As often happens at the European Championship. All European football champions by year. Russian national team at the European Football Championships

Since 1960, 14 tournaments have been held. They were hosted by 14 countries (Italy, France and Belgium - twice each), and nine teams became champions (Germany and Spain - three times, France - twice). The USSR national team was the first to win the honorary trophy.


1960

Participants: 17
France
Champion: USSR

The European Football Championships have been held since 1960, although the idea of ​​​​organizing them was expressed long before the birth of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which was established June 15, 1954 in Basel. .

The first European Championship was unofficial and was called the European Nations Cup. Teams from 13 countries, including England, Germany, Italy, and Holland, refused to participate. The qualifying tournament began in the fall of 1958 and was held according to the Olympic system.

The USSR national team beat Hungary twice in the 1/8 finals (3:1 in Moscow, 1:0 in Budapest) and ended up in the quarterfinals against the Spaniards, who for political reasons refused to go to the USSR. As a result, the Soviet team without a fight reached the final stage, which was held in France according to the “Final Four” formula.

In the semi-finals in Marseille, the USSR national team under the leadership of Gavriil Kachalin defeated the Czechoslovakian team - 3:0 (Valentin Ivanov scored a double, another goal was scored by Viktor Ponedelnik). Its rivals were the Yugoslavs, who defeated the French in Paris - 5:4.

On July 9 in Marseille, in the match for third place, Czechoslovakia defeated France - 2:0, and the next day the final took place in Paris at the Park de Princes stadium. Two minutes before the break, Yugoslav striker Milan Galic opened the scoring, but in the 49th minute Slava Metreveli equalized the score, and in extra time, in the 113th minute, Victor Ponedelnik scored the winning goal with a diving header after a cross from Mikhail Meskhi. Thus, the USSR national team, having played only four matches, won the tournament.

1964

Participants: 29
Organizer of the final part: Spain
Champion: Spain

The tournament followed the same formula. The USSR national team entered the fight from the 1/8 finals, where its opponent was the Italian team (2:0 in Moscow, 1:1 in Rome). The Swedes, who had previously defeated the Yugoslavs, advanced to the quarterfinals. On the road, the Soviet team again achieved a 1:1 draw, and won at home - 3:1.

The sensation of the championship was the Luxembourg team, which defeated the Netherlands team in the 1/8 finals - 1:1, 2:1, and then almost beat the Danes, to whom it lost only in an additional match - 0:1.

Four teams made it to the final stage - the USSR, Spain, Hungary and Denmark, and only the Soviet team succeeded in this for the second time in a row. In the semi-finals in Barcelona, ​​they defeated the Danes - 3:0 (the goals were scored by Valery Voronin, Viktor Ponedelnik and Valentin Ivanov), while in Madrid the Spaniards needed overtime to defeat the Hungarians (2:1).

In the match for third place, the Hungarians beat the Danes in Barcelona - 3:1, and the next day, June 21, the final match took place in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The hosts (Jesus Maria Pereda) opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but two minutes later Galimzyan Khusainov equalized the score. Still, the Spaniards had the last word: in the 84th minute, Marcelino Martinez scored the decisive goal.

Despite the quite decent final result, the defeat by the Francoist Spain team caused indignation among the then leadership of the USSR, and the head coach of the USSR national team, Konstantin Beskov, who was supposed to prepare the team for the 1966 World Cup in England, was removed from his post.

1968

Participants: 31
Organizer of the final part: Italy
Champion: Italy

The preliminary stage formula has changed. First, seven groups of four teams each plus one group of three teams were formed. The group winners formed pairs of quarter-finalists who sorted things out between themselves at home and away. The four strongest teams qualified for the final tournament, which took place in Italy.

The USSR national team found itself in the third group along with the teams of Greece, Austria and Finland, won five out of six matches with the only away defeat from the Austrians, scored 10 points (goal difference 16:6) and confidently took first place.

The quarterfinals against the Hungarians were not easy, but after losing away - 0:2 - the Soviet team led by Mikhail Yakushin managed to take convincing revenge at home - 3:0. But in the final tournament, the USSR team was unable to score a single goal. First, in the semi-finals in Naples, she drew with the Italians - 0:0, and as a result, the third place was followed by a defeat from the British - 0:2. The Italians became European champions, who needed two whole matches with the Yugoslavs to achieve this. The first - on June 8 - ended in a draw - 1:1, and only two days later, thanks to goals from Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasia, the hosts managed to get the better of the opponent, who was one step away from gold medals for the second time.

1972

Participants: 32
Organizer of the final part: Belgium
Champion: Germany

Regulations group stage did not undergo any changes, but in the playoffs the draw was canceled. Thus, in case of absolute equality of indicators, a series of penalties was awarded.

The USSR national team was in the fourth group along with the teams of Spain, Northern Ireland and Cyprus. At home she won all three matches, and away she tied twice and, having scored 10 points, took first place. In the quarterfinals, the Yugoslavs became the rivals of the Soviet team. In Belgrade there was a draw - 0:0, and in Moscow - a victory for the hosts - 3:0.

The final tournament took place in Belgium. In the semi-finals, the Soviet team, thanks to a goal from Viktor Kolotov, defeated the Hungarians - 1:0, and the German national team, in which Gerd Muller was shining, beat the Belgians - 2:1. The match for third place between Belgium and Hungary ended in victory for the hosts - 2:1, but in the final in Brussels at the Heysel Stadium, the West Germans outright outplayed the Soviet team, which, having suffered a defeat - 0:3, earned European silver for the second time.

1976

Participants: 32
Organizer of the final part: Yugoslavia
Champion: Czechoslovakia

It was last championship Europe, the final part of which took place according to the old formula with the participation of four teams. And the first one in which the USSR national team did not make it into the top four.

Problems for the Soviet team, which ended up in the sixth group along with the Irish, Turks and Swiss, began immediately: in the first away match they lost to the Irish national team - 0:3. However, in the end, having won four victories and two defeats, she took first place with eight points and reached the quarterfinals. But there the main failure occurred. The squad, which was based on the players of Dynamo Kyiv, which won the Cup Winners' Cup and the Super Cup in 1975, first lost to the Czechs in Prague - 0:2, and then could not take revenge on them in Kyiv - 2:2.

In both cases, additional time was needed to determine the finalists. First, in Zagreb, the Czechs defeated the Dutch - 3:1, and then in Belgrade, the German national team beat the Yugoslavs - 4:2. In the match for third place, Holland, again in extra time, won against Yugoslavia - 3:2, and the final turned out to be very interesting. By the 25th minute the Czechs were leading 2:0, but at the very end of the game the Germans equalized the score 2:2, and a penalty shootout was needed for the first time to determine the champion. The Czechoslovakian team performed it more accurately - 5:3.

1980

Participants: 32
Organizer of the final part: Italy
Champion: Germany

The number of teams in the final part has doubled. The group winners plus the Italian national team as the host of the tournament entered there. This eight, however, did not include the USSR national team, which took last place in the sixth qualifying group, behind Greece, Hungary and Finland. The fight in this quartet, however, was stubborn: the winners, the Greeks, scored seven points and were only two points ahead of the Soviet team. But the last match of our team - in Moscow against the Finns - 2:2 - did not decide anything, and only 1,500 people attended it.

Italy became the first country to be re-entrusted with hosting the final part of the European football championship. The top eight were divided into two fours. In Group A, Germany and Czechoslovakia were ahead of the Netherlands and Greece, and in Group B, Belgium and Italy were ahead of the final standings were higher than England and Spain. In the match for third place, the teams that took second place in the groups met, and the Czechs, having finished in a draw with the Italians in regulation time - 1:1, were luckier than their opponents in the penalty shootout.

In the final, the German team defeated the Belgians. Horst Hrubesch scored both goals for the winners. Thus, the German team became the first two-time European champion.

1984

Participants: 33
Organizer of the final part: France
Champion: France

The USSR team was again not in the final eight. She was placed in the second qualifying group along with Portugal, Poland and Finland and was in the lead until the very end. last match in Lisbon. A draw was enough for the guests, but in the 44th minute the hosts scored a goal from the penalty spot and managed to keep the score they needed until the end. As a result, Portugal scored 10 points, and the USSR, which played a 1:1 draw away with the Poles, had 9 left.

The final tournament turned into a benefit performance for the magnificent French team led by Michel Hidalgo. At the preliminary stage, the hosts in Group A defeated Denmark - 1:0, Belgium - 5:0 and Yugoslavia - 3:2, while in Group B the fight was more stubborn, and Spain and Portugal reached the semi-finals, being stronger than Germany and Romania. In the semi-finals, the French, thanks to a goal from Michel Platini, scored in overtime, defeated the Portuguese - 3:2. In the confrontation between the Spaniards and the Danes, who looked very good at that tournament, after a draw in regular and extra time (1:1), they had to resort to a penalty shootout, which was more precisely carried out by the Spanish team - 5:4.

For the first time, the match for third place at the European Championship was not held, and in the final, France absolutely deservedly defeated Spain at the Park de Princes stadium - 2:0. In the 57th minute, Michel Platini opened the scoring, scoring two hat-tricks in five matches and becoming top scorer final tournament (nine goals), and in the 90th minute Bruno Bellon scored the winning point.

1988

Participants: 33
Organizer of the final part: Germany
Champion: Netherlands

One of the best European championships for our team. In the qualifying third group, under the leadership of Valery Lobanovsky, with 13 points, she was ahead of the GDR, the current European champion France (the Soviet team first won away from home - 2:0, and the match in Moscow ended in a draw - 1:1), Iceland and Norway.

The final tournament took place from June 10 to June 25. In Group A, Germany and Italy scored 5 points each, ahead of Spain - 2 points and Denmark - 0. In Group B, the Soviet team first defeated the Netherlands - 1:0 (the goal was scored by Vasily Rat), then tied with Ireland - 1:1 ( Oleg Protasov) and won against England - 3:1 (Sergei Aleynikov, Alexey Mikhailichenko, Victor Pasulko). As a result, the USSR team scored 5 points, the Netherlands - 4, Ireland - 3, England - 0.

The semi-finals confirmed the advantage of the teams from Group B. The Netherlands team in Hamburg defeated the German team - 2:1, and the Soviet football players in Stuttgart very confidently played the match with the Italians - 2:0 (Gennady Litovchenko, Oleg Protasov). The final took place at the Olympiastadion in Munich and ended in victory for the Dutch - 2:0. Rudd Gullit opened the scoring in the 34th minute; in the 54th minute, Marco van Basten scored a goal against Rinat Dasaev, which is considered one of the most beautiful in the history of the majors. football tournaments, and then Igor Belanov missed the penalty.

The symbolic team of 20 people included five representatives of the USSR national team - goalkeeper Rinat Dasaev, defenders Vagiz Khidiyatullin and Oleg Kuznetsov, midfielder Alexey Mikhailichenko and forward Oleg Protasov.

1992

Participants: 35
Organizer of the final part: Sweden
Champion: Denmark

The most sensational European Championship in history ended with the victory of a team that should not have competed in the finals at all. The decision regarding the Danish participation in Sweden was made just a few days before the start of the tournament, since the Yugoslav team, which won the fourth qualifying group, was excluded from the participants for political reasons. At the same time, Barcelona midfielder Mikael Laudrup was absent from the Danes, led by Rikard Møller-Nielsen.

For victories in the qualifying tournament in last time at the European championships 2 points were given. The rivals of the USSR national team in the third group were teams from Italy, Norway, Hungary and Cyprus. She won five matches with three draws and reached the final eight with 13 points.

The team led by Anatoly Byshovets arrived in Sweden as the CIS team, but performed unsuccessfully there: they tied with the Germans - 1:1, who equalized the score at the very end of the game, and the Dutch - 0:0, after which they suffered an unexpected crushing defeat from the Scots - 0:3 and took last place in Group B behind the Netherlands (5 points), Germany (3) and Scotland (2). In Group A, teams from whom much was not expected - Sweden (5) and Denmark (3) - were ahead of the favorites, France (2) and England (2).

In the semi-finals, the Germans defeated the Swedes - 3:2, and Denmark and Holland did not reveal a winner - 2:2, as a result of which a penalty shootout was awarded. The only mistake in it was made by the famous Marco van Basten, and the Danes, having won 5:4, ended up in the final, where they outright beat the Germans - 2:0. The goals in Gothenburg at the Ullevi Stadium were scored by Jon Jensen and Kim Vilfort.

1996

Participants: 48
Organizer of the final part: England
Champion: Germany

There were a lot of things for the first time at this championship. For example, it was there that the Russian national team made its debut in the European championships, the number of participating teams reached 48, 16 teams competed in the final part, and as a result of the use of the “golden goal” rule, the first three-time European champion was born - the German national team.

Due to the increase in the number of teams participating in the tournament, its formula was changed. At the preliminary stage, eight groups were formed (seven of six teams and one of five). The winners and six of the top eight second-place teams advanced directly to the finals. The two remaining teams from the second places competed for a ticket to England in matches against each other. The host team of the tournament was exempt from qualifying.

The Russian team, led by Oleg Romantsev, ended up in the eighth group, scored 26 points, won eight wins and two draws, and took first place, ahead of Scotland, Greece, Finland, the Faroe Islands and San Marino. But in the final part she failed, although, as it later turned out, she ended up in the strongest group C, where both future finalists competed. Having lost to the Italians in Liverpool - 1:2 (the goal was scored by Ilya Tsymbalar), Russian team then it lost even more noticeably to the Germans - 0:3, after which again in Liverpool it tied with the Czechs - 3:3 (Alexander Mostovoy, Omari Tetradze, Vladimir Beschastnykh).

In the quarterfinals, Germany defeated Croatia - 2:1, the Czech Republic - Portugal - 1:0, and the main and extra time in the other two matches ended in a goalless draw, and penalty shootouts took place. Thus, England beat Spain - 4:2, and France - the Netherlands - 5:4.

In the semi-finals we also had to resort to penalty kicks: Germany-England 1:1 (6:5), Czech Republic-France 0:0 (6:5). In the final, the losers opened the scoring. This was done by Czech Patrik Berger from the penalty spot in the 59th minute. However, Oliver Bierhoff's double allowed Berti Vogts' team to celebrate triumph. In the 74th minute he equalized the score, and in the 95th he scored a golden goal.

2000

Participants: 51
Organizer of the final part: Netherlands And Belgium
Champion: France

The qualifying tournament for Euro 2000 is associated with one of the most striking dramas in the history of domestic football. On qualifying stage The Russian team was in the fourth group along with the world champions the French, as well as Ukraine, Iceland, Armenia and Andorra. The beginning of the tournament was shocking: the team led by Anatoly Byshovets suffered three defeats in a row - from Ukraine, France and Iceland. However, after head coach Oleg Romantsev returned to the national team, things improved, and thanks to a historic victory at the Stad de France over the French with a score of 3:2 (two goals scored by Alexander Panov and another by Valery Karpin), the Russians improved their tournament position. Before last round All that was required was to defeat Ukraine at Luzhniki, and when Valery Karpin opened the scoring in the 75th minute, it seemed that this task had been solved. However, in the 87th minute, after Andrey Shevchenko’s free-kick, he made a fatal mistake Russian goalkeeper Alexander Filimonov. As a result, it was a draw, France directly qualified for the finals, and Ukraine, which took second place, lost to the Slovenes in the play-offs.

In the final tournament, the Dutch looked very confident, beating the French in Group D, having also beaten the Czech Republic and Denmark. In the quarterfinals, Portugal defeated Turkey - 2:0), France - Spain - 2:1, the Netherlands - Yugoslavia - 6:1, Italy - Romania - 2:0. In the semi-finals, the French defeated the Portuguese in extra time - 2:1, but the Italians built an impenetrable defense in front of the Dutch, who, having failed to score a single goal, were extremely unsuccessful in the penalty shootout - 1:3. In the final on July 2 in Rotterdam, France defeated Italy in extra time. This was another drama. Italy opened the scoring with a goal from Marco Delvecchio in the 55th minute, but Sylvan Wiltord equalized in the third added minute, and David Trezeguet scored the golden goal in the 103rd minute.

2004

Participants: 51
Organizer of the final part: Portugal
Champion: Greece

The Russian team began the qualifying tournament under the leadership of Valery Gazzaev, who was replaced along the way by Georgy Yartsev. This happened because things in the tenth group, which also included Switzerland, Ireland, Albania and Georgia, initially went very poorly for our team. She suffered away defeats from the Albanians - 1:3 and Georgians - 0:1.

However, in the end, the Russians managed to score 14 points and take second place after the Swiss (15), and beat Wales in the play-offs (the only goal in two meetings, away, was scored by Vadim Evseev).

In the final tournament, our team ended up in Group A and performed unsuccessfully. After defeats from Spain (0:1) and Portugal (0:2), a victory over the Greeks followed (2:1, goals scored by Dmitry Kirichenko and Dmitry Bulykin), but it no longer had tournament significance for the Russians.

The playoffs ended in a sensation. In the quarter-finals, Portugal beat England on penalties - 2:2 (6:5), and the Netherlands beat Sweden - 0:0 (5:4). In addition, Greece beat France 1:0, and the Czech Republic beat Denmark 3:0. In the semi-finals, the Portuguese beat the Dutch - 2:1, and the Greeks defeated the Czechs in extra time - 1:0. In the final in Lisbon at Estadio da Luz, the Portuguese could not do anything with the Greeks, against whom Angelos Charisteas scored in the 57th minute. The main credit for the success of the Greek national team, according to many experts, belonged to the German coach Otto Rehhagel.

2008

Participants: 52
Organizer of the final part: Austria And Switzerland
Champion: Spain

The Russian national team, which entered Group E at the qualifying stage with Croatia, England, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia and Andorra, played for the first time under the leadership of a foreign coach - the Dutchman Guus Hiddink. As a result, she managed to score 24 points with seven wins, three draws and two defeats and take second place behind the Croatians. This happened thanks not only to the home victory over the English (2:1), but also to the sensational defeat of the founders of football from the Croats (2:3) in the last round.

In the final tournament, the Russian team found itself in Group D, where it was joined by Spain, Sweden and Greece. After a discouraging defeat from the Spaniards - 1:4 (Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a goal), Guus Hiddink's team defeated Greece - 1:0 (Konstantin Zyryanov) and Sweden - 2:0 (Roman Pavlyuchenko, Andrei Arshavin), and in the quarterfinals they spectacularly defeated them in overtime with the Netherlands - 3:1 (Roman Pavlyuchenko, Dmitry Torbinsky, Andrey Arshavin). In the other quarterfinals, Germany beat Portugal 3:2, Turkey beat Croatia 1:1 (3:1), and Spain beat Italy 0:0 (4:2). The Russians had an unsuccessful semi-final with the Spaniards, losing 0:3, and the Germans won against the Turks 3:2. In the final on June 28 at the Vienna Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Spain, thanks to a goal from Fernando Torres, scored in the 33rd minute, beat Germany - 1:0.

2012

Participants: 53
Organizer of the final part: Ukraine And Poland
Champion: Spain

The Russian national team was led by another famous Dutchman, Dick Advocaat, who quite confidently coped with the task of leading the team to the final tournament. At the qualifying stage, the Russians found themselves in Group B, where they scored 23 points in ten matches (seven wins, two draws, one loss) and took first place, ahead of Ireland, Armenia, Slovakia, Macedonia and Andorra.

In the final tournament, the Russian team was in Group A, and its opponents were the Czech Republic, Greece and Poland. Having beaten the Czechs - 4:1 (Alan Dzagoev - twice, Roman Shirokov, Roman Pavlyuchenko), our team then tied with the Poles - 1:1 (Alan Dzagoev) and before the third round took first place, but then lost to the Greeks - 0:1 and lost the chance to continue the fight.

In the quarterfinals, Portugal beat the Czech Republic - 1:0, Spain - France - 2:0, Germany - Greece - 4:2, Italy - England - 0:0 (4:2). In the semi-finals, Spain beat Portugal 0:0 (4:2), and Italy beat Germany (2:1).

Decisive match on olympic stadium in Kyiv, Spain-Italy ended with the largest score in the history of European Championship finals. The Spaniards won - 4:0. The first ball was the winner hammered by David Silva, and besides him, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata scored. The Spanish national team became three-time European champions and the first team to defend this title.

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 European tournament, missing out on the 1968 European Championships.

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

(English: UEFA European Championship) is the main competition of national teams, held under the auspices of UEFA. The competition has been held every 4 years since 1960.

For the first time, the idea of ​​holding a tournament for European national teams was put forward by the former Secretary General of the French Football Federation, Henri Delaunay, at one of the meetings of the International Football Federation (FIFA). But the idea did not find support due to problems in organizing the World Championships and the lack of a European regional federation.

The turning point in the history of the creation of the European Championship occurred on May 27, 1952. At a meeting in Zurich, the heads of the football federations of France, Italy and Belgium discussed the creation of the European Football Union. A year later in Paris, at a meeting of 20 representatives of football federations, a committee was formed to prepare the founding conference of the European Football Union, which took place on June 15, 1954 in Basel. It was attended by representatives of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, East Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Northern Ireland, USSR, Finland, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Sweden and Yugoslavia. This council decided to create the European Union of Football Associations (UEFA). The first president of UEFA was the chairman of the Danish Football Association, Ebbe Schwartz.

At a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee on March 27, 1957 in Cologne, a project called the “European Nations Cup” was put forward. On June 6, 1958, the draw for the first round of the Cup took place in the Travelers Club hall of the Forest Hotel in Stockholm.

In 2016, the European Championship, which will be played from June 10 to July 10, will be held in France for a record third time. Before this, only Belgium and Italy hosted the final stage of the European Championship more than once. The fifteenth European Championship will be the first tournament in which 24 teams will play in the final stage. 53 teams will play in the qualifying stage. The Euro 2016 final matches will be held at 10 stadiums: Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.

Tournament format

The qualifying round begins after the end of the World Championship and lasts two years until the final part of the European Championship. The groups are formed by a draw by the UEFA committee using the seeding of the teams. Seeding is based on the qualifying round for the World Championship and the previous European Championship.

53 teams will play in the Euro 2016 qualification, which is a tournament record. They will be divided into groups of five or six teams, which will play each other a home and away match. The nine group winners, nine second place winners and the best third place winner will advance directly to the final stage. Eight other third place holders will decide the fate of the remaining four spots in the play-offs.

Participants in the final tournament will be divided into groups of four teams; six winners, six second-place teams and four best teams who came third.
Cup

The main symbol of the European Championship is the Henri Delaunay Cup. The original Cup was created in 1960 by Arthus Bertrand and named after the former president of the French Football Federation, Henri Delaunay, who served as UEFA's first general secretary since the creation of the union. The cup was a stylized silver amphora with a bas-relief depicting a young man playing ball.

For the 2008 European Championship a new cup was created. Pierre Delaunay, the son of Henri Delaunay, was responsible for the creation of the new prize. The cup weighs eight kilograms and its height is 60 centimeters. It is 18 centimeters taller and two kilograms heavier than the original.

The trophy is almost identical to the original Henri Delaunay Cup, but there are a number of differences. For example, the silver base has undergone changes, becoming larger to make the cup more stable. The names of the European Championship winners, which were previously inscribed on the plinth, are now on the back of the trophy. The original was made by Chobillon goldsmith and later bought by Yann Arthus-Bertrand in Paris, and the new cup was made by Asprey London.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the oldest Russian insurer - the title sponsor of ROSGOSSTRAKH of the Russian Football Championship - a famous journalist Leonid Parfenov in its own unique manner talks about a memorable event in 1960: the victory of the USSR national team at the European Football Championship. More about this famous success– in the material from the section “95 years with football, 95 years with the country.” The main title in the history of domestic football was won in 1960. This was the first European football championship in history. If the world championships have been held since 1930, then the tournament of European teams had to wait another 30 years.

How the Euro was born

The Union of European Football Associations, also known as UEFA, was founded in 1954. Three years later, at the congress, it was decided to hold a tournament among the best European teams. However, 13 of 30 UEFA members refused to participate in the European Championship. Among them were Germany, England, Italy and other famous teams.

The refusal was explained by the heavy workload on football players during club competitions. As a result, only 17 teams took part in the selection for the first Euro. In order for 16 teams to remain, the Czechoslovakians and Irish had to identify the strongest in the preliminary round. This turned out to be a team from Czechoslovakia.

How did the selection for Euro 1960 take place?

With 16 teams, a full-fledged qualifying tournament. It is noteworthy that the host of the competition, France, was not guaranteed a place at the Euro - the team participated in the selection along with everyone else. 16 teams were divided into pairs and played one match each at home and away. After this, 8 teams remained, which were again divided into pairs: France - Austria, USSR - Spain, Portugal - Yugoslavia, Romania - Czechoslovakia.

However, one of these quarter-finals was not destined to take place. The Spaniards refused to go to Soviet Union. For this they were awarded defeat and a fine of 31,500 Swiss francs. The Spaniards' proposal to play the match on a neutral field was rejected by UEFA. There are two versions about why Spain abandoned the play-offs with the USSR. The first version is politics. The Spaniards announced that they would not go to a “communist power.” The second version is the fear of losing. The coach of the Spanish national team, Helenio Herrera, was present in Luzhniki and saw how Soviet football players defeated the Polish national team with a score of 7:1. Soon after this game, the Spaniards refused to go to the USSR.

How the USSR national team took its first title

As a result, three teams from communist countries came to France for the final stage of Euro 1960: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the USSR. In the first semi-final, the French team unexpectedly lost to the Yugoslavs - 4:5, and the USSR team confidently won against the Czechoslovaks - 3:0. Our team excelled Victor Monday and twice Valentin Ivanov.

The final match took place on July 10 in Paris at the Parc des Princes stadium (by the way, at the upcoming Euro 2016 the final will also be held on July 10 and also at the Parc des Princes). The match was officiated by an English referee Arthur Edward Ellis. Apparently he was less tired of club football than his fellow football players. The meeting turned out to be very stubborn. Leonid Parfenov spoke about it in more detail in a video from the Rosgosstrakh company:

Regular time ended in a draw. For the Yugoslavs, Galic scored in the 43rd minute, and for us, Metreveli scored in the 49th minute. There were two more halves of 15 minutes to go. And then, 7 minutes before the end of extra time, Viktor Ponedelnik scored the winning goal with his head. Perhaps this was the most important goal in history Soviet football. After two hours of play, the USSR national team found the strength to take a lap of honor around the stadium. Best goalkeeper tournament was recognized, of course, Lev Yashin, who played in his usual cap. Back then this was allowed for goalkeepers.

Midfielder Igor Netto, who participated in that final, published the book “My Football” in 1974. This is how he recalls what happened after the victory at Euro 1960:

“The European Football Federation held a gala reception in a hall located high on the Eiffel Tower. Us, Soviet football players, gold medals were awarded to the winners of the European Cup, and silver medals were awarded to our friends and rivals - Yugoslav football players. Of course, we warmly congratulated each other. Below, Paris was noisy, living its vibrant life. It was visible from here in full view, the stone masses of houses, wide green avenues, the sharp spiers of Notre Dame Cathedral with its frozen chimeras, as if guarding time... We felt incredibly good.”

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 – crushing victory 3:0 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, the score 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, the score was not opened until the last minute, 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 next championship Europe. 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.

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 current champion Europe did not relinquish his powers. 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.


Related publications