History of the European Championships

The UEFA European Football Championship is the pinnacle of international football for all European nations governed by the European ruling body, UEFA (Union of European Football Associations).

Held every four years since 1960, the European Championships tournament has undergone severe changes since it’s inception through to it’s modern day format and is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in world soccer.

Despite the first seeds of an idea for a European Championship competition having been sown in 1927 by the French Football Association’s Henri Delaunay (whom the trophy is now named after), it wasn’t until 1958 that the first qualifying rounds were held, initially on a home and away knockout basis between nations culminating in a four team final stage with two semi-finals and a final to decide the winner.

From humble beginnings in the 1960s
To commemorate the plans first raised by Henri Delaunay, UEFA awarded the first tournament to be hosted in France in 1960 where the Soviet Union defeated Yugoslavia to lift the trophy for the first time.

Spain hosted the next European Nation’s Cup (as it was originally called) in 1964 and the host nation defeated the current holders, the Soviet Union, 2-1 in the final in Madrid.

A name change to the UEFA European Football Championship took place before the tournament in Italy in 1968 along with the first of many format changes, this time eight groups played each other home and away with the winner of the group progressing to the two-legged quarter finals. The resulting winners then on to Italy to battle it out in the semi-finals and final with the host nation beating Yugoslavia 2-0 in the replay after drawing 1-1 in the original final.

The 1970s as The UEFA European Football Championship
Belgium hosted the 1972 final with a strong West German side taking the Henri Delaunay Trophy after defeating the Soviet Union 3-0 in the final.

West Germany again made the final in 1976 in Yugoslavia but failed to take advantage of the penalty shootout and were defeated on penalties for the first time in a major tournament final by the unfancied Czechoslovakia.

A Decade Of Footballing Change In The 1980s
The tournament in 1980 saw another change of format to eight finalists, each divided into groups of four where the winners of each group progressed to play each other in the final. West Germany’s dominance in European competition continued when they ran out 2-1 winners in the final against Belgium.

Yet another change of format in 1984 saw the top two sides from the group stages move on to the semi-final stage with the winners meeting in the final. The great mid ‘80s French side of Michel Platini made sure the trophy stayed in the host country of France as they beat Spain 2-0 in the final in Paris.

Surprisingly UEFA retained the same format for Euro ’88 in West Germany but the hosts weren’t strong enough to make the final and the exciting Dutch side led by the AC Milan triumvirate of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard led their country to victory over the Soviet Union.

Political Upheaval and Football Coming Home
Political strife led to one of the European Championships’ Cinderella stories in Sweden in 1992 as wartorn Yugoslavia were denied entry despite qualifying and Denmark were given their place. Playing alongside a reunified Germany and a Commonwealth of Independent States representing the disintegrated former Soviet Union, Denmark surprised everyone when they beat world champions Germany 2-0 in the final to lift the trophy.

By the time qualification started for the 1996 European Championships, due to be hosted in England, the former Soviet states had all joined UEFA as independent countries which led to a change (once again) in format to accommodate the new members. 16 qualifiers were split into groups of four with the winners and runners up progressing to a quarter final stage then semi-finals and then the final. Germany won the trophy with a Golden Goal victory over plucky underdogs the Czech Republic in a hard fought final.

French Domination and A Fairytale Victory For Greece
France cemented their reputation as the world’s finest footballing side in 2000 in a tournament held jointly for the first time by the Netherlands and Belgium. The World Champions turned on the style again as David Trezeguet’s Golden Goal earned them a 2-1 victory over Italy.

Euro 2004 saw another surprising victory as 100/1 pre tournament outsiders Greece defied the odds and the pundits to lift the European Championship trophy in Portugal against their hosts.

Qualification has already started for the next European Championships in Switzerland and Austria in 2008 as the major nations look to reclaim the crown from the plucky outsiders.