European Football Championships

When you think of the UEFA European Championships, you think of images of Marco van Basten's volley against the Soviet Union in 1988 and John Jensen's thunderbolt against Germany four years later. There is indeed a long and rich history of European Championship football spanning almost half a century and here are some of the highlights...

European Football Championship History

It all started back in 1927 when French Football Federation member Henri Delaunay proposed a European football championship, but it wasn't until 1960 that the first competition actually took place. The Soviet Union won the title, beating Yugoslavia after extra-time, but it has since been dominated by the bigger names in European football.

European football championship wins for Spain, Italy and Germany followed over the next twelve years before Czechoslovakia won the first ever European football Championships to be decided on penalties in 1976 - defeating defending champions West Germany.

Euro '92

Denmark produced the first of two major surprises in European football history when winning the 1992 finals, while Greece caused an even bigger shock four years ago.

Euro '96

Sadly England have never really managed to shine on the big stage. The first disappointment came back in 1968 when a semi-final loss to Yugoslavia cost them the chance to add the European football championship title to the World Cup they won in 1966. A string of poor results followed until they reached the last four again in 1996. This time they were sent crashing out by a German football team at their ruthless best, who went on to win the European football championships.

Euro '00

France claimed the UEFA European Championships in 2000, adding the title to the World Cup they won in 1998. England had earlier made a swift exit when losing to Romania in the group stages, but the French went on to defeat Italy 2-1 in the decider.

Euro '04

It is Greece who will go into this year's event as defending European football Champions. The hosts brought the country to a standstill by reaching the final and they duly obliged with Angelos Charisteas' goal, enough to claim a 1-0 win over Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo and friends will be looking for redemption in their Euro 08 campaign though and are one of the front-runners in the betting.

Euro '08

In 2008 Spain takes the title for the first time history, beating off a solid German side come away with a 3-2 victory and the prized Henri Delaunay Trophy.