UEFA European Football Championship
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| UEFA European Football Championship | |
|---|---|
 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying |
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| Sport | Football |
| Founded | 1960 |
| No. of teams | 52 |
| Country | Europe |
| Current champions |  Greece |
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by the UEFA. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations Cup, changing to the name European Football Championship in 1968. The tournament is considered the second-most important competition among national teams, based on European and worldwide fame, after the FIFA World Cup. Specific championships are often referred to in the form "Euro 2008" or whichever year is appropriate.
There is a UEFA Women's Championship inaugurated in 1984 and from 1997 held every four years, as well as a Men's Under-21 equivalent of the UEFA European Championship tournament, taking place every two years.
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[edit] The competition
Before 1980, only four teams qualified for the final tournament. From 1980 eight teams competed and in 1996 the tournament expanded again to the current number of teams, 16. The competing teams are chosen by a series of qualifying games: in 1960 and 1964 through home and away play-offs; from 1968 through a combination of both qualifying groups and play-off games. The host country was selected from the four finalists after they were determined through qualifying.
Since the expansion of the final tournament starting from 1980, the host country, or countries, have been chosen beforehand and qualify automatically.
The defending champions have never been granted an automatic place in the finals.
[edit] Trophy
The Henri Delaunay Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the European Football Championship, is named in honor of Henri Delaunay, the first General Secretary of UEFA, who came up with the idea of a European championship but died five years prior to the first tournament in 1960. His son Pierre Delaunay was the person in charge of making the trophy.[1] Since the first tournament it has been awarded for the winning team to keep for four years, until the next tournament.
For the 2008 tournament, the trophy was slightly remodelled making the trophy larger, as well as minor cosmetic changes. The trophy was made 18 centimetres taller and two kilograms heavier. UEFA officials had stated that despite the prestige of the tournament, the old trophy was smaller than the ones awarded in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.[2]
[edit] History
[edit] European Nations Cup
In 1956, the groundwork for a European national team competition was laid. Two years later, in 1958, the first European Nations Cup began. The original format of the competition saw the early rounds played in home and away matches between the countries on a knockout basis. This continued until the semi-finals, where the remainder of the competition was played in the host country, chosen from the four semi-finalists.
The French Football Federation’s Henri Delaunay came up with the idea of a European championship in 1927. Given the immense efforts that Delaunay had put into setting up a European national teams competition, UEFA deemed it appropriate that the inaugural competition be hosted by France. The trophy presented to the competition winner still bears his name.
The first final was held in Paris and saw the Soviet Union defeat Yugoslavia, after extra time, and be first to have their name engraved onto the trophy.
The 1964 competition was the first European Nations Cup to be affected by politics as it saw Greece refusing to play Albania as they were technically (though not officially) at war. The finals were hosted by Spain, and they saw the hosts beat the Soviet Union 2-1 in Madrid.
[edit] European Football Championship
The 'European Nations Cup changed its name to the UEFA European Football Championship for 1968 and also a new format was introduced. Eight groups of seeded teams played each other twice and the top side of each group proceeded to two-legged quarter finals. The semi-finals and final were played in the host country of Italy who won the competition after a 2-0 replay of the final, having drawn 1-1 in the first against Yugoslavia.
In the 1972 tournament, the same structure was retained, with Belgium being the host of the finals. West Germany won the competition, beating the Soviet Union 3-0 in the final. The 1976 final round was hosted by Yugoslavia. In the final, Czechoslovakia squandered a two-goal lead before penalties were needed. When Uli Hoeness missed, it allowed Antonín Panenka to chip into the space vacated by Sepp Maier's anticipatory dive for a Czechoslovakian victory.
[edit] Expansion to 8 teams
In 1980 UEFA introduced a new format, which saw eight teams go to the finals instead of four, and then play each other in two groups of four teams; the winner of each group then proceeded to the final. West Germany faced Belgium in the final, which they won 2-1 after two goals from Horst Hrubesch. This new format was slightly modified in 1984: the group stages remained but semi-finals were reinstated for the top two teams of each group. The competition was held in France for the second time, and the new format proved an outstanding success with two thrilling semi-finals. The hosts won 2-0 in Paris against Spain with goals from Michel Platini and Bruno Bellone. Platini had dominated the Euro as no other player had before or had done so ever since, he scored nine goals that tournament while the next highest scorer had three, and no other player in the Euro's history has ever scored more than five goals.
The 1988 competition was held in West Germany, while the format from the 1984 competition was retained and proved equally satisfactory. Marco Van Basten led the Netherlands, scoring what was later voted the best goal ever in the competition [3].
The 1992 competition was held in Sweden (using the same format as the 1984 and 1988 instances). In a time of European political change, a united Germany was represented and as a result of the break up of the Soviet Union, a Commonwealth of Independent States of the former Soviet Union. Yugoslavia made it to the finals but were excluded as a result of hostilities in their country, Denmark replaced them. Surprisingly, the Danes went on to win the competition after a 2-0 victory over world champions Germany in the final.
[edit] Expansion to 16 teams
Upon the breakup of the Soviet Union, all of the former Soviet republics formed independent football associations in 1992 and entered their national teams in Euro and World Cup qualifying. That same year, Israel moved from the Asian Football Confederation to UEFA. With 48 teams now competing for final-round berths instead of 33, qualifying for an eight-team tournament—which was already more difficult than qualifying for a World Cup before 1992—would have become so unlikely as to discourage many teams from mounting serious attempts. Expansion of the final round to 16 teams was thus decided and took effect for Euro 1996 in England. The teams were put into 4 groups, the winner and runner-up of each group progressed to a new round of quarter-finals. The semi-finals and final remained the same. This format was (still is) in fact exactly the same as that of the World Cup up to 1970, except for the introduction of the golden goal rule and minor differences in breaking ties between teams even on points in the first round. Germany actually benefited from a golden goal (by Oliver Bierhoff) to defeat a surprising Czech Republic side in the final, 2-1.
Belgium and the Netherlands became the first countries to jointly host the event in 2000. Once again a golden goal decided the outcome, this time by David Trézéguet of France in a 2-1 win over Italy. In 2004, the Euro was held in Portugal, with the silver goal rule being used for the first time. The rule saw Greece beat the Czech Republic in the semi-finals. Underdogs Greece went on to win the competition, when they had been put at pre-tournament odds of 100 to 1.
The next tournament will be co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria in 2008. The format will be the same as in 2004 except that the silver goal rule has been abandoned and extra time must again be played in its entirety.
[edit] Future
[edit] 2012 and 2016 bids
Selection of the host country or countries for the 2012 competition is currently in progress. The host will be chosen in March 2007 from a shortlist including Italy and joint bids from Poland/Ukraine and Croatia/Hungary.
In 2010, UEFA will decide which country will host Euro 2016. Sweden and Denmark are currently planning a joint bid, and it has been reported that Wales and Scotland will also bid together. Bids should be left in 2008.
[edit] Possible expansion to 24 teams
Since the 1990s, countries have been allowed to act as joint hosts. Belgium and the Netherlands were the first countries to co-host the competition in 2000. In the 2008 tournament Austria and Switzerland will co-host the event, held from June 7 - June 29, 2008. There is much discussion about an expansion of the tournament grid to 24 teams, started by Scotland and Ireland, due to the increasing number of football associations in Europe after the breakups of Yugoslavia and the USSR. The new president of UEFA, Michel Platini, is reported to be in favour of expansion, as is a majority of UEFA's Executive Committee. A decision could occur as early as the spring of 2007.[1]
[edit] Hosting requirements and their impact on the pool of candidate hosts
In the current 16-team format, and because of the requirement that both final matches of a qualifying group be played at the same time, the practical minimum number of stadia is eight. At least one stadium must have UEFA 5-star rating to host the final, and all others must have 4-star rating or more. Also, concentrating more than two stadia in a single host city is likely to put severe strain on that city's transportation and lodging infrastructure. This means that host stadia must be located in at least four different cities—generally six to eight in practice, as few cities outside the capitals of most European countries have enough resident sports teams with attendances high enough to justify the existence of two large stadia. As a consequence, transport between venues for the teams and the large numbers of visiting fans is of crucial importance and often requires significant investment to improve road, rail, and air networks.
These demanding requirements make it increasingly difficult for small- and medium-sized countries to host a Euro alone. The population of Portugal, at just over 10 million, may represent the threshold below which a country cannot bid by itself. Though Portgual staged a successful Euro in 2004, it is unclear whether its investment will pay off. Some of the stadia built for the occasion are rarely, if ever, full during domestic league or Cup matches.
Joint hosting, as done in 2000 and 2008, can offer a solution to this problem. UEFA has unofficially set the maximum number of co-hosts at two by turning down a so-called "Nordic bid" of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden to host Euro 2008 jointly. With two co-hosts, each organizing country needs only provide good transportation between three or four host cities and build or renovate four stadia, with a better chance of a positive return on investment. A large number of nations with populations around five million, such as Scotland or Croatia, now have an opportunity to become hosts. An element of sporting fairness is also present, as co-hosting gives smaller countries with good national teams (such as the Czech Republic) the same opportunity as their football equals with larger populations (such as Spain) to earn a Euro berth without having to qualify.
With the proposed expansion of the Euro to 24 teams, the requirements become even more stringent. The experience of past 24-team World Cups (1982 to 1994) shows that nine to 12 stadia are necessary to host such a competition, 12 being the ideal number. In practice, eight to 12 cities are now involved, which magnifies transportation and lodging issues.
If UEFA maintains its unofficial limit of two co-hosts, the minimum country size to mount a bid will therefore increase and will probably lie between five and 10 million. It is also possible that UEFA would become open to joint bids by three countries, which would keep the requirements unchanged for each co-host and enable the same pool of nations to bid as in the 16-team format. Qualifying would, however, become marginally more difficult for non-hosts: 21 berths would remain open to 48 teams (i.e., a 43.8% selection rate), versus 22 berths for 49 teams (a 44.9% rate) for a two-host Euro.
[edit] Format
[edit] Qualifying
In order to qualify a team must be winners or runners-up in one of the seven qualifying groups. After this a team proceeds to the finals round in the host country, although hosts qualify for the tournament automatically. The qualifying phase begins in the autumn after the preceding FIFA World Cup, almost two years before the finals.
The groups for qualification are drawn by a UEFA committee using seeding, seeded teams include reigning champions, and other teams on the basis of their performance in the preceding FIFA World Cup qualifying, and the last European Football Championship qualifying. To obtain an accurate view of the teams abilities, a ranking is produced, this is calculated by taking the total number of points won by a particular team, and dividing it by the number of games played, i.e., points per game, in the case of a team having hosted one of the two previous competitions, and therefore having qualified automatically, only the results from the single most recent qualifying competition are used. If two teams have equal points per game, the committee then bases their positions in the rankings on;
- Coefficient from the matches played in its most recent qualifying competition.
- Average goal difference.
- Average number of goals scored.
- Average number of away goals scored.
- Drawing of lots.
The qualifying phase is played in a group format, the composition of the groups is determined through means of a draw of teams from pre-defined seeded bowls. The draw takes place after the preceding World Cup's qualifying competition. For the 2008 European Football Championship, the group qualifying phase consists of seven groups, one of eight teams, and the remainder of seven teams each.
The qualifying phase is done in groups, each effectively a mini league, where the highest ranked team, after all the teams have played each other home and away, progresses to the finals tournament, as with most leagues, the points are dealt as three for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. In the eventuality of one or more teams having equal points after all matches have been played, the following criteria is used to distinguish the sides;
- Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question.
- Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question.
- Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question.
- Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question.
- Results of all group matches:
- Superior goal difference
- Higher number of goals scored
- Higher number of goals scored away from home
- Fair play conduct.
- Drawing of lots.
[edit] Final tournament
Sixteen teams progress to the final tournament, for the 2008 tournament they will be the winners and runners up of the seven qualifying groups, and joint hosts Austria and Switzerland. These sixteen teams are divided equally into four groups, A, B, C and D, each consisting of four teams. The groups are drawn up by the UEFA administration, again using seeding. The seeded teams being the host nations, the reigning champions, subject to qualification, and those with the best points per game coefficients over the qualifying phase of the tournament and the previous World Cup qualifying. Other finalists will be assigned to by means of a draw, using coefficients as a basis.
The four groups are again played in a league format, where a team plays its opponents once each. The same points system is used (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a defeat). A schedule for the group matches will be drawn up, but the last two matches in a group must kick off simultaneously. The winner and runner-up of each group progresses to the quarter-finals, where a knockout system is used (the two teams play each other once, the winner progresses), this is used in all subsequent rounds as well. The winners of the quarter-finals matches progress to the semi-finals, where the winners play in the final. If in any of the knockout rounds after normal playing time, the scores are still equal, extra time and penalties are employed to separate the two teams.
[edit] Statistics
- Key:
- aet - after extra time
- asdet - after sudden death extra time
- ps - after penalty shootout
[edit] Total wins
Though the Soviet Union won the inaugural competition, Germany triumphed three times, twice as West Germany. France is the only other team to have won the tournament more than once.
[edit] Last Four Classifications
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third-place | Semi-finalists | Fourth-place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Germany |
3 (1972, 1980, 1996) | 2 (1976, 1992) | - | 1 (1988) | - |
 France |
2 (1984, 2000) | - | - | 1 (1996) | 1 (1960) |
 Russia |
1 (1960*) | 3 (1964*, 1972*, 1988*) | - | - | 1 (1968) |
 Italy |
1 (1968) | 1 (2000) | - | 1 (1988) | 1 (1980) |
 Spain |
1 (1964) | 1 (1984) | - | - | - |
 Czech Republic |
1 (1976)** | 1 (1996) | 2 (1960**, 1980**, 2004) | 1 (2004) | - |
 Netherlands |
1 (1988) | - | 1 (1976) | 3 (1992, 2000, 2004) | - |
 Denmark |
1 (1992) | - | - | 1 (1984) | 1 (1964) |
 Greece |
1 (2004) | - | - | - | - |
 Serbia |
- | 2 (1960***, 1968***) | - | - | 1 (1976***) |
 Belgium |
- | 1 (1980) | 1 (1972) | - | - |
 Portugal |
- | 1 (2004) | - | 2 (1984, 2000) | |
 England |
- | - | 1 (1968) | 1 (1996) | - |
 Hungary |
- | - | 1 (1964) | - | 1 (1972) |
 Sweden |
- | - | - | 1 (1992) | - |
*As 
USSR
**As 
Czechoslovakia
***As 
Yugoslavia and 
Yugoslavia
[edit] Total Hosts
| Hosts | Nation | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 times | Belgium |
1972, 2000* |
| 2 times | France |
1960, 1984 |
| 2 times | Italy |
1968, 1980 |
| 1 time |  Austria |
2008** |
| 1 time | England |
1996 |
| 1 time | Germany |
1988 |
| 1 time | Netherlands |
2000* |
| 1 time | Portugal |
2004 |
| 1 time | Spain |
1964 |
| 1 time | Sweden |
1992 |
| 1 time |  Switzerland |
2008** |
| 1 time | Yugoslavia |
1976 |
- *Belgium, and the Netherlands co-hosted the Euro 2000.
- **Austria, and Switzerland will co-host the Euro 2008.
[edit] Final tournament appearances
| Appearances | Country |
|---|---|
| 9 | Germany[4] |
| 7 | England Denmark Netherlands Spain |
| 6 | Italy France USSR[5] |
| 5 | Yugoslavia[6] |
| 4 | Belgium Czech Republic Portugal Romania |
| 3 | Czechoslovakia Sweden Russia Switzerland |
| 2 |  Bulgaria Croatia Greece Hungary Scotland Turkey |
| 1 |  Republic of Ireland Latvia Yugoslavia Slovenia Austria Norway |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Michael Harold, 'You won't find a superior trophy', UEFA.com, January 27, 2006
- ^ New trophy for UEFA EURO 2008, UEFA.com, January 23, 2007
- ^ "UEFA Euro 2004 Final Match Day Publication", UEFA, July 4 2006, pp. 59.
- ^ Including five appearances as West Germany.
- ^ Including one appearance as Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992.
- ^ Includes the Euro 1992 qualification and disqualification due to international sanctions.
[edit] External links
- UEFA European Championship at uefa.com.
- Official Website of the Region Basel - The main venue in Switzerland of the European Football Championship 2008
