It was in 1960 that the very first Euros took place, which took place in France. Since then the tournament has continued to amaze football fans worldwide over the decades. Giving birth to both legendary footballers and unforgettable moments. A total of 11 nations have won this prestigious cup throughout its history. We will now be looking at the most successful teams in the history of the Euro competition.
5. Russia
Modern football fans might be surprised to see Russia in this list. Prepare to get even more shocked, as Russia were in fact the winners of the very first Euro Cup tournament in 1960. They were the Soviet Union back then, and had defeated Yugoslavia 2-1 in Paris to make history. This was their first and only Euro Cup win. Several other teams have won the tournament once, but we picked Russia over them due to their historically better performance in the tournament. They were also runners up on 3 occasions. These were in 1964,1972, and 1988.
4. France
The next team in our list is France. They have shockingly only won the title on 2 occasions, with the first in 1984 the last one being almost 2 and a half decades ago in 2000. Their biggest heartbreak was in 2016, when a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal squad defied the odds and beat them to win the title. With the plethora of exquisite talent at their disposal throughout history, one would've expected France to have performed better. The nation has never lacked talent, and if anything, has had an overload of it. Let's wait and see if they add a third in Germany.
3. Italy
We have Italy in third place, who are also the current defending champions of the cup. They surprised everyone and shocked the world to become the Euro Champions in 2020. They faced favorites England in the final, and managed to overcome all obstacles to beat them on penalties. Similar to France, they habe also won 2 titles, with the other being in 1968. They've been historically better than the French though, having reached 2 finals in 2000 and 2012. Their current side is a show of their former legendary teams and we should watch out if they can shock the football world again.
2. Spain
The Spaniards are the next team in the list, having won the competition a joint record 3 times. They won the prestigious tournament in 1964, 2008, and 2012. The final 2 Euro wins were consecutive, at a time when Spain were simply unstoppable in international football and was having their golden generation team. They have only lost one final in their history, which happened in 1984 as France beat them 2-0. Similar to Spain, their current side is a shadow of the old mighty era, but let us not underestimate anyone in this beautiful game of football.
1. Germany
The 2024 Euro hosts are joint record champions of the tournament with Spain ( 3 cups). Germany had won the cup in 1972, 1980, and 1996. They had been runners up on 3 occasions, thus making them statistically better than Spain and hence our first choice. These losses were in 1976, 1992, and 2008, with the latter ironically being against the Spanish side. The Germans would undoubtedly be looking to achieve the dream scenario of claiming a record 4th on home turf. It was the fairytale ending that German fans would be hoping and praying for.
