Every four years, 24 teams from around the continent assemble for the much-anticipated UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship (EURO), where nations contend for the prized title.
The tournament is a demonstration of exceptional football skills as well as an assessment of the host nation’s organizational prowess.
Showcasing the football talent and organizational prowess of the host nation, hosting and winning the EURO is an exceptional feat.
To make a lasting footmark on the history of football on the continent, several European countries aspire to host and win the EURO’s.
The host country has won the trophy 3 times in the last 17th edition of the EURO tournaments contested over 64 years.
Three nations have achieved the rare stunt of hosting and winning the tournament, a list we will hereafter dive into.
Spain – (1964)
Spain has hosted the EURO once, in 1964, and luckily for them, they were able to win it that year.
Spain had to overcome Romania, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland – both home and away to earn the right to qualify for the second edition of the European Nations Cup, with a host then picked from four quarter-final winners.
La Roja were offered the honour, fending off the Soviet Union, Denmark and Hungary for the privilege – and what an occasion it eventually was for the hosts.
Amancio was the hero in a 2-1 extra-time victory over Hungary in the last four, setting up a final against the Soviets just four years after Spain refused to visit Moscow to face them for political reasons.
The Spanish dictator Franco approved this meeting, with European football history on the line, and the hosts never looked back as a late Marcelino goal sent Madrid and Spain into raptures in front of more than 79,000 inside the Santiago Bernabéu.
Italy ( 1968)
Italy has hosted the EURO two times, 1968 and 1980, and has won the championship once as a host (1968).
Italy backed up Spain’s success by winning the European Championship in 1968 to become the second nation in Europe to host and win the prestigious prize, when the UEFA competition changed its name after two editions of the European Nations Cup.
Nations had to win a group-stage competition between 1966 and 1968 before a two-legged quarter-final phase to qualify for the tournament proper, with Italy beating Bulgaria 2-0 in Naples to secure a 4-3 aggregate triumph in that round.
Astonishingly, a coin toss sealed Italy’s semi-final success after a goalless draw in 120 minutes against the Soviet Union in Naples.
Angelo Domenghini’s 80th-minute strike forced the final with Yugoslavia to a replay at Stadio Olimpico, in which Gigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi scored first-half goals as a 2-0 win grabbed Italy’s first European title.
France (1984)
France has hosted the EURO three times, 1960, 1984, and 2016 – the most of any other European country.
The Blues have won the championship once as a host nation in 1984.
Repeating the tricks of Spain and Italy, France eventually became the third and still most recent European Championship hosts to lift the trophy on home soil, securing their maiden major international title.
Michel Platini scored a record nine goals in five matches as Les Bleus – who won three from three and topped a group including Denmark, Belgium, and Yugoslavia – powered to glory in their own backyard.
Michel Hidalgo was the gaffer behind the French conquest, with Platini’s 119th-minute winner in a 3-2 extra-time victory over Portugal in the semi-final teeing up the showpiece against Miguel Muñoz’s Spain.
Platini added to his account in the final at Parc des Princes before Bruno Bellone sealed a 2-0 win over Spain, despite French defender Yvon Le Roux becoming the first player to be sent off in a European Championship final after a second yellow card five minutes from time.
The 18th edition of the European Championship returns to Germany on Friday, 14 June, 2024, through till July 14, 2024, for the first time since 1988.
After a disappointing performance in the 17th edition of the EURO – where Germany were kicked out of the competition in the round of 16, and not forgotten about their abysmal performance in the just-ended FIFA World Cup – Germany will be hoping to clinch their fourth EURO title and etch their names into the annals of European football as the 4th nation to host and win the tournament.
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Story by: Rabbi Adu Agyei| univers.ug.edu.gh
