Winning the European Championship and reigning victorious over the continent is something only a select group of nations can boast.
England are yet to do it and the Germans haven’t done it in nearly 30 years, showing just how difficult it can be.
The Three Lions have come close in the past two tournaments, being beaten in the final by Italy in 2021 and Spain in 2024.
But who are the best champions in the competition’s history? Football FanCast has decided to take a trip down memory lane and rank every team to win the tournament since the inaugural edition in 1960.
17 Italy – 1968
One of the very early European Championships back in 1968 saw the Italians pick up their first of two triumphs in this tournament.
Solely for the fact that Italy only made it through to the final thanks to the flip of a coin in the semi-finals after they played out a stalemate with the Soviet Union on the field, this team has to be rock bottom.
The final tournament only consisted of four teams, with England among the qualifiers after seeing Spain off over two legs. The Three Lions were beaten by Yugoslavia before securing third place in a play-off against the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, Italy, who still had to qualify despite having hosting rights – this was chosen once the finalists had been confirmed – came from behind to beat Bulgaria in their quarter-final play-off to make the final four.
With penalty shootouts not existing until the 1970s, a coin toss gave Italy a shot at glory on home soil. A late equaliser set up a replay against Yugoslavia, and just two days later, the Italians prevailed 2-0 to claim their first European crown.
16 Portugal – 2016
Bringing it back to the modern era with a Portuguese team who weren’t expected to go all the way, in truth. Cristiano Ronaldo was of course their poster boy, but after suffering an injury during the final, he spent the remainder of the night doing Fernando Santos’ job for him on the touchline. Eder’s goal in the final was thrilling, though they never really blew anyone away.
This was best demonstrated by the fact that they only won one game within 90 minutes – their semi-final victory over Wales. Of course, this Portugal team is perhaps best known for winning the tournament despite drawing all three of their group games and scraping through as one of the best third-placed teams, having finished behind Hungary and Iceland in Group F.
A shootout victory over Poland and extra-time triumphs over Croatia and France in the final saw them write their way into footballing folklore in the most underwhelming of manners.
15 Soviet Union – 1960
The first European Championship – then known as the European Nations’ Cup – took place in France in 1960, where the Soviet Union prevailed as the inaugural winners.
Not that it is necessarily their fault, but with the tournament being much smaller and there being fewer teams in the finals (four), it is hard to put them in the same conversation as some of the more recent teams who have had to play up to seven times on their way to victory.
Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union went toe-to-toe in the final at the Parc des Princes in the French capital. It was the former who took the lead, before the Soviet Union hit back through Slava Metreveli and Viktor Ponedelnik’s winner in extra-time.
14 Denmark – 1992
Denmark’s triumph in 1992 as the ultimate dark horse has to go down as one of the greatest achievements in men’s international football.
Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel played a major role in his country’s success whilst midfielder Henrik Larsen was joint top-scorer along with three others.
This victory is made all the more remarkable when one considers that the Danes didn’t originally qualify to take part. It was only after Yugoslavia were removed from the tournament due to the breakup of the country amid the outbreak of war that Denmark – second to Yugoslavia in their qualifying group – earned their spot, and they certainly grabbed this unlikely opportunity.
The tournament also saw the end of the backpass rule, which the Danes were all too keen to exploit – leaving them lower on this list than their victory perhaps merits.
13 Italy – 2020
Italy are the first team to feature on this list more than once and their success three years ago isn’t this low down solely because it was England that they beat in the final.
That may play a minor role, but it has more to do with the fact that whilst they were a good side that scored seven unanswered goals in the group stages, they didn’t really reach the heights of a great team, having sneaked their way to victory with just one win inside 90 minutes in the knockout stages – albeit an impressive one against Belgium.
The Azzurri won’t care whether they were good or great given that they got their hands on the trophy, and on top of that, it has to be said that they had some excellent performers including the likes of Federico Chiesa, Nicolo Barella, Leonardo Spinazzola and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
12 Spain – 1964
Our journey through time takes another major leap as we arrive in 1964, the year of the competition’s second edition.
This was the first time that Spain were able to complete a whole campaign after they were booted from the previous tournament for their refusal to face the Soviet Union four years prior whilst under the rule of Francisco Franco.
Luis Suarez was the star player for the Spaniards in ’64 and so whilst again, there were limited matches in comparison to the modern game, the Euros still bore witness to some true excellence from one of the very best.
11 West Germany – 1980
When combining the exploits of West Germany and the unified nation of Germany as they are now, it is a tie between them and Spain for the most trophies.
The second of two as West Germany came in 1980 – they beat Belgium in the final in the ancient city of Rome thanks to a brace from Horst Hrubesch, who has recently managed Germany Women and the Hamburg men’s side.
Hrubesch was second in the scoring charts for his country and the overall tournament as Klaus Allofs was the only man to reach a tally of three.
This side have ended up in the middle of the pack due to the fact that they weren’t exactly blowing any teams away – they won three of their four matches by a single goal alongside a goalless draw with Greece. Nevertheless, they still seized a great opportunity and earned a coveted European Championship title after seeing off the likes of the Netherlands and then-reigning champions Czechoslovakia along the way.
10 Germany – 1996
Sticking with Die Mannschaft as they won their third title in 1996.
After beating England in the semi-finals following Gareth Southgate’s miss from the penalty spot, the Czech Republic awaited the Germans at Wembley.
Patrik Berger, formerly of Liverpool, opened the scoring in the final with a penalty of his own. Oliver Bierhoff scored his only two goals of the tournament on the biggest stage, the first levelling things up and then the second being a momentous golden-goal winner in extra-time.
Having seen off the likes of England, Italy, Croatia and the Czech Republic (twice), it is hard to begrudge them their place as one of the better championship-winning teams.
9 Czechoslovakia – 1976
Czechoslovakia weren’t the most spectacular of teams and certainly weren’t the favourites in 1976, but for one moment alone that was truly iconic, they deserve to be remembered fondly.
This moment in question is of course the chipped finish from the penalty spot that decided the final in their favour which has now come to bear a certain name.
Antonin Panenka did something so audacious and unexpected that he is now etched into the history books of the sport, with the Panenka name carrying such significance for this action from 12 yards out alone.
8 Spain – 2024
Spain won their third European Championship in 2024, winning all seven games on their way to the trophy.
Having been dumped out of the World Cup by Morocco in 2022, La Roja had something of a point to prove as they jetted off to Germany 18 months later – and they certainly did that.
They won all their group games without conceding a goal, but came alive during the knockout stages. They came from behind to smash tournament newcomers Georgia before a dramatic 119th-minute winner saw off hosts Germany in the last eight.
Their tournament truly came alight in the semi-final stage with arguably the moment of the competition, with 16-year-old Lamine Yamal scoring one of the greatest goals in European Championship history to equalise against France, before Dani Olmo’s goal set up a grand final against England.
Spain’s winning experience appeared to serve them well as they defeated the Three Lions in Berlin to secure a third European crown in five attempts, with this iteration of the team hugely impressive and looking like favourites to defend their title in 2028.