It’s finally (almost) here. The wait is (nearly) over. EURO 2024 approaches, and the anticipation is undeniable. And how nice is it that for the first time in a while, a football tournament is being hosted in a country that doesn’t align itself with sportswashing or political upheaval (it’s just those pesky civil disobedient lot whining about genocide and occupation – which is funded by the country - and the rapid rise of a far-right party), unlike those oriental countries or enemies of the western NATO-backed states, who are just authoritarian sportswashing machines.
But that’s not why we’re here (it should be). The tournament in Germany will be the seventh to happen this century, and, spoiler, like all others, will end with a winner. So, how do the previous six winners rank?
6. Portugal (2016)
Partly because of the other teams on this list, and partly because of their tournament outing in itself, Fernando Santos’ Portugal are ranked lowest of the European Championship winners of this century. The win itself was quite unexpected, not least because of their early showing. Portugal drew all three group games, and qualified by the skin of their teeth following a 3-3 stalemate with Hungary. In fact, La Selaccao only won one game inside 90 minutes – the semi-final against Wales. If tournament football is less about flair and overwhelming quality, and more about discipline and getting the job done, arguably no side has embodied that like this one. They sit this low, because not even the narrative was that great; doing a Greece against France is not as memorable when it’s named after a side that did it 12 years earlier. Speaking of…
5. Greece (2004)
Also ranked lower because of the other teams, Otto Rehagel’s side also embodied the ‘tournament football cliché’ ethos. But Greece get more praise because of not just how unfancied they were, also due to how they got to the European pinnacle in ’04. Not only did beat big-hitters France, steamrollers Czechia, and hosts Portugal (twice), Greece’s defensive display was an epitome of control like little you’d ever seen. It’s not an exaggeration to say we’ll probably never see a team play this way and win a competition on their teams like this. Extra points for Theo Zagorakis winning Player of the Tournament that year.
4. Spain (2008)
Just about above Greece on this list, partly because of those displays against Russia. Spain went into the Austria/Switzerland with many thinking they’d do that thing again… look real nice, score a few fancy goals, and go home early; or that other thing; look real nice, fail to score a few fancy goals, and go home even earlier. But Luis Aragones’ team laid down a marker with a dismantling of Russia in their first game, before being taken to the wire by Sweden and pulling off a late winner. Then-world champions Italy threatened to halt the train, in the quarter-final, but penalties wouldn’t stop La Roja. Russia was slain again in the semis, before the most controlled 1-0 win against Germany in Vienna handed them a first title in 44 years. In a tournament dominated by Xavi, it was fitting that they subdued and suffocated teams on their way to glory.
3. Italy (2021)
They probably should be Number 1 on this list. In 2021, (it’s not 2020!) Italy had everything; great football, explosive players, experienced heads, pre-match traditions; all of it. That they beat big names Belgium and Spain, and England at Wembley, is testament to the quality and fortitude of the side. The Azzurri didn’t quite finish with the flourish with which they started the tournament, but they had the resolve and wherewithal to respond to setbacks. Plus, for all of Roberto Mancini’s coaching career, it was no secret he had a desire to manage the national team; and winning this tournament as coach, in the middle of two failures to qualify for the World Cup, was special.
2. Spain (2012)
Yes, really. They’re not Number 1. On 12 July, 2012, in Kiev, Spain reached the peak of international footballing powers. Back-to-back European Championship crowns (with a World Cup sandwiched in the middle) had been achieved with the kind of football you were supposed to read about, not see. They’d dusted Italy aside with the disdain and superiority that you’d see in a tournament qualifying game, and not a final, and were kings of Europe again. But up until that evening, Spain had, not so much struggled, but underwhelmed, in Poland/Ukraine. They’d previously laboured in 1-1 draw with Italy, left it late against Croatia, and needed penalties in a turgid semi-final against Portugal; in a tournament in which they threatened to look sterile and foreshadowed the exits in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. They more than made up for it in the final, which allowed us to overlook the non-events of the previous games; but they’re not quite the leading side of this century.
1. France (2000)
Any of the Top Three here can probably lay claim to being the best winners of the Euros this century, but surely it’s this lot that take the cake. France may have finished 2nd in their group in 2000, but that was due to a defeat against group winners – and co-hosts – Netherlands in a dead-ish rubber game. And that didn’t present any doubt about their ability to go all the way. Three 2-1 wins; against Spain, Portugal (in what is probably the best Euros game of this century), and the final against Italy; don’t quite tell the story. For drama, they came from behind to win the semi-final, and final, both by golden goals, and equalised against Italy with virtually the last kick of normal time. For flair, there was no doubt Zinedine Zidane was at his most magical and mesmerising best here, and with young star forwards in Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, and David Trezeguet, France had the kind of quality that you’d associate with teams who’d fail to perform in tournaments (as they did in the World Cup two years later). In what was probably the most evenly-balanced Euros this century (in terms of other teams having the quality to compete as well), Les Bleus did their fair share of soaring and gliding, while also leaving room to scrap and dig in. It was the whole package.
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