Just 17 teams entered the first tournament in 1960 and it was played on a home-and-away basis until the semifinal stage, which France hosted. The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia contested the final in Paris, with Viktor Ponedelnik carving his name in history by scoring the winning goal in extra time to give the Russians victory.
(CNN) -- Now the 16 finalists have been decided, the build-up to next year's European Championship finals in Poland and Ukraine has truly begun.
Eight cities across the two countries will play host to the championships, kicking off at Warsaw's National Stadium on June 8 and concluding in the final at Kiev's Olympic Stadium on July 1.
The 2012 finals will be the 14th since the competition's debut in 1960 and there have been many highlights since then.
Here is CNN's definitive guide to our top 10 most memorable European Championship moments in chronological order. Do you agree with our list? Or have we omitted your favorite?
Send in a comment with your favorite moment.
Loading weather data ...
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
West Germany and the Netherlands had contested the 1974 World Cup final and were fancied for a repeat final in Euro 1976 -- but Czechoslovakia had other ideas. They sunk the Dutch in the semis thanks to a couple of extra time goals before a superb German side were beaten on penalties in the final, with Antonin Panenka clinching the trophy with one of the cheekiest spot-kicks in football history.
No player has dominated a finals tournament the way Michel Platini did in 1984. On home soil, Platini weaved his magic in devastating style, scoring hat-tricks against Belgium and Yugoslavia on his way to a record nine goals. The highlight came in a memorable semifinal against Portugal when, 2-1 down with six minutes of extra time remaining, France fought back to win 3-2 with the great man himself scoring the last minute winner.
Marco van Basten's career was cut short early through injury, but not before he had made his mark on world football with one of the greatest goals of all time. Van Basten had already scored a hat-trick against England in a group game, and the winner against hosts West Germany in the semis. The Dutch were strongly fancied to beat Russia in the final, which they duly did, with the help of a Van Basten volley that will never be forgotten.
Denmark didn't qualify for the Euro 1992 finals in Sweden but war-torn Yugoslavia were prevented from appearing, meaning group runners-up Denmark took their place instead despite being totally unprepared. They failed to score in their opening two matches before beating France to scrape into the semfinals. They then proceeded to defeat holders Netherlands on penalties and world champions Germany 2-0 in the final to become the unlikeliest winners of all time.
Germany had only conceded two goals in five games en route to the Euro 1996 final against the Czech Republic, but the Czechs looked on course to repeat their final victory over Germany from 20 years earlier when Patrik Berger scored from the penalty spot. However, Oliver Bierhoff equalized with 15 minutes left and the same player then scored the winner early in extra time, the first time a major tournament had been decided by a golden goal.
"Football's Coming Home" sang the England fans during Euro 1996, as the hosts reached the semifinals on a wave of euphoria. The highlight of their run was a superb individual strike by talented midfielder Paul Gascoigne, as old rivals Scotland were beaten 2-0 on a baking hot day at Wembley Stadium. Sadly for England, eventual winners Germany defeated them on penalties and were to adopt the "Football's Coming Home" chant their fans still sing to this day.
Austrian referee Gunter Benko awarded France a penalty after Portugal's bleach-blonde defender Abel Xavier had handled on the line in their Euro 2000 semifinal in Brussels. Zinedine Zidane stroked home the spot-kick with just six minutes left of extra time to put France through on the golden goal. Portugal were incensed with the decision and argued their case far too strongly for UEFA's liking. The chief culprit was Xavier himself who copped a six-month ban for his protestations.
France went into Euro 2000 as hot favorites after winning the World Cup two years previously, but their hopes of victory looked over as Italy led 1-0 in the final going into injury time. However, Sylvain Wiltord leveled with virtually the last kick of the game and remarkably David Trezeguet then broke Italian hearts with the winning golden goal in extra time.
Hosts Portugal were strongly fancied to do well in Euro 2004, but they lost 2-1 to outsiders Greece in their opening game. However, they regrouped strongly and Russia, Spain, England and Netherlands were all beaten as Portugal stormed into the final, where Greece stood in their way once again. Surely an on-fire Portuguese side would gain their revenge? They didn't ... Greece stunned a nation 1-0 to ensure the last game of the finals went exactly the same way as the first one.
|