Football

The result of every host nation at the UEFA European Championships

No standalone host nation has won the Euros in 40 years.

Published by
Mitch Keating

Only four UEFA European Championships hosts have taken out the title in the competition's 60-year history, with Italy being the only nation to win two tournaments in front of local fans.

Spain was the first side to win a home Euros tournament, doing so in 1964 with a 2-1 win over the Soviet Union at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid back when just four nations competed.

The title for the following Euros tournament, held in Italy in 1968, was claimed by the Azzurri, with their maiden championship win coming over Yugoslavia in the finals after a four-horse race that included England and the Soviet Union.

It would be another 16 years before another host nation took out the Euros as Italy won in Belgium in 1972 and the Czech Republic took out their first tournament in Yugoslavia four years later before West Germany was victorious in Italy in 1980.

The 1984 tournament saw France steer themselves to their first-ever Euros title, doing so in front of a home crowd.

Since then, only one host nation has won the Euros, with Italy breaking the deadlock at the 2020 tournament with a penalties win over England.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 11: Leonardo Bonucci (c) of Italy celebrates with the European Championship Trophy whilst celebrating with the fans during the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium on July 11, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

That final was held in Wembley however, with 11 nations sharing the hosting duties for the Euros to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship competition.

All of Italy, Azerbaijan, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Scotland and Spain hosted matches, with the shared system playing a part in ending the host nation curse.

Neither Azerbaijan nor Romania qualified for the 2020 Euros finals but remained hosts.

Three nations (Portugal in 2004, France in 2016 and England in 2020) fell one step short of claiming a home Euros title, making the final before falling on the big stage.

Germany has a chance to be the first standalone host nation to win the Euros since France in 1984 when they host the tournament this European summer.

The result of every host nation at the UEFA European Championships

Year Host nation(s) Finish
1960 France Fourth place
1964 Spain Champions
1968 Italy Champions
1972 Belgium Third place
1976 Yugoslavia Fourth place
1980 Italy Fourth place
1984 France Champions
1988 West Germany Semi-finals
1992 Sweden Semi-finals
1996 England Semi-finals
2000 Belgium Group stage
2000 Netherlands Semi-finals
2004 Portugal Runners-up
2008 Austria Group stage
2008 Switzerland Group stage
2012 Poland Group stage
2012 Ukraine Group stage
2016 France Runners-up
2020 Azerbaijan Did not qualify
2020 Denmark Semi-finals
2020 England Runners-up
2020 Germany Round of 16
2020 Hungary Group stage
2020 Italy Champions
2020 Netherlands Round of 16
2020 Romania Did not qualify
2020 Russia Group stage
2020 Scotland Group stage
2020 Spain Semi-finals

 

Published by
Mitch Keating