From Hero to Zero: The best and the worst EURO title defense throughout history

The UEFA European Championship is the biggest international soccer tournament for Europeans and attracts millions of viewers every four years. Some nations achieved their dreams, some endured a long wait, while some cherished the fact they qualified at all. While nations who have won this competition are the regional superpowers in terms of sporting capacity, their fortunes are not always guaranteed.

Here are the stories of the best title defense; teams that win the championship and still manage to compete for the top spot in the next edition; and the worst title defense; teams that win the championship and have their fortunes completely flipped.

The best

These are the teams that cement their legacy in the world of football. They were not only the best; they maintained that status as the best for another four years as well.

Back-to-back winner

This Spanish side was among the best of all time; they took three consecutive international crowns in such an unprecedented manner. They won their first major honor in 2008, beating Germany 1-0 in the final. In the four years between the two European championships, Spain managed to win their first-ever World Cup in South Africa.

Coming into the 2012 edition, Spain was of course the favourites, as no one would dare or be able to challenge them. It went just like that, Spain remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and clinched their second European Championship in a row, as well as their third major trophy in a row; this feat remains unbeaten.

In the upcoming 2024 edition, can Italy retain the title and repeat Spain’s achievement? Place your bets now at m88.

Back-to-back finals

While it is true that Spain was the first team to ever win two finals in a row; they were not the first to ever go to two finals in a row. Only the Soviet Union and Germany were the only two teams to ever reach two successive finals before Spain.

The Soviet Union won the first-ever European Championship in 1960 and reached the final of the next edition as well, but lost out to Spain.

Germany and West Germany had a much more storied journey, with West Germany becoming the only team to date to make it to three finals in a row, winning the first and the third while losing the second one to Czechoslovakia.

These teams might not have won everything they had the chance to, but they came as close as a team could do.

The worst

Four years is a long time. While a team might be able to maintain its form or consistency for that long, it can also slip up or be struck with bad luck.

Won and gone before the tournament

Objectively, a title defense is bad when a team fails to retain its status, so failing to even qualify for a tournament to defend its title is objectively the worst defense a team could possibly muster.

It is hard to believe nowadays because this has not happened to any defending champions since 1988, but three European champions have failed to qualify for the final tournament: Spain in 1968, Italy in 1972, and France in 1988.

Won and gone in the groups

While it is better to qualify for the final tournament than do the preceding act of not qualifying, it is even more embarrassing for a champion to collapse in the first stage of the tournament.

West Germany, after their historic three-peat and second championship in 1980, failed to make it out of the groups in 1984. They repeated this unwanted feat in 2000.

Two underdog stories, Denmark in 1992 and Greece in 2008, also started and ended their title defense in the group stages. This is a bit more understanding as smaller nations often win big and disappear.

Fun facts

After 64 years’ worth of European Championship experience, there are bound to be some fun stats to look at and go ‘Wow!’

Both 1968 finalists, Italy and Yugoslavia, failed to qualify for the following 1972 tournament.

This is the worst-performing pair of finalists, followed by the 1988 finalists: France who failed to qualify, and Spain who got eliminated in the group stage.

Both 1980 finalists, Germany and Czechoslovakia, finished in the top three of the 1984 tournament, with Germany winning.

This is the best-performing pair of finalists, followed by the 2008 finalists: Spain who won their second championship in a row, and Germany who got to the semis.

In the last forty years, only four of the twenty finalists since then have made it as far as the semi-finals. That is a rate of 20%.

On the other hand, almost half of the twenty finalists have been knocked out in the group stages (9/20).