UEFA European Championship
Association football tournament / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The UEFA European Football Championship,[1] less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contested by UEFA members' senior men's national teams, determining the continental champion of Europe. It is the second-most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup. The Euro 2012 final was watched by a global audience of around 300 million.[2] The competition has been held every four years since 1960, except for 2020, when it was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, but kept the name Euro 2020. Scheduled to be in the even-numbered year between FIFA World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations' Cup before changing to its current name in 1968. Since 1996, the individual events have been branded as "UEFA Euro [year]".
 The European Championship trophy | |
| Organising body | UEFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958; 65 years ago (1958) |
| Region | Europe |
| Number of teams | 24 (finals) 55 (eligible to enter qualification) |
| Qualifier for | CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions |
| Current champions |  Italy (2nd title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Germany Spain(3 titles each) |
| Website | uefa.com/uefaeuro |
 UEFA Euro 2024 | |
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| Tournaments |
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Before entering the tournament, all teams other than the host nations (which qualify automatically) compete in a qualifying process. Until 2016, the championship winners could compete in the following year's FIFA Confederations Cup, but were not obliged to do so.[3] From the 2020 edition onwards, the winner competes in the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions.
The sixteen European Championship tournaments have been won by ten national teams: Germany and Spain have each won three titles, Italy and France have won two titles, and the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and Portugal have won one title each. To date, Spain is the only team to have won consecutive titles, doing so in 2008 and 2012.
The most recent championship, held across Europe in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), was won by Italy, who lifted their second European title after beating England in the final at Wembley Stadium in London on penalties.[4][5]