England at the UEFA European Championship

For the women's team, see England at the UEFA Women's Championship.

The UEFA European Championship is one of the major competitive international football tournaments, first played in 1960. The finals stage of the tournament takes place every four years, with a qualifying competition beforehand.[1] The sixteenth tournament was held across Europe in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

The England national football team first attempted to qualify for the finals of the tournament in 1964, having declined to enter in 1960. They first qualified in 1968, and have since participated in the finals on eleven occasions, including in 1996, when they were the host nation and thus did not need to qualify.[2][3][4]

England's best performances at the finals were a runner-up finish at Euro 2020, when they lost the final to Italy on penalties at Wembley,[5][6] and at Euro 2024, when they lost the final 2–1 to Spain in Berlin, being the first team to lose consecutive European Championship finals.[7][8] They had a third-place finish in Italy in 1968, when only four teams competed in the finals tournament, and reached one further semi-final in 1996, losing to Germany, also on home soil and on penalties.[9] The team reached the quarter-finals on two other occasions, losing to host nation Portugal on penalties in 2004 and to Italy in Ukraine in 2012, also on penalties.[10][11][12]

England were eliminated in the round of 16 by Iceland in 2016. On the other four occasions (1980, 1988, 1992 and 2000), they did not progress beyond the group stage.

  1. ^ Pye, Steven (9 October 2020). "When England fans ruined their match against Belgium 40 years ago" – via The Guardian.
  2. ^ "When Saturday Comes - Classic matches ~ England v USSR, Euro 68 & 88". Wsc.co.uk. 9 July 2012. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Euro 1968: Alan Mullery's moment of madness". BBC Sport. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. ^ Surlis f, Patrick (1 June 2016). "Remembering Euro 96: Jamie Redknapp, Darren Anderton, Stuart Pearce and Steve Howey | Football News". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Italy 1–1 England, aet (3–2 on pens): Donnarumma the hero as Azzurri win EURO 2020!". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Euro 2020 final: England beaten by Italy on penalties". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Spain 2-1 England: Late Oyarzabal winner earns La Roja record fourth EURO crown". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Heartbreak for England as Spain score late goal to win Euro 2024". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  9. ^ Mark Ogden (6 June 2016). "Euro 2016: Don't let Euro 96 fool you, England are generally terrible at the European Championships | International | Sport". The Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  10. ^ "BBC SPORT | Football | Euro 2004 | Portugal break England hearts". BBC News. 24 June 2004. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  11. ^ "England 0-0 Italy (2-4 on pens)". BBC Sport. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Euro 2012 analysis: Peerless Pirlo exposes England". BBC Sport. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2016.