The All Time Euros Winners List: Every Champion from 1960 to 2024

Sixteen editions. Ten countries. One champion per tournament since 1960. The all time euros winners list is shorter than you might expect: Spain leads with four titles, Germany holds three, France and Italy have two each, and six nations own a single unforgettable moment of continental glory. What follows is the complete, chronological breakdown of every UEFA European Championship winner — with the one detail about each title that makes it genuinely worth knowing.

For the full statistical picture behind each of these nations — including their historical squads and tournament records — visit the ScoreBorg history section, where past tournaments are organized by year, team, and round.

The Complete All-Time Euros Winners List

1960 — Soviet Union

The inaugural European Nations' Cup was decided in Paris, and it ended with the Soviet Union beating Yugoslavia 2-1 after extra time. The winning goal came from Viktor Ponedelnik, whose surname translates as "Monday" in Russian — and the tournament had been played across a Sunday that stretched deep into the night. The USSR squad was built around Lev Yashin, widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper of all time, who anchored a side assembled from the talent of a single, vast federation.

1964 — Spain

Spain won their first major international trophy on home soil at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, beating the Soviet Union 2-1. The political dimension was impossible to ignore. Four years earlier, General Franco had refused to let Spain travel to Moscow for the semi-finals, forfeiting rather than face a communist nation on foreign soil. Now, in 1964, the rematch came to Spain — and Franco was in the stands to watch Marcelino head in an 84th-minute winner. It was the nation's first glimpse of the international success that would one day become routine.

1968 — Italy

Italy hold a distinction no other Euro champion shares: they had to play the final twice. The first match against Yugoslavia ended 1-1 after extra time, and rather than a penalty shootout — which UEFA had not yet adopted for this stage — a replay was scheduled 48 hours later. Italy made changes, brought new energy, and won 2-0 through goals from Gigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi. The 1968 final remains the only European Championship final ever replayed. A host nation winning via replay is unique in the tournament's history.

1972 — West Germany

West Germany's first European Championship was a statement of power. Playing a fluid, technically dominant style, they demolished the Soviet Union 3-0 in the Brussels final — a display that announced the era of German dominance in international football. The generation that won here — including Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer, and Sepp Maier — would go on to lift the World Cup in 1974 and serve as the template that German football chased for the next five decades.

1976 — Czechoslovakia

The Czechoslovakia win over West Germany is less remembered than the moment that ended it. After a dramatic 2-2 draw, the first-ever European Championship final decided by penalties came down to the last kick. West Germany's Uli Hoeness blazed the ball over the bar, meaning Czechoslovakia needed to score. Antonín Panenka stepped up and — instead of blasting — gently chipped the ball down the middle of the goal as goalkeeper Sepp Maier dived away. The ball bounced in off the turf. It was a technique so audacious and so psychologically devastating that it has been named after him ever since. Any soft, chipped penalty is now called "a Panenka," whether the taker has heard of him or not.

1980 — West Germany

A second European title for West Germany, this one a more workmanlike affair. The 1980 tournament in Italy was expanded to eight teams for the first time, and the Germans navigated it steadily, beating Belgium 2-1 in the final. Horst Hrubesch scored both German goals, including the winner eleven minutes from time — a triumph built on organization and the clutch delivery of a striker who saved his best performances for the biggest stages.

1984 — France

No single player has ever dominated a Euros quite like Michel Platini in 1984. Playing on home soil, the France captain scored nine goals in five matches — a record that has never been broken. He scored in every game, including two hat-tricks in the group stage, and hit the free kick that opened the scoring in a 2-0 final win over Spain. Platini was simultaneously the tournament's best player and its top scorer by a wide margin. France had been searching for their first major title; they found it in the most emphatic fashion imaginable.

1988 — Netherlands

The Netherlands had one of the best squads in the world in 1988 — Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Ronald Koeman — but the moment everyone still talks about belongs to Marco van Basten. Receiving a long, arcing cross from Arnold Mühren deep on the right flank in the final against the USSR, Van Basten was at a near-impossible angle from goal. He hit a first-time volley with his right boot that flew over Rinat Dasaev and into the top corner. It is, by consensus, one of the greatest goals ever scored in tournament football. The Netherlands won 2-0. It remains their only major international title.

1992 — Denmark

The most improbable story in European Championship history. Denmark had finished second in their qualifying group and were not in the tournament. Roughly ten days before the first game, Yugoslavia were expelled due to United Nations sanctions related to the conflict in the Balkans. Denmark were called up as replacements, barely had time to reassemble their squad, and flew to Sweden. Then they won the whole thing. They beat France in the group stage to advance, goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel saved a Marco van Basten penalty in the semi-final against the Netherlands, and they beat Germany 2-0 in the final. Denmark's Euro 1992 is the definitive argument that anything can happen in a football tournament.

1996 — Germany

Germany's third title was historic for a different reason: it produced the first golden goal in major tournament history. Oliver Bierhoff had come off the bench in the final against the Czech Republic when he equalized in the 73rd minute. Then, in the fifth minute of extra time, Bierhoff struck again. Under the golden-goal rule — the first to score in extra time wins immediately — his shot squirmed through the goalkeeper and ended the match. Wembley fell silent for a moment before the realization set in. It was also a first European Championship for a reunified Germany.

2000 — France

France arrived as world champions and left as European champions too — the first team since West Germany (Euro 1972, World Cup 1974) to hold both titles simultaneously. The final against Italy was heading for a defeat until Sylvain Wiltord equalized in stoppage time, forcing extra time. Then, in the 103rd minute, David Trezeguet struck a left-footed volley into the roof of the net for the golden goal. Italy had spent the entire game one minute from winning. France stole it in the cruelest fashion and cemented a generation rightly discussed among the greatest in the history of the sport.

2004 — Greece

Greece in 2004 are the other leading candidate for most improbable winner, alongside Denmark 1992. The Greeks had never won a single match at a major international tournament before that summer in Portugal. Under German coach Otto Rehhagel — who became the first foreign manager to win a European Championship — they built a disciplined, compact defensive structure and ground out results against opponents who were supposed to destroy them. They beat the host nation Portugal in both the opening game and the final (1-0 each time), and knocked out defending champions France in between. Angelos Charisteas headed in the only goal of the final. The bookmakers had given Greece long odds before the tournament began — and nearly every prediction about them proved wrong.

2008 — Spain

The beginning of the most dominant run in European Championship history. Spain's 2008 side played a brand of football — short passes, constant movement, suffocating possession — that came to be known worldwide as tiki-taka. The final against Germany ended 1-0, the goal scored by Fernando Torres, who collected Xavi's through ball and finished with a clinical lift over Jens Lehmann. It was a triumph built on the midfield axis of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, who combined vision with technical precision at a level the tournament had rarely seen. Spain had waited 44 years to win another title. They were about to make up for lost time quickly.

2012 — Spain

The 2012 final against Italy was not a contest. Spain won 4-0, the largest winning margin in European Championship final history. They played without a recognized striker for much of the tournament, using Cesc Fàbregas as a "false nine," and the fluidity of their movement made it almost impossible to defend against. Combined with their 2010 World Cup victory, Spain became the first national team to win three consecutive major international tournaments. The spine of Casillas, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, and Torres belongs in any serious conversation about the greatest international sides ever assembled. Browse the Spain team page on ScoreBorg for the full historical record.

2016 — Portugal

Portugal's first major international title arrived via the most chaotic of paths. Cristiano Ronaldo was carried off injured against France in the final in Paris after just 25 minutes. Portugal managed only one regulation-time win across their seven matches that tournament. And yet the trophy is theirs — because substitute Eder controlled the ball roughly 25 meters from goal in the 109th minute and drove a low, skidding shot past Hugo Lloris. It was Eder's first competitive international goal. Portugal, who had lost a Euro final to Greece on home soil in 2004, were champions at last. Ronaldo cheered from the touchline, his knee wrapped, for the final hour of the match.

2020 (played 2021) — Italy

The tournament delayed by the pandemic was eventually played in 2021 across multiple host cities, with Wembley hosting the final. Italy beat England 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. England had taken the lead through Luke Shaw after under two minutes — the fastest goal in a European Championship final — but Leonardo Bonucci equalized in the second half. The shootout came down to Bukayo Saka, whose shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was named Player of the Tournament — a rare honor for a goalkeeper. Italy's Roberto Mancini had rebuilt the Azzurri from a squad that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup into champions of Europe in the space of three years.

2024 — Spain

Spain's fourth title, and the one that makes them the most decorated nation in the tournament's history. The final in Berlin against England finished 2-1, the winner scored in the 86th minute by substitute Mikel Oyarzabal. What made the 2024 tournament remarkable was the youth of Spain's key contributors: Lamine Yamal, who was 16 years old at the time of the final — his 17th birthday fell the day after — became the youngest player to provide an assist in a Euro final. Nico Williams, at 22, opened the scoring after half-time. Cole Palmer equalized for England, but Oyarzabal had the final word. Spain won all seven of their games, making them the first side to do so in a European Championship expanded to 24 teams.

The All-Time Euros Winners List at a Glance

• Spain — 4 (1964, 2008, 2012, 2024)
• Germany / West Germany — 3 (1972, 1980, 1996)
• France — 2 (1984, 2000)
• Italy — 2 (1968, 2020)
• Soviet Union — 1 (1960)
• Czechoslovakia — 1 (1976)
• Netherlands — 1 (1988)
• Denmark — 1 (1992)
• Greece — 1 (2004)
• Portugal — 1 (2016)

Ten different nations have lifted the trophy in sixteen editions. No other major continental championship spreads its winners this widely — a reminder that football at international level is harder to dominate than it looks.

Patterns Worth Noting

Spain's four-title haul is both the record and a genuine anomaly. The period from 2008 to 2012 — three consecutive major trophies across Euro, World Cup, and Euro — may never be matched. Outside of that era, the tournament rewards upsets and first-time winners that make football compelling: Denmark flying in as late replacements, Greece defying enormous pre-tournament odds, Portugal winning without Ronaldo for over an hour of the final.

Germany's three titles across three different decades (1970s, 1980s, 1990s) reflect a consistent system rather than a single golden generation — perhaps the most impressive consistency record in the tournament's history. France's two titles bracket a 16-year gap, coming at either end of their greatest generation. Italy's two are separated by 52 years.

Six nations have exactly one title, and the stories behind those six — the Panenka penalty, the Danish miracle, the Greek tactical shock — form the backbone of what makes the European Championship so watchable. Explore the full tournament archives on ScoreBorg to dig into every edition, final scoreline, and star player, or test your knowledge on the daily trivia challenge to see how many of these details you already had filed away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who has won the most UEFA European Championship titles?

Spain has won the UEFA European Championship four times (1964, 2008, 2012, and 2024), making them the most successful nation in the tournament's history. Germany/West Germany is second with three titles (1972, 1980, 1996).

Which countries have won the Euros only once?

Six countries have won the European Championship exactly once: the Soviet Union (1960), Czechoslovakia (1976), the Netherlands (1988), Denmark (1992), Greece (2004), and Portugal (2016).

Has any country won the Euros back-to-back?

Spain is the only nation to win consecutive European Championship titles, claiming back-to-back victories in 2008 and 2012. No other country has successfully defended the title in the following tournament.