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Top 3 Best Euro Winners
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Top 3 Best Euro Winners

14/07/24 13:18

Top 3 Best Euro Winners

With the final of the 2024 Euros between Spain and England coming closer, we take a look at the best teams to ever win the competition.

3. Germany 1996 - the first title as one

Historically speaking, this is Germany’s most valuable title because it was the first title that the Germans won as one united nation.

Until 1990, Germany was separated into East and West German and West Germany actually clinched three World Cup titles and two Euro trophies.

Nowadays, we count them as German titles but winning the trophy as a nation resulted in non-stoppable joy within the country, especially after losing the 1992 Euros final against Denmark which was the first tournament where die Mannschaft played as one.

They played a good tournament in 1996 on English soil and won the tournament after their win over Czech Republic. Man of the Match was, no doubt, Oliver Bierhoff who scored both goals for Germany after being subbed on in the 69th minute.

The forward scored the equalizer in regular time and then went on to win the title for his team with his golden goal in the 95th minute at Wembley.

But did Germany also deservedly get into the final in the first place? In the group stage Germany did not concede a single goal and won their matches against Czech Republic and Russia while finishing their group stage with a 0-0 draw against Italy.

They then faced Croatia in the quarter finals and beat them 2-1. While it was the first goal they conceded in the tournament, an early goal from JĂĽrgen Klinsmann and a 59th minute strike from Matthias Sammer, got them through to the semi-finals. Nonetheless, their performance against Croatia was arguably the worst.

In the semi-finals they then knocked out a strong English team in a penalty shootout and considering the tournament took place in England, the Germans were not very welcomed around after England took another penalty shootout loss - something that seems to happen quite frequently, at last during the 2020 Euro final against Italy.

While Germany played a strong tournament and at the end of the day, beat everyone that was put in front of them it definitely was not the strongest team performance the competition has ever seen. Nonetheless, the historic meaning behind it made the summer fairytale perfect for the Germans. Of course, with the German and English football rivalry, winning at Wembley after knocking them out of the tournament beforehand, added to the excitement.

2. Greece 2004 - the most unexpected team to win it

Portugal 2004. First match day: Greece win 2-1 against the favored hosts in the opening game.

Weeks later, they face each other again - this time in the final and the winner at the end of the match is Greece again!

That was the moment Greece won their first and only Euros title until now, and winning in the final against the hosts must have felt extra special.

But how did they get there? It is safe to say, that Greece was not part of the teams who were thought to win the tournament before it started but the further they progressed, the more likely their victory was.

On Greece’s journey they faced tough teams to beat such as Spain and Russia in the group stage, France in the quarterfinals and the Czech Republic in the semi-finals, besides, of course, facing Portugal twice - in the first and last game of the tournament.

They definitely did not do more than they had to, with only scoring an average of 1.16 goals per game but their defensive lineup around keeper Antonis Nikopolidis did an amazing job blocking a dominant Portugal from scoring in the final.

While the Greek football qualities might not have been the most impressive we have seen so far, the surprise factor of their success is the reason why their Euros win is rated as one of their best, especially looking at the Spanish dominance which was to follow shortly after.

1. Spain 2012 - back-to-back titles with the best team ever?

Spain won the Euros in 2008, the World Cup in 2010 and turned up again at the 2012 Euros in Poland/Ukraine to make it three titles in a row for the Spanish - a record breaking tournament with arguably the best squad to ever play at an international tournament.

As a great example, if you have got the opportunity to bench Fernando Torres in the final of the tournament, you know the squad is good.

In the final, Spain faced Italy and beat them 4-0 - the highest scoreline in the history of the Euros. This was not the first time the two have faced each other in the tournament. On the first match day, a 1-1 draw between the two sides set the stage for an exciting final.

On Spain’s way to the final, they beat France in the quarterfinals, Portugal in the semifinal and, of course, Italy in the final. All of the mentioned teams were definitely the strongest ones in the tournament but no one was better than the Spanish.

They scored a lot of goals with Andrés Iniesta and David Silva up front but also managed to keep a clean sheet in most of their games thanks to Sergio Ramos, Gerard Piqué and keeper Ikee Casillas. In the final, Iniesta was chosen as Man of the Match despite not scoring and also won the Player of the Tournament award.

If you only look at the statistics, the Spanish team this year has even more chances of winning the tournament, with winning all of their six games so far and only having to play extra-time once against Germany in the quarterfinals.

Spain has won the title three times before and a win on Sunday will make them the only nation to have ever won the tournament four times.

England on the other side are still waiting for their first Euro title. Football only came home once before, where they beat West Germany in the 1966 World Cup. It is safe to say that England are desperately waiting for their glory but after reaching two back-to-back Euros finals, they are closer than ever before.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Kelly Stock

Writer

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