England tonight face Spain in the Euro 2024 final, however, across the tournament England have been criticised for their performances, whilst Spain have been praised to extreme heights.

With England struggling to use the momentum and improve on the pitch, they could become one of the weaker sides to win a European Championship come Sunday night. Here we have taken a look into some of the poorer teams that have come away with the prestigious title of European Champions.

Italy – 1968 winners

In what was just the third edition of the Euro’s, Italy came away with their first title, which was on home soil.

Tonight’s final between England and Spain will be their seventh games of the tournament, however Italy only played one match before they met Yugoslavia in the 1968 final. What separates them from other sides to have won the tournament when only four nations took part is the fact that they are the only side to have won a game at the championship off the pitch.

Their semi-final matchup vs the Soviet Union ended in a dull 0-0 draw after 120 minutes of action. Instead of going to a penalty shootout, the match was decided by a coin toss from the referee, which Italian captain Giacinto Facchetti called correctly.

The final was a 1-1 draw, but instead of going to extra time, the match ended and the replay took place just two days after the original final, where Italy would come out 2-0 winners. To this day, and most likely for the rest of time, the 1968 final was the only final to go to a replay.

In 1968 Italy beat Soviet Union on coin toss and Yugoslavia in a replay to win the Euros

The countries were so embarrassed they no longer exist https://t.co/0SEp8NqQ7L

— Flapjack FPL (@FlapjackFpl) July 10, 2024

Denmark – 1992

A world in which a team wins a tournament that they did not even qualify for seems impossible, however it is exactly what Denmark achieved in 1992. Yugoslavia qualified for the 1992 tournament but were disqualified as a result of the breakup of the country. Instead of UEFA hosting the tournament with one team less, they decided to invite Denmark to participate.

The Danes came second in their group, thanks to a 78th minute goal in their final group game against France giving them their first win of the tournament.

Finishing second in their group would mean they faced the side who won the other group, which was a star-studded Netherlands side, featuring Dennis Bergkamp, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, and Ronald Koeman. Just after the 30-minute mark Denmark had a 2-1 lead, however an 86th minute equaliser from Frank Rijkaard saw the game go to penalties. Van Basten was the only man to miss, as Denmark converted all five of their spot-kicks and reached the final for the first time in their history, where they would meet Germany.

Goals from John Jensen Kim Vilfort made the Denmark side of 1992 immortal: defeating Germany and winning the Euro’s.

A true underdog story will always be remembered for one thing however, that being the manner in which they won the games. After the 1990 World Cup, all debated whether a rule should be introduced which stopped goalkeepers being able to pick up the ball from a pass from a teammate, due to it frequently being deployed to see out a game. The 1992 tournament saw Denmark use this trick consistently.

Never forget that one of the reasons why Denmark won the European Championship in 1992 was because they abused the back pass rule over and over again 😂 pic.twitter.com/EkQzTFLoFu

— Sport Social Podcast Network (@TheSportSocial) December 27, 2019

The Danes would play the ball back at any opportunity to Peter Schmeichel in goal, who would wait until an opposition player was nearby, then pick it up. They became ‘addicted’ to this play, and sometimes would even play the ball back from the middle of the pitch all the way to Schmeichel.

Due to this, a new law came into football the following season, no longer allowing the goalkeeper to pick up a pass from a teammate’s feet.

Portugal – 2016

Redemption for losing on home soil 12 years prior; Portugal lifted the 2016 Euro’s against France at the Stade de France. To say it was not a pretty run could be seen as an understatement.

Portugal was placed in one of the ‘easiest’ groups on paper. The group contained Hungary, Iceland and Austria. The Portuguese made difficult work of the group, and amazingly did not win a match. However, due to the new rule in the tournament where the best four third place teams made it through, Portugal had a lucky escape, as they were the third best third place team, with three points to their name.

On their way to the final, they beat Croatia in extra-time, Poland on penalties, and Wales 2-0 in the semi-final, who were without key players Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies due to suspension.

Portugal 2016 Euros win.

5 draws, 2 wins. https://t.co/7HBPqYrXDK pic.twitter.com/lEvzpNlxmj

— FPL_Blade (@FPL__Blades) July 10, 2024

In the final, Portugal lost the countries superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, In the first half due to an injury. Miraculously, they held on and defended superbly, before an Eder winner in the 109th minute meant that Portugal got their hands on their first international trophy. Amazingly, over the course of the tournament, Portugal only won one game in 90 minutes, which was there semi-final against Wales.