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.

Overall record

[edit]
UEFA European Championship finals record Qualification record Manager(s)
Year Round Pos Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Did not enter Did not enter Winterbottom
Francoist Spain 1964 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 6 Winterbottom, Ramsey[13]
Italy 1968 Third place 3rd 2 1 0 1 2 1 Squad 8 6 1 1 18 6 Ramsey
Belgium 1972 Did not qualify[14] 8 5 2 1 16 6 Ramsey
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 Did not qualify 6 3 2 1 11 3 Revie
Italy 1980 Group stage 6th 3 1 1 1 3 3 Squad 8 7 1 0 22 5 Greenwood
France 1984 Did not qualify 8 5 2 1 23 3 Robson
West Germany 1988 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 2 7 Squad 6 5 1 0 19 1
Sweden 1992 7th 3 0 2 1 1 2 Squad 6 3 3 0 7 3 Taylor
England 1996 Semi-finals 3rd 5 2 3 0 8 3 Squad Qualified as hosts Venables
Belgium Netherlands 2000 Group stage 11th 3 1 0 2 5 6 Squad 10 4 4 2 16 5 Hoddle, Keegan[15]
Portugal 2004 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 10 6 Squad 8 6 2 0 14 5 Eriksson
Austria Switzerland 2008 Did not qualify 12 7 2 3 24 7 McClaren
Poland Ukraine 2012 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 2 0 5 3 Squad 8 5 3 0 17 5 Capello, Hodgson[16]
France 2016 Round of 16 12th 4 1 2 1 4 4 Squad 10 10 0 0 31 3 Hodgson
Europe 2020[17] Runners-up 2nd 7 5 2 0 11 2 Squad 8 7 0 1 37 6 Southgate
Germany 2024 Runners-up 2nd 7 3 3 1 8 6 Squad 8 6 2 0 22 4
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 To be determined To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total Runners-up 11/17 45 18 16 11 59 43 — 116 79 26 11 270 68 —
  Runners-up    Third place    Hosted tournament
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

**Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil. ***Third place includes all tournaments where England reached the semi-finals following Euro 1980 as the third place play-offs were scrapped from the following editions of the tournament.[18]

Correct as of 14 July 2024, after the final match against  Spain

List of matches

[edit]
Year Round Opponent Score England scorer(s)
Italy 1968 Semi-finals  Yugoslavia 0–1 —
Third place play-off  Soviet Union 2–0 B. Charlton, Hurst
Italy 1980 Group 2  Belgium 1–1 Wilkins
 Italy 0–1 —
 Spain 2–1 Brooking, Woodcock
Germany 1988 Group 2  Republic of Ireland 0–1 —
 Netherlands 1–3 Robson
 Soviet Union 1–3 Adams
Sweden 1992 Group 1  Denmark 0–0 —
 France 0–0 —
 Sweden 1–2 Platt
England 1996 Group A   Switzerland 1–1 Shearer
 Scotland 2–0 Shearer, Gascoigne
 Netherlands 4–1 Shearer (2), Sheringham (2)
Quarter-finals  Spain 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) —
Semi-finals  Germany 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–6 p) Shearer
Belgium Netherlands 2000 Group A  Portugal 2–3 Scholes, McManaman
 Germany 1–0 Shearer
 Romania 2–3 Shearer, Owen
Portugal 2004 Group B  France 1–2 Lampard
  Switzerland 3–0 Rooney (2), Gerrard
 Croatia 4–2 Scholes, Rooney (2), Lampard
Quarter-finals  Portugal 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–6 p) Owen, Lampard
Poland Ukraine 2012 Group D  France 1–1 Lescott
 Sweden 3–2 Carroll, Walcott, Welbeck
 Ukraine 1–0 Rooney
Quarter-finals  Italy 0–0 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p) —
France 2016 Group B  Russia 1–1 Dier
 Wales 2–1 Vardy, Sturridge
 Slovakia 0–0 —
Round of 16  Iceland 1–2 Rooney
Europe 2020 Group D  Croatia 1–0 Sterling
 Scotland 0–0 —
 Czech Republic 1–0 Sterling
Round of 16  Germany 2–0 Sterling, Kane
Quarter-finals  Ukraine 4–0 Kane (2), Maguire, J. Henderson
Semi-finals  Denmark 2–1 (a.e.t.) Kjær (o.g.), Kane
Final  Italy 1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–3 p) Shaw
Germany 2024 Group C  Serbia 1–0 Bellingham
 Denmark 1–1 Kane
 Slovenia 0–0 —
Round of 16  Slovakia 2–1 (a.e.t.) Bellingham, Kane
Quarter-finals   Switzerland 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p) Saka
Semi-finals  Netherlands 2–1 Kane, Watkins
Final  Spain 1–2 Palmer

Head-to-head record

[edit]
Opponent Pld W D L GF GA
 Belgium 1 0 1 0 1 1
 Croatia 2 2 0 0 5 2
 Czech Republic 1 1 0 0 1 0
 Denmark 3 1 2 0 3 2
 France 3 0 2 1 2 3
 Germany 3 2 1 0 4 1
 Iceland 1 0 0 1 1 2
 Italy 3 0 2 1 1 2
 Netherlands 3 2 0 1 7 5
 Portugal 2 0 1 1 4 5
 Republic of Ireland 1 0 0 1 0 1
 Romania 1 0 0 1 2 3
 Russia 3 1 1 1 4 4
 Scotland 2 1 1 0 2 0
 Serbia 2 1 0 1 1 1
 Slovakia 2 1 1 0 2 1
 Slovenia 1 0 1 0 0 0
 Spain 3 1 1 1 3 3
 Sweden 2 1 0 1 4 4
  Switzerland 3 1 2 0 5 2
 Ukraine 2 2 0 0 5 0
 Wales 1 1 0 0 2 1
Total 45 18 16 11 59 43

History

[edit]

UEFA Euro 1968: Italy

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying Group 8
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
1  England 6 4 1 1 15 5 +10 9 Advance to quarter-finals — 2–3 5–1 2–0
2  Scotland 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 8 1–1 — 3–2 2–1
3  Wales 6 1 2 3 6 12 −6 4 0–3 1–1 — 2–0
4  Northern Ireland 6 1 1 4 2 8 −6 3 0–2 1–0 0–0 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Quarter-finals
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 quarter-finals
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bulgaria  3–4  Italy 3–2 0–2
Hungary  2–3  Soviet Union 2–0 0–3
England  3–1  Spain 1–0 2–1
France  2–6  Yugoslavia 1–1 1–5

Final tournament

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 final tournament
Semi-finals
Yugoslavia 1–0 England
  • Džajić 86'
 Report
Attendance: 21,834
Third place play-off
England 2–0 Soviet Union
 Report
Attendance: 68,817

UEFA Euro 1980: Italy

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1980

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying Group 1
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Bulgaria Denmark
1  England 8 7 1 0 22 5 +17 15 Qualify for final tournament — 4–0 2–0 2–0 1–0
2  Northern Ireland 8 4 1 3 8 14 −6 9 1–5 — 1–0 2–0 2–1
3  Republic of Ireland 8 2 3 3 9 8 +1 7 1–1 0–0 — 3–0 2–0
4  Bulgaria 8 2 1 5 6 14 −8 5 0–3 0–2 1–0 — 3–0
5  Denmark 8 1 2 5 13 17 −4 4 3–4 4–0 3–3 2–2 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1980 Group 2

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Belgium 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 4 Advance to final
2  Italy (H) 3 1 2 0 1 0 +1 4 Advance to third place play-off
3  England 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 3
4  Spain 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Belgium 1–1 England
 Report
Attendance: 15,186
England 0–1 Italy
Report
Attendance: 59,649
Spain 1–2 England
 Report
Attendance: 14,440

UEFA Euro 1988: West Germany

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1988

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying Group 4
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Northern Ireland Turkey
1  England 6 5 1 0 19 1 +18 11 Qualify for final tournament — 2–0 3–0 8–0
2  Yugoslavia 6 4 0 2 13 9 +4 8 1–4 — 3–0 4–0
3  Northern Ireland 6 1 1 4 2 10 −8 3 0–2 1–2 — 1–0
4  Turkey 6 0 2 4 2 16 −14 2 0–0 2–3 0–0 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1988 Group 2
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Soviet Union 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 5 Advance to knockout stage
2  Netherlands 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 4
3  Republic of Ireland 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 3
4  England 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
England 0–1 Republic of Ireland
Report
Attendance: 51,373
England 1–3 Netherlands
 Report
Attendance: 63,940
Referee: Paolo Casarin (Italy)
England 1–3 Soviet Union
 Report
Attendance: 48,335

UEFA Euro 1992: Sweden

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1992

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying Group 7
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Republic of Ireland Poland Turkey
1  England 6 3 3 0 7 3 +4 9 Qualify for final tournament — 1–1 2–0 1–0
2  Republic of Ireland 6 2 4 0 13 6 +7 8 1–1 — 0–0 5–0
3  Poland 6 2 3 1 8 6 +2 7 1–1 3–3 — 3–0
4  Turkey 6 0 0 6 1 14 −13 0 0–1 1–3 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1992 Group 1
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Sweden (H) 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 5 Advance to knockout stage
2  Denmark 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 3
3  France 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
4  England 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Denmark 0–0 England
Report [19]
Attendance: 26,385
France 0–0 England
Report [20]
Attendance: 26,535
Sweden 2–1 England
 Report [21]
Attendance: 30,126

UEFA Euro 1996: England

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 Group A
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England (H) 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Netherlands 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4[a]
3  Scotland 3 1 1 1 1 2 −1 4[a]
4   Switzerland 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head result (Netherlands 0–0 Scotland) and overall goal difference (−1). Overall goals for was used as the tiebreaker.

Matches

England 1–1  Switzerland
 Report
Attendance: 76,567
Scotland 0–2 England
Report
Attendance: 76,864
Netherlands 1–4 England
 Report
Attendance: 76,798

Knockout stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Spain 0–0 (a.e.t.) England
Report
Penalties
 2–4
Attendance: 75,440[22]
Referee: Marc Batta (France)
Semi-finals
Germany 1–1 (a.e.t.) England
 Report
Penalties
 6–5
Attendance: 75,862[23]

UEFA Euro 2000: Belgium–Netherlands

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2000

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Group 5
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Sweden England Poland Bulgaria Luxembourg
1  Sweden 8 7 1 0 10 1 +9 22 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0
2  England 8 3 4 1 14 4 +10 13[a] Advance to play-offs 0–0 — 3–1 0–0 6–0
3  Poland 8 4 1 3 12 8 +4 13[a] 0–1 0–0 — 2–0 3–0
4  Bulgaria 8 2 2 4 6 8 −2 8 0–1 1–1 0–3 — 3–0
5  Luxembourg 8 0 0 8 2 23 −21 0 0–1 0–3 2–3 0–2 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: England 4, Poland 1.

Play-offs

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-offs
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Scotland  1–2  England 0–2 1–0
Israel  0–8  Denmark 0–5 0–3
Slovenia  3–2  Ukraine 2–1 1–1
Republic of Ireland  1–1 (a)  Turkey 1–1 0–0

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2000 Group A

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 3 3 0 0 7 2 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Romania 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
3  England 3 1 0 2 5 6 −1 3
4  Germany 3 0 1 2 1 5 −4 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Portugal 3–2 England
 Report
Attendance: 31,500
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
England 1–0 Germany
 Report
Attendance: 29,000
England 2–3 Romania
 Report
Attendance: 30,000

UEFA Euro 2004: Portugal

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2004

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Group 7
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Turkey Slovakia North Macedonia Liechtenstein
1  England 8 6 2 0 14 5 +9 20 Qualify for final tournament — 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–0
2  Turkey 8 6 1 1 17 5 +12 19 Advance to play-offs 0–0 — 3–0 3–2 5–0
3  Slovakia 8 3 1 4 11 9 +2 10 1–2 0–1 — 1–1 4–0
4  Macedonia 8 1 3 4 11 14 −3 6 1–2 1–2 0–2 — 3–1
5  Liechtenstein 8 0 1 7 2 22 −20 1 0–2 0–3 0–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2004 Group B

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 3 2 1 0 7 4 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  England 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3  Croatia 3 0 2 1 4 6 −2 2
4   Switzerland 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
France 2–1 England
 Report
Attendance: 62,487
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
England 3–0  Switzerland
 Report
Attendance: 28,214
Croatia 2–4 England
 Report
Attendance: 57,047

Knockout stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2004 knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Portugal 2–2 (a.e.t.) England
 Report
Penalties
 6–5
Attendance: 62,564

UEFA Euro 2012: Poland–Ukraine

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012

Qualifying

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group G
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Montenegro Switzerland Wales Bulgaria
1  England 8 5 3 0 17 5 +12 18 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 2–2 1–0 4–0
2  Montenegro 8 3 3 2 7 7 0 12 Advance to play-offs 2–2 — 1–0 1–0 1–1
3   Switzerland 8 3 2 3 12 10 +2 11 1–3 2–0 — 4–1 3–1
4  Wales 8 3 0 5 6 10 −4 9 0–2 2–1 2–0 — 0–1
5  Bulgaria 8 1 2 5 3 13 −10 5 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Group D

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 3 2 1 0 5 3 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  France 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
3  Ukraine (H) 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3[a]
4  Sweden 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3[a]
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head result: Ukraine 2–1 Sweden.
France 1–1 England
 Report
Attendance: 47,400[24]
Sweden 2–3 England
 Report
Attendance: 64,640[26]
England 1–0 Ukraine
 Report
Attendance: 48,700[27]

Knockout stage

[edit]
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 knockout stage
Quarter-finals
England 0–0 (a.e.t.) Italy
Report
Penalties
 2–4