The process of changing the number of teams participating in the EURO finals

From four teams participating in an initial EURO finals, the number of participating teams has increased to 24 teams in 2024.

Before 1958, the British Home Championship was the most important international tournament, involving four teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

The Central European International Cup was also held, with Austria, Hungary, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Yugoslavia participating.

In 1958, the European Football Championship was born at the proposal of Henri Delaunay, General Secretary of the French Football Federation. The first tournament was held in France with 4 participating teams and the Soviet Union won the championship.

From 1960 to 1976, the format remained the same with four teams participating in the finals. The 1964 tournament hosted by Spain saw an increase in the number of teams participating in the qualifying round (29 teams), notably absent from England, the Netherlands, West Germany and Italy.

The EURO expanded to eight teams in 1980, held in Italy. West Germany won the tournament for the second time after a 2-1 victory over Belgium. France won the tournament for the first time on home soil in 1984, captain Platini scoring nine goals in just five games.

The format was changed, with the top two teams in each group going into the semi-finals, eliminating the third-place play-off. West Germany hosted in 1988, but lost to the Netherlands in the semi-finals. The Netherlands went on to win the tournament with a 2-0 victory over the Soviet Union. Marco van Basten's volley is considered one of the best goals in history. Denmark surprisingly won the 1992 EURO, held in Sweden because Yugoslavia was banned.

EURO expanded to 16 teams in 1996, with England as the host nation. Germany won after defeating the Czech Republic in the final with Oliver Bierhoff scoring the first golden goal. EURO 2000 was held simultaneously in the Netherlands and Belgium.

France successfully defended their World Cup title by defeating Italy 2-1 in extra time thanks to goals from Wiltord and Trezeguet. Greece created a surprise at EURO 2004 by defeating Portugal 1-0 in the final. On the way to the championship, they also "defeated" France and the Czech Republic.

EURO 2008 took place in Austria and Switzerland, Spain won the championship for the first time since 1964 with a 1-0 victory over Germany. EURO 2012 was co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine. Spain successfully defended the championship, defeating Italy 4-0 in the final. Fernando Torres became the first player to score in two EURO finals.

Since 2016, EURO has been expanded to 24 teams participating in the final round. France is the host of EURO 2016, Portugal won the championship for the first time after a 1-0 victory over the host team in the final.

EURO 2020 was held in 11 countries across Europe due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy defeated England on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final, winning the EURO championship for the second time.