#8 An affair of four
Modern day European Championship finals are typically held among 16 teams divided into 4 groups. But until the 1976 Euro was held in Yugoslavia, the finals only consisted of four teams that squared off against each other in four knockout games. Two semi-finals decided the finalists, whilst the losers of those two matches faced each other in a third place playoff.
This changed in the 1980 (Italy) edition of the tournament when 8 teams were let through and divided into two groups of four. The number doubled to 16 in 1996 (England). Eight more teams were added to this in the 2016 France edition.
YEAR | HOSTS | NUMBER OF TEAMS |
| 1960 | FRANCE | 4 |
| 1964 | SPAIN | 4 |
| 1968 | ITALY | 4 |
| 1972 | WEST GERMANY (NOW BELGIUM) | 4 |
| 1976 | YUGOSLAVIA | 4 |
| 1980 | ITALY | 8 |
| 1984 | FRANCE | 8 |
| 1988 | WEST GERMANY | 8 |
| 1992 | SWEDEN | 8 |
| 1996 | ENGLAND | 16 |
| 2000 | BELGIUM & NETHERLANDS | 16 |
| 2004 | PORTUGAL | 16 |
| 2008 | AUSTRIA & SWITZERLAND | 16 |
| 2012 | POLAND & UKRAINE | 16 |
| 2016 | FRANCE | 24 |
Feedback
