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The UEFA European Championship is the European soccer championship, played every four years in various host countries. In July, 2004, the trophy was won by the Greek team, in an upset over Portugal.
The first European Nation's Cup (as it was then known) was played in 1960 in France. In that game, the Soviet Union beat Yugoslavia by one point, won in overtime.
In 1968, the name was changed to the UEFA European Football Championship, and the format also changed, with eight groups of seeded teams playing each other twice; the top side from each group then moved on to the quarter-finals. The semi-finals were held in a host country, Italy. A new format was again introduced in 1980. This time eight teams went to the final round in Italy, playing each other in two groups before the Federal Republic of Germany faced Belgium in the Rome final. In 1984, the semi-finals returned, playing in France, with the top teams facing off.
In 1996, with the addition of new eastern European nations, some 47 teams entered the tournament. This time 16 teams went to England to play in four groups of four. The top two from each group progressed forward. In a European "first" in 2000, Belgium and the Netherlands were appointed as joint hosts.
Henri Delaunay of the French Football Federation had been one of the prime movers behind the games, and the trophy is named for him.
Last updated: July 20, 2004.
