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The Pre Tournament’s Favorites’ Tough Luck in EURO History

 

Pre tournament favorite euro

In EURO history, the pre-tournament favourites have had less of an advantage than the dark horses.

Being pre-tournament favourites in major competitions can boost team confidence. However, it can also be burdensome. In EURO, the pre-tournament favorites do not always guarantee silverware in the end. In fact, this continental championship is frequently not in favour of the favorites. The underdog status may even be advantageous, as they face less pressure from the media and fans.

Throughout the tournament history, the favorites only thrived and clinched the silverware in four editions, 1960, 1972, 1984 and 2012. In those editions, USSR, West Germany, France and Spain managed to live up to their fans and pundits expectations in the final round, whereas the other 11 editions have always produced unlikely champions, either from secondary or tertiary favourites or from dark horses. This can be strong evidence that betting on the favourite is still a risky business. Nothing is impossible in football, especially in the UEFA European Championship.

Here are the campaign of pre-tournament favourites in each and every EURO edition.

Edition

Pre-tournament favorites

Reason

How far they progressed

EURO 1960

USSR

One of the best teams in the world at that time, Gold medal winner in 1956 Olympics.

Top players: Lev Yashin, Igor Netto

Champions

(vs Czechoslovakia 3-0 in semifinal)

(vs Yugoslavia

2-1 in the final)

EURO 1964

USSR

Reigning champions, Lev Yashin just won Ballon D’or in 1963.

Top Players: Lev Yashin, Valentin Ivanov

Runners up

(vs Denmark 3-0 in semifinal)

(vs Spain 1-2 in the final)

EURO 1968

England

1966 World Cup winner, Manchester United just won European Cup before EURO.

Top Players: Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks, Geoff Hurst

Third place

(vs Yugoslavia 0-1 in semifinal)

(vs USSR 2-1 in third place playoff)

EURO 1972

West Germany

1979 World Cup semifinalist, star-studded team.

Top Players: Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Gerd Muller, Paul Breitner, Jupp Heynckes

Champion

(vs Belgium 2-1 in semifinal)

(vs USSR 3-0 in the final)

EURO 1976

West Germany

1974 World Cup winner, German clubs thrived in Europe (Bayern in UCL and Gladbach in UEFA Cup)

Top players: Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Uli Hoeness

Runners up

(vs Yugoslavia 4-2 in semifinal)

Vs Czechoslovakia 2-2 (3-5) on penalties in the final)

EURO 1980

England

English clubs ruled Europe from 1977, including Nottingham Forest which just won European Cup before EURO.

Top players: Kevin Keegan, Ray Wilkins, Peter Shilton, Glenn Hoddle.

Group stage

(vs Belgium 1-1)

(vs Italy 0-1)

(vs Spain 2-1)

EURO 1984

France

The host, 1982 World Cup semifinalist, Michel Platini.

Top players: Michel Platini, Luis Fernandez, Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse

Champion

(vs Denmark 1-0)

(vs Belgium 5-0)

(vs Yugoslavia 3-2)

(vs Portugal 3-2 in semifinal)

(vs Spain 2-0 in the final)

EURO 1988

West Germany

The host, 1986 World Cup runners up.

Top players: Lothar Mattheus, Rudi Voeller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Andreas Brehme.

Semifinalist

(vs Italy 1-1)

(vs Denmark 2-0)

(vs Spain 2-0)

(vs Netherlands 1-2 in semifinal)

EURO 1992

France

Perfect record in the qualifiers, star-studded teams, Michel Platini as manager.

Top players: Jean Pierre Papin, Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps, Jocelyn Angloma.

Group stage

(vs Sweden 1-1)

(vs England 0-0)

(vs Denmark 1-2)

EURO 1996

England

The host, the hype of Premier League, seeking redemption after failing to qualify in 1994 World Cup.

Top players: Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne, David Platt, Tony Adams, Stuart Pearce, David Seaman

Semifinalist

(vs Switzerland 1-1)

(vs Scotland 2-0)

(vs Netherlands 4-1)

(vs Spain 0-0 (4-2) on penalties in quarterfinal)

(vs Germany 1-1 (6-7) on penalties in semifinal)

EURO 2000

Netherlands

The host, 1998 World Cup semifinalist.

Top players: Patrick Kluivert, Ronald de Boer, Edwin Van der Sar, Edgar Davids, Marc Overmars

Semifinalist

(vs Czech Rep 1-0)

(vs Denmark 3-0)

(vs France 3-2)

(vs Yugoslavia 6-1 in quarterfinal)

(vs Italy 0-0 (1-3) on penalties in semifinal)

EURO 2004

France

Reigning champion, Zinedine Zidane, star-studded squad, seeking redemption after 2002 World Cup failure.

Top players: Zidane, Thierry Henry, Claude Makalele, David Trezeguet, Patrick Viera

Quarterfinal

(vs England 2-1)

(vs Croatia 2-2)

(vs Switzerland 3-1)

(vs Greece 0-1 in the quarterfinal)

EURO 2008

Germany

2006 World Cup third place, Michael Ballack.

Top players: Michael Ballack, Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jens Lehmann, Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose

Runner up

(vs Poland 2-0)

(vs Croatia 1-2)

(vs Austria 1-0)

(vs Portugal 3-2 in quarterfinal)

(vs Turkey 3-2 in the semifinal)

(vs Spain 0-1 in the final)

EURO 2012

Spain

Reigning champion, 2010 World Cup winner, tiki taka era, Barcelona’s continual success.

Top players: Xavi, Andreas Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso

Champion

(vs Italy 1-1)

(vs Ireland 4-0)

(vs Croatia 1-0)

(vs France 2-0 in the quarterfinal)

(vs Portugal 0-0 (4-2) on penalties in semifinal)

(vs Italy 4-0 in the final)

EURO 2016

France

The host.

Top players: Antoine Griezmann, Dmitry Payet, Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba

Runner up

(vs Romania 2-1)

(vs Albania 2-0)

(vs Switzerland 0-0)

(vs Ireland 2-1 in the round of 16)

(vs Iceland 5-2 in the quarterfinal)

(vs Germany 2-0 in the semifinal)

(vs Portugal 0-1 in the final)

EURO 2020

(held in 2021 due to global pandemic)

England

The host for final, 2018 World Cup semifinalist, Premier League clubs dominates rule Europe in 2019 and 2021.

Top players: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Pickford, Jordan Henderson, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker

 

Runner up

(vs Croatia 1-0)

(vs Scotland 0-0)

(vs Czech Rep 1-0)

(vs Germany 2-0 in the round of 16)

(vs Ukraine 4-0 in the quarterfinal)
(vs Denmark 2-1 in the semifinal)

(vs Italy 1-1 (2-3) on penalties in the final)

 

 

 


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