There’s just something about the build-up to a major international tournament that makes England fans believe. And why not?
The dream of seeing them lift the trophy is what football is all about. If we don’t have blind faith, what do we have?
We’ve taken a trip down memory lane, visiting the highs and the lows, and even more lows in England’s European Championship appearances.
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Italy 1968
Having declined to enter in 1960 and then failing to qualify in 1964, England made their first appearance at the four-team version of the Euros in 1968.
They didn’t get very far, losing to Yugoslavia in the semi-finals 1-0 in Florence. They did pick up a bronze medal after beating the Soviet Union in Rome, and technically speaking the 1968 Euros was one of England’s best finishes.
However, due to the lack of competition, this tournament generally isn’t counted as a particularly impressive one.
Italy 1980
England missed out on another two tournaments in 1972 and 1976 before returning to the big stage for the 1980 championships. They finished sixth of eight teams, struggling in the group stage and not progressing out of Group 2.
Belgium won the group after drawing their opening game with the Three Lions, and Italy, who beat England, finished in second as hosts of the tournament.
The one win England earned over their three games was against Spain on the final day, when qualification was already highly unlikely as Belgium and Italy drew.
West Germany 1988
Another tournament went abegging in France 1984, so England had to wait until the tournament in West Germany four years later.
They didn’t win a single game over the three they played, losing to the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, and perhaps most embarrassingly, neighbours Ireland.
The game with the Boys in Green was a particularly rough one to take, and fans on the Emerald Isle still hold Ray Houghton, who scored the winner in that game, in high esteem and sing his name at international games even today.
Sweden 1992
Finally England managed to qualify for back-to-back tournaments for the first time in 1992, but they couldn’t make it out of the groups once again.
It was another winless effort, with two draws against Denmark and France before losing to tournament hosts Sweden in their third group game to be sent home early once more.
England 1996
This one was truly special. Baddiel & Skinner’s ‘Three Lions (It’s Coming Home)’ was ruling the airwaves on the radio, and England were the hosts for the first time.
With players like Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham up top, there was a real sense of hope in the air that after 30 years, a major trophy was finally coming back to the UK.
It started okay with a draw against Switzerland, but celebrations soon started when the tournament hosts handily defeated local rivals Scotland and European giants, Netherlands, to earn a spot in the knockout stages of the newly restructured tournament.
Spain proved a tough test in the quarter-finals at Wembley, taking the hosts all the way to a penalty shootout, which they have become infamously bad at over the coming years.
However, there was no stopping the hosts as they took the win 4-2 in the shootout to set up a mouth-watering clash with old enemies Germany in the semi-finals.
After a 1-1 draw in London, penalties were needed again. Unfortunately, this was where the tournament ended as current England manager, Gareth Southgate, missed his spot-kick and the Germans went on to win the whole thing four days later.
Belgium/Netherlands 2000
The first tournament of the millennium wasn’t nearly as successful for the English.
They managed to beat Germany in the second game, but lost their first and last games to Portugal and Romania respectively, both by scorelines of 3-2 indicating defensive issues within the squad.
Portugal 2004
This one was a much better showing, with wins over Switzerland and Croatia in the group campaign overruling the loss to France on the opening day.
However, Portugal would prove a banana skin for the first time in two tournaments, taking England to a penalty shootout in Lisbon where they won 6-5 after the original game had ended 2-2.
Poland/Ukraine 2012
Disaster struck in 2008 when Steve McLaren’s team shambolically missed out on Euro qualification, but under the guidance of Fabio Capello they qualified for the next iteration.
However, Capello left the job and was replaced by Roy Hodgson, who led them to a quarter-final spot via a first place finish in Group D.
They beat Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine after an opening day draw with France, but once again fell on penalties to Italy.
France 2016
This one was rough for England. They made it out of the groups for the second time in succession, which hadn’t happened before, but what happened next was a disaster.
Firstly, they struggled to get out of the qualification group with Wales, Slovakia and Russia, despite beating table-toppers Wales. Once they were out, they were given a very favourable last-16 draw in Nice against Iceland, who shocked the world by picking up a win.
Euro 2020
In a spectacular competition hosted all across the continent, England produced their best-ever European Championships showing.
The Three Lions edged past Croatia and the Czech Republic with 1-0 scorelines, either side of a 0-0 draw with rivals Scotland.
It was enough to set up an incredible tie against old foes Germany at Wembley. Many expected England to crumble under the occasion once more, but they shocked the world, beating Germany 2-0.
Southgate’s side then cruised past Ukraine 4-0 in the quarter-final before beating Denmark 2-1 after extra time in a nail-biting semi-final, setting up a final against Italy.
England went ahead within minutes of the final, sending the Wembley faithful into raptures. But they were pegged back by Italy after becoming more defensive, and eventually went on to lose an agonising penalty shootout.
Euro 2024
Euro 2020 was England’s best performance yet. With a host of promising talents having emerged since the last Euros, could Southgate lead the Three Lions to their first major trophy since 1966?
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