As the group stage of the European Championship concluded and the 16 qualifying teams were determined, the outside world began to marvel at the significant gap in strength and competitiveness between the teams in the upper and lower brackets of the knockout rounds. The bracket containing Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Belgium, and other teams was significantly more competitive than the bracket containing Italy, England, the Netherlands, and others. This gap became even more apparent after the defending champion, Italy, was eliminated from the competition in the round of 16 after a 0-2 loss to Switzerland.
Looking at the lower bracket, which included teams like Italy, England, and the Netherlands, only England and the Netherlands remained among the top 10 ranked teams by FIFA after Italy’s elimination. Notably, after Italy’s exit, of the remaining 7 teams in the lower bracket, only the Netherlands had a previous European Championship title. In 1988, the “Oranje” led by the Dutch trio claimed the European crown. England, despite winning the World Cup, has never won the Henri Delaunay Cup.
In contrast, the 8 teams in the other bracket included 5 teams with previous European Championship titles, namely Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark. These 5 teams have won a total of 10 European Championships.
Spain has won the 1964, 2008, and 2012 European Championships, and is the only team to win consecutive European Championship titles. Germany has also won the title 3 times, in 1972, 1980, and 1996. Spain and Germany are also the teams with the most European Championship titles. France claimed the European crown twice, in 1984 and 2000. Denmark achieved the “Danish fairytale” in the 1992 European Championship, lifting the Henri Delaunay Cup. Portugal also won the European Championship in 2016. Undoubtedly, the difference in the number of titles directly reflects the enormous gap in competitiveness between the two brackets.
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