The UEFA European Championship is one of the major competitive international football tournaments, first played in 1960. The finals stage of the tournament takes place every four years, with a qualifying competition beforehand. The sixteenth tournament was held across Europe in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
The England national football team first attempted to qualify for the finals of the tournament in 1964, having declined to enter in 1960. They first qualified in 1968, and have since participated in the finals on eleven occasions, including in 1996, when they were the host nation and thus did not need to qualify.
England's best performances at the finals were a runner-up finish at Euro 2020, when they lost the final to Italy on penalties at Wembley, and at Euro 2024, when they lost the final 2–1 to Spain in Berlin, being the first team to lose consecutive European Championship finals. They had a third-place finish in Italy in 1968, when only four teams competed in the finals tournament, and reached one further semi-final in 1996, losing to Germany, also on home soil and on penalties. The team reached the quarter-finals on two other occasions, losing to host nation Portugal on penalties in 2004 and to Italy in Ukraine in 2012, also on penalties.
England were eliminated in the round of 16 by Iceland in 2016. On the other four occasions (1980, 1988, 1992 and 2000), they did not progress beyond the group stage.
Overall record YearRoundSquadManager(s) 1960Did not enterDid not enter Winterbottom 1964Did not qualify201136 Winterbottom, RamseyEngland were defeated by France in a two-legged elimination round. Ramsey took over from Winterbottom between the two legs. 1968Third place3rd210121Squad8611186 Ramsey 1972Did not qualifyAlthough England did not qualify for the finals, they reached the last eight of the competition. Only the last four teams progressed to the finals.8521166Ramsey 1976Did not qualify6321113Revie 1980Group stage6th311133Squad8710225 Greenwood 1984Did not qualify8521233Robson 1988Group stage7th300327Squad6510191 19927th302112Squad633073 Taylor 1996Semi-finals3rd523083SquadQualified as hosts Venables 2000Group stage11th310256Squad10442165 Hoddle, KeeganHoddle managed the first three qualifiers, while Keegan managed the remainder of qualification and the finals campaign. 2004Quarter-finals5th4211106Squad8620145 Eriksson 2008Did not qualify12723247 McClaren 2012Quarter-finals5th422053Squad8530175Capello, HodgsonCapello managed the qualification campaign. He resigned before the tournament and was replaced by Hodgson. 2016Round of 1612th412144Squad101000313 Hodgson 2020The tournament was held in 2021 in 11 cities in 11 countries. England's Wembley Stadium hosted all but one of England's matches.Runners-up2nd7520112Squad8701376Southgate 2024Runners-up2nd733186Squad8620224 2028To be determinedTo be determined 2032TotalRunners-up11/17451816115943 —11679261127068 — Runners-up Third place Hosted tournament*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. **Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil. ***Third place includes all tournaments where England reached the semi-finals following Euro 1980 as the third place play-offs were scrapped from the following editions of the tournament.
Correct as of 14 July 2024, after the final match against Spain
List of matches YearRoundOpponentScoreEngland scorer(s) 1968Semi-finals0–1—Third place play-off2–0B. Charlton, Hurst 1980Group 21–1Wilkins0–1—2–1Brooking, Woodcock 1988Group 20–1—1–3Robson1–3Adams 1992Group 10–0—0–0—1–2Platt 1996Group A1–1Shearer2–0Shearer, Gascoigne4–1Shearer (2), Sheringham (2)Quarter-finals0–0 —Semi-finals1–1 Shearer 2000Group A2–3Scholes, McManaman1–0Shearer2–3Shearer, Owen 2004Group B1–2Lampard3–0Rooney (2), Gerrard4–2Scholes, Rooney (2), LampardQuarter-finals2–2 Owen, Lampard 2012Group D1–1Lescott3–2Carroll, Walcott, Welbeck1–0RooneyQuarter-finals0–0 — 2016Group B1–1Dier2–1Vardy, Sturridge0–0—Round of 161–2Rooney 2020Group D1–0Sterling0–0—1–0SterlingRound of 162–0Sterling, KaneQuarter-finals4–0Kane (2), Maguire, J. HendersonSemi-finals2–1 Kjær (o.g.), KaneFinal1–1 Shaw 2024Group C1–0Bellingham1–1Kane0–0—Round of 162–1 Bellingham, KaneQuarter-finals1–1 SakaSemi-finals2–1Kane, WatkinsFinal1–2Palmer
Head-to-head record Opponent101011220052110010312032302123321041100112302112320175201145100101100123311144211020210111211021101000311133210144312052220050110021Total451816115943
History UEFA Euro 1968: Italy
Qualifying
Group stage
Quarter-finals
Final tournament
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
UEFA Euro 1980: Italy
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
UEFA Euro 1988: West Germany
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
UEFA Euro 1992: Sweden
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
UEFA Euro 1996: England
Group stage
Matches
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
UEFA Euro 2000: Belgium–Netherlands
Qualifying
Group stage
Play-offs
Group stage
UEFA Euro 2004: Portugal
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2012: Poland–Ukraine
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2016: France
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
UEFA Euro 2020: Europe
Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
UEFA Euro 2024: Germany
As the competition ran during the 2024 general election, the Football Association contacted players to remind them about arranging proxy votes or postal votes. Qualifying
Group stage
Group stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Player records Most appearances RankPlayerMatchesYears1Harry Kane182016, 2020, 20242Kyle Walker162016, 2020, 20243Jordan Pickford142020, 2024Declan Rice2020, 2024John Stones2020, 20246Gary Neville111996, 2000, 2004Bukayo Saka2020, 2024Kieran Trippier2020, 20249Jude Bellingham102020, 2024Phil Foden2020, 2024Wayne Rooney2004, 2012, 2016Raheem Sterling2016, 2020
Top goalscorers RankPlayerGoalsYears (goals)1Harry Kane72020 (4), 2024 (3)Alan Shearer1996 (5), 2000 (2)3Wayne Rooney62004 (4), 2012, 20164Frank Lampard32004 (3)Raheem Sterling2020 (3)6Jude Bellingham22024 (2)Michael Owen2000, 2004Paul Scholes2000, 2004Teddy Sheringham1996 (2)
Goals by tournament European ChampionshipGoalscorer(s)1968Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst1980Trevor Brooking, Ray Wilkins, Tony Woodcock1988Tony Adams, Bryan Robson1992David Platt1996Alan Shearer (5), Teddy Sheringham (2), Paul Gascoigne2000Alan Shearer (2), Steve McManaman, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes2004Wayne Rooney (4), Frank Lampard (3), Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes 2012Andy Carroll, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck2016 Eric Dier, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Jamie Vardy2020Harry Kane (4), Raheem Sterling (3), Jordan Henderson, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, own goal2024Harry Kane (3), Jude Bellingham (2), Bukayo Saka, Ollie Watkins, Cole Palmer
See also England at the FIFA World Cup List of England national football team World Cup and European Championship squads
Notes
References
External links England's team official website UEFA official site