The UEFA European Championship includes the best international teams in Europe. With 24 of Europe’s elite teams, there are usually a few great games in store at the European Championship. These are some of the most exciting matches ever played in the UEFA European Championship.
England played the hosts, Portugal, in the quarter-final of this European Championship game. Both teams were considered potential winners of the European Championship. It was England who took an early lead in this game thanks to Michael Owen. That remained the case for most of the game as England clung on to their one-goal lead, but then Hélder Postiga equalised for Portugal in the last 10 minutes.
In extra-time, Portugal then went a goal in front, but a few minutes later Frank Lampard would equalise for England to make it 2-2. A controversially disallowed England goal (yes, it was ridiculous) ensured the game remained level until the end of extra time. It went to penalties and, somewhat predictably, England’s poor penalty record continued as Portugal won the shoot-out.
A thrilling finale to this group saw Yugoslavia take on Spain. Yugoslavia was to go in front, but Spain would equalise thanks to Alfonso Pérez. The Slavs took the lead again in the second half, but minutes later, Spain equalised. A third goal from Yugoslavia later in the half seemed to have sealed the victory.
Yet, the Spanish weren’t beaten as Alfonso Pérez scored his second goal in the 90th minute, which, along with a Gaizka Mendiate penalty also in the last minutes of the game, ensured a 4-3 victory for Spain as they topped the group. Fortunately for Yugoslavia, Norway did not win its game, so they also went through along with Spain.
Holland had never won a trophy until Euro 1988. However, this Holland team had some great players, such as the majestic Marco Van Basten. In this game, Ruud Gullit opened the scoring for Holland in the first half. Then, it was left to Van Basten to seal the game with a fantastic volley in the second half, considered to be among the finest goals ever scored. That Van Basten goal, one of the best scored in the tournament’s history, made this final a more memorable one, even though it wasn’t a goal feast.
France was playing Portugal in the semi-final of Euro 86. They took the lead in the first half and would remain in front until Portugal equalised in the last 20 minutes of the second half. The game went into extra time, where this time Portugal would go in front. However, it was to be France’s cup, and they equalised in the second half of extra-time. Then, just minutes before the game ended, Michel Platini scored a third winning goal to ensure a 3-2 victory for France in this semi-final game.
For sheer goal-scoring drama, this classic 1960 semi-final was perhaps the most enthralling UEFA European Championship game of them all. France played Yugoslavia for a place in the Euro 1960 final. Yugoslavia went ahead after 11 minutes, but France battled back to establish a 2-1 lead at half-time.
The French continued to boss the game and established a 4-2 lead with 20 minutes left. Then, Yugoslavia mounted an amazing fightback, scoring three goals in about five minutes to go 5-4 up with little more than 10 minutes to play. It was a shocking capitulation from which the French could not recover as Yugoslavia ran out 5-4 winners.
Those matches were great adverts for the UEFA European Championship soccer. Such games had plenty of goals and drama and were the best in the tournament’s history in terms of entertainment value and spectacle. It’s matches like those that make European Championship soccer worth watching.
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