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EURO 2020

How many European Championships have England won and how many international titles do they have?

Gareth Southgate's England face Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday with the opportunity to end a long, long wait for major international silverware.

Update:
Soccer Football - Euro 2020 - Semi Final - England v Denmark - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - July 7, 2021 England fans in the stands hold up a replica trophy before the match Pool via REUTERS/Carl Recine
CARL RECINEPool via REUTERS

After more than half a century of near and (mostly) not-so-near misses, England are on the cusp of finally securing another top prize.

The Three Lions take on Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday (8pm BST, 3pm EDT) with the chance to lift the Henri Delaunay Trophy for the first time - and end a wait for major silverware that has lasted since 1966.

England's Euros history: plenty of pain, not much gain

In England’s nine European Championship appearances before Euro 2020, they had never managed to progress beyond the semi-final stage. Indeed, they had failed to make it out of their group on no fewer than four occasions, most notably losing all three games at Euro ’88.

That disastrous campaign came amid a generally woeful European Championship run for England in the two decades between their only semi-final appearances prior to 2021.

Following a third-place finish in 1968, when their first ever Euros semi ended in a 1-0 defeat to Yugoslavia, England’s record at the tournament from 1972 to 1992 read: did not qualify, did not qualify, out in the group stage, did not qualify, out in the group stage, out in the group stage.

At Euro ’96, which they hosted, England then suffered the second European Championship semi-final defeat in their history, current manager Gareth Southgate’s spot-kick miss seeing Terry Venables’ side succumb on penalties to eventual winners Germany.

Four years later, England endured another group-stage exit, before going out of Euro 2004 and Euro 2012 in the quarter-finals - both times on penalties. In between those losses to Portugal and Italy, respectively, they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

And then there’s Euro 2016.

A team coached by Roy Hodgson made it to the knockout stages in France - which, as we’ve seen, is something the English have hardly been able to take for granted at the European Championship. However, their humiliating last-16 defeat to Iceland, a nation whose population is some 150 times smaller than England's, means 2016 probably beats out 1988 as their Euro finals nadir.

England's European Championship record

YearHost nationNumber of teamsEngland's performance
1960France4Did not enter
1964Spain4Did not qualify
1968Italy4Semi-finals
1972Belgium4Did not qualify
1976Yugoslavia4Did not qualify
1980Italy8Group stage
1984France8Did not qualify
1988Germany8Group stage
1992Sweden8Group stage
1996England16Semi-finals
2000Netherlands and Belgium16Group stage
2004Portugal16Quarter-finals
2008Austria and Switzerland16Did not qualify
2012Ukraine and Poland16Quarter-finals
2016France24Last 16

1966 World Cup England's only major title so far

Having finished fourth at the World Cup in Russia in 2018, England’s Euro 2020 run is the first time they have reached the semi-finals of two consecutive major international tournaments since 1968.

They went into the '68 European Championship as World Cup holders, after winning what remains their sole major trophy two years earlier.

England captain Bobby Moore holds the Jules Rimet Trophy aloft after England's World Cup win in 1966, the Three Lions' only major international triumph so far.
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England captain Bobby Moore holds the Jules Rimet Trophy aloft after England's World Cup win in 1966, the Three Lions' only major international triumph so far.DIARIO ASAFP

At the ’66 World Cup, a hat-trick by Geoff Hurst - whose did-it-cross-the-line-or-not second goal is arguably the most debated of all time - gave the tournament hosts a 4-2 triumph over West Germany in England’s only previous appearance in a major final.

Since then, the closest they have come to adding a second world title is a 1990 semi-final against West Germany, which Bobby Robson’s side lost on penalties, and their clash with Croatia at the same stage three years ago, which culminated in a 2-1 extra-time loss.