Football world championship, mundial. European Football Championship. Football at the Olympics. Best Footballer of the Year

FIFA World Cup, mundial

• Modern football originated in the middle of the 19th century in England.

  The winners of the World Cups (FIFA World Cups) were:

  World Cup 1930 - Uruguay(Golden Ball, the prize for the best player of the first World Cup went to the defender of the Uruguayan national team Jose Nasassi). Organizer country - Uruguay;

  World Cup 1934 - Italy(The Golden Ball was awarded to the scorer of the Italian national team Giuseppe Meazza). Organizer country - Italy;

  World Cup 1938 - Italy(Golden ball for the striker of the Brazilian national team Leonidas da Silva, "Black brilliant");

  World Cup 1950 - Uruguay(The best player in the 1950 World Cup is the striker of the Brazilian national team Zizinho);

  World Cup 1954 - Germany(Golden ball at the Hungarian football player, striker Ferenc Puskasa, nickname "Galloping Major");

  World Cup 1958 - Brazil(Golden Ball went to the defensive midfielder of the Brazilian national team Didi);

  World Cup 1962 - Brazil(The best football player of the 1962 World Cup is the right striker of the Brazilian national team Garrincha, "Book-legged angel");

  World Cup 1966 - England(The Ballon d'Or went to England attacking midfielder Bobby Charlton);

  World Cup 1970 - Brazil. In the final, having defeated the Italian national team with a score of 4: 1, Brazil for the first time in the history of football won the league title for the third time and received a golden cup - the “Golden Goddess Nika” in eternal storage (Golden Ball for the striker of the Brazilian national team, the legendary Pele);

  World Cup 1974 - Germany(The best football player of the 1974 World Cup is the Dutch striker Johan Cruyff, "Flying Dutchman");

  World Cup 1978 - Argentina(Best football player of the 1978 World Cup - Argentine striker Mario Alberto Kempes);

  World Cup 1982 - Italy(FIFA Golden Ball from the Italian striker Paolo Rossi);

  World Cup 1986 - Argentina(Best player of the 1986 World Cup - Argentinean Diego Armando Maradona, nickname "Ten", "Fluff");

  World Cup 1990 - Germany(The FIFA Golden Ball went to the striker of the Italian national team Salvatore Squillach and, "Toto");

  World Cup 1994 - Brazil(The best player of the World Cup 1994 - Romario, "Shorty", Brazil);

  World Cup 1998 - France(The best football player of the 1998 World Cup - Ronaldo, "Critter", Brazil);

  World Cup 2002 - Brazil(FIFA Golden Ball went to the goalkeeper of the German national team Oliver Kanu, nicknamed "King Kang");

  World Cup 2006 - Italy(Golden ball at the Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, "Zizu");

  World Cup 2010 - Spain(The FIFA Golden Ball went to the striker of the Uruguayan national team Diego Martin Forlanu, nickname "Cachavacha");

  World Cup 2014 - Germany. The 20th anniversary FIFA World Cup was held from June 12 to July 13, 2014 in Brazil. The opening match (Brazil-Croatia) took place in São Paulo at the Itakeran Arena. The Germany-Argentina final took place in Rio de Janeiro at the Maracanã stadium - 1:0 (after extra time) - for the first time in the history of football, a European team took the World Cup in South America. Still have the golden ball Lionel MESSI Argentina (nickname "Baby").
  This championship pioneered the Automatic Goal Detection (GLT) system and introduced breaks in matches when playing in the heat, as well as referees using vanishing white spray cans to mark on the field when taking free kicks and free kicks.
  The biggest sensation of the tournament: the loss of Brazil to Germany in the semi-finals with a phenomenal score of 1:7.

  World Cup 2018 - the 21st FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia. The World Cup will be held at the stadiums of thirteen Russian cities, which are divided into 4 clusters (separately, Yekaterinburg): in Moscow, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Yaroslavl, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Yekaterinburg. 3 stadiums are being prepared in Moscow. The BSA Luzhniki is to be reconstructed, two other stadiums are under construction: Spartak (project by the American construction company AECOM) and VTB Arena Dynamo Central Stadium.
  KROST is one of the largest diversified construction companies. The company has several business lines - construction and industrial complexes, development of commercial and residential real estate, rental of commercial real estate in Moscow, the fitness and wellness industry "ELSE-club", a network of folk restaurants.

  World Cup 2022 - the World Cup will be held in the Arabian Emirate of Qatar. 12 stadiums from seven cities in Qatar will host matches of the 22nd World Cup.

  In January 2017, the Council of the International Football Federation approved an increase in the number of participants in the final part of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams. The changes will take effect from 2026.

  1982 FIFA World Cup. The final. Italy - Germany

FIFA Women's World Cup

• The first FIFA Women's World Cup was held in China in 1991.

  FIFA Women's World Cup Winners:

  1991 World Cup in China - USA(final USA - Norway 2:1). Golden Ball - Karin Jennings Carin JENNINGS, USA.

  World Cup 1995 in Sweden - Norway(final Norway - Germany 2:0). Golden Ball - Hege Riise Hege RIISE, Norway.

  World Cup 1999 in the USA - USA(final USA - China 0:0 pen. 5:4). Golden Ball - Song Wen SUN Wen, China.

  World Cup 2003 in the USA - Germany(final Germany - Sweden 1:0). Golden Ball - Birgit Prince Birgit PRINZ, Germany.

  World Cup 2007 in China - Germany(final Germany - Brazil 2:0). Golden Ball - Martha MARTA, Brazil.

  World Cup 2011 in Germany- Japan(final Japan - USA 2:2 pen. 3:1). Golden Ball - Homare Sawa Homare SAWA, Japan.

  World Cup 2015 in Canada from June 6 to July 5 - USA(final USA - Japan 5:2). The United States became 3-time world champions in women's football. American Ballon d'Or Carly Lloyd Carly Lloyd.

European Football Championship

• In 1960, at the suggestion of the President of the French Football Federation, Henri Delaunay (1883-1955), the first European Cup among national teams was held, later the European Championship (UEFA European Championship).

  UEFA European Football Championship Winners:

• EURO 1960 - the USSR(the best player of the first European Championship is the legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin);
• EURO 1964 - Spain(best player of Euro 1964 - Spanish midfielder Luis Suarez);
• EURO 1968 - Italy(the best player in Euro 1968 is the goalkeeper of the Squadra Azzurra Dino Zoff);
• EURO 1972 - Germany(the best player in Euro 1972 is the German striker Gerd Müller);
• EURO 1976 - Czechoslovakia(the best player in Euro 1976 is the German striker Dieter Müller);
• EURO 1980 - Germany(the best player in Euro 1980 is the German striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, "Kalle"); At this European Championship for the first time 8 national teams took part in the final part (previously 4), and the host country got a place in the final part automatically.
• EURO 1984 - France(best player of Euro 1984 - French midfielder Michel Platini);
• EURO 1988 - Netherlands(best player in Euro 1988 - Dutch striker Marco van Basten, "Utrecht Swan");
• European Championship 1992 - Denmark(best player in Euro 1992 - Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, "Great Dane");
• European Championship 1996 - Germany(the best player in Euro 1996 is a German midfielder Matthias Sammer, "Red-haired meteor"); At the 1996 European Championship, for the first time, 16 teams participated in the final part, which were divided into 4 groups.
• European Championship 2000 - France(Best player in Euro 2000 - French attacking midfielder Zinedine Zidane);
• European Championship 2004 - Greece(best player of Euro 2004 - Greek defensive midfielder Theodoros Zagorakis);
• European Championship 2008 - Spain(best player of Euro 2008 - Spanish midfielder Xavi);
• European Championship 2012 - Spain. For the first time in the history of modern football, this is the third victory in a row for one team in the top finals of the World Cup and the European Championship (the midfielder of the Red Fury was recognized as the best player in the final match and the Euro 2012 championship). Andres Iniesta).

  European Football Championship 2012. Final. Spain - Italy. All goals

• European Championship 2016 - Portugal. The 15th European Championship was held in France (already for the 3rd time) in a month - from June 10 to July 10, 2016. By decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, 24 teams instead of 16 participated in the final pool of the championship for the first time (the same number of 24 at the World Cup).
  Euro 2016 opening match France - Romania 2:1. French winning goal scorer Dimitri Payet- "closest to God."

  Final July 10 at the stadium "Stade-de-France" in the suburbs of Paris France - Portugal. Dimitri Gebek Payet vs Cristiano Ronaldo. But there was no confrontation. At the beginning of the first half, the injured Ronaldo was taken off the field (by the way, an injury from a collision with Payet). And at the beginning of the 2nd half, Payet was also replaced. Regular time ended in a draw 0:0.
  In extra time, a goal was scored by the Portuguese striker Eder (he moved from Guinea-Bissau to Portugal as a child). France 0-1 Portugal

  French striker Antoine Griezmann was named the best player in Euro 2016. Symbolic team of the tournament: Rui Patricio (Portugal), Pepe (Portugal), Jerome Boateng (Germany), Rafael Guerreiro (Portugal), Joshua Kimmich (Germany), Toni Kroos (Germany), Joe Allen (Wales), Aaron Ramsey (Wales) , Antoine Griezmann (France), Dimitri Payet (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).

  European Football Championship 2016. Final. Eder goal

Women's European Football Championship

• The European Football Championship for Women under the auspices of UEFA has been held since 1980 (from 1987 to 1997 it was held every 2 years, then the cycle was increased to four years).

  Women's European Football Championship Winners:
  EURO 1984 - Sweden(UEFA Golden Player - Pia Sundhage, Sweden)
  EURO 1987 - Norway(UEFA Golden Player - Heidi Stere, Norway)
  EURO 1989 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Doris Fitschen, Germany)
  European Championship 1991 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Sylvia Nide, Germany)
  European Championship 1993 - Norway(UEFA Golden Player - Hege Riise, Norway)
  European Championship 1995 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Birgit Prince, Germany)
  European Championship 1997 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Carolina Morace, Italy)
  European Championship 2001 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Hanna Ljungberg, Sweden)
  European Championship 2005 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Anne Myakinen, Finland)
  European Championship 2009 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Inka Grings, Germany)
  European Championship 2013 - Germany(UEFA Golden Player - Lotta Shelin, Sweden)

  Beautiful women's football

Football at the Olympics

Football received official status as an Olympic sport in 1908.
• The winners of the Olympic football tournaments (1908-2012) were:
  In 1908 and 1912 - United Kingdom; 1920 - Belgium; 1924 and 1928 - Uruguay; 1936 - Italy I; 1948- Sweden; 1952, 1964 and 1968 - Hungary; 1956 and 1988 - the USSR; 1960 - Yugoslavia; 1972 - Poland; 1976 - GDR; 1980 - Czechoslovakia; 1984 - France; 1992 - Spain; 1996 - Nigeria; 2000 -Cameroon, 2004 and 2008 - Argentina, 2012 - Mexico.

  The winners of the women's football competition at the Olympic Games (1996-2012) were:
  In 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012 - USA, in 2000 - Norway.

• At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 16 teams participated in the men's football tournament (August 4-20). Portugal: Germany, Nigeria: Denmark, South Korea: Honduras, Brazil: Colombia advanced to the Playoffs of the tournament (1/4 finals).
  Brazil: Honduras, Nigeria: Germany advanced to the semi-finals.
  Finalists Brazil and Germany. Brazilians, led by their captain Neymar, nevertheless snatched victory from the Germans (regular time 1:1, penalties 5:4) and became Olympic champions for the first time.

  12 national teams took part in the Rio 2016 Women's Football Tournament (August 3-19). Brazil: Australia, USA: Sweden, China: Germany, France: Canada advanced to the Playoffs.
  Brazil: Sweden and Canada: Germany advanced to the semi-finals.
  Finalists Sweden and Germany. Germany- OI-16 champion (for the first time in women's football), Brazil third.

The best player of the year. FIFA Golden Ball (FIFA Ballon d'Or)

UEFA European Footballer of the Year

Football award established by UEFA in 2011.
• 2011 G. Lionel Messi forward, Argentina (Barcelona)
• 2012 G. Andres Iniesta midfielder, Spain (Barcelona)
• 2013 G. Franck Ribery midfielder, France (Bayern)
  Nadine Angerer recognized as the best player in Europe in the season 2012/2013.
• 2014 G. Cristiano Ronaldo forward, Portugal (Real Madrid)
  Nadine Kessler- the best football player in Europe of the season 2013/2014
• 2015 The best player in Europe at the end of the season 2014/15 was the striker of Barcelona Lionel Messi, who bypassed Cristiano Ronaldo and Uruguayan teammate Luis Suarez in the vote.
  Awarded Best Female Player by UEFA Celia Sasic, German soccer player of Cameroonian origin. Forward. She went around the Frenchwoman Amandine Henri and the German Jennifer Marozhan.
• 2016 d. The best player in Europe of the season 2015/2016, as expected, was Cristiano Ronaldo- European champion 2016 (as part of the Portuguese national team) and winner of the European Champions League 2016 (as part of Real Madrid). The Portuguese was ahead of Gareth Bale (Wales) and Antoine Griezmann (France).
  Norwegian Ada Hegerberg from Lyon was named the Best Female Player in Europe in 2015/16. She was ahead of Amandine Henry (France) and Jennifer Maraugean (Germany).

Player of the Century

An award established by FIFA to identify the best player of the 20th century. Internet voting:
• 1. Diego Maradona. Argentina - 53.60%
• 2. Pele. Brazil - 18.53%
• 3. Eusebio. Portugal - 6.21%

The European Football Championship has been held under the auspices of UEFA every four years since 1960. Initially, the tournament was called the European Nations Cup (European Cup), and in 1968 the name was changed to the European Football Championship.

The history of the performance of the USSR / Russia team in the final tournaments of the European Championships began with the very first draw in 1960. The debut European Cup ended with the victory of the USSR team. Three times the Soviet team became vice-champion of Europe - in 1964, 1972 and 1988. In 1980 and 1984, the USSR national team failed to qualify for the final stage of the competition.

At the 1992 European Championship, the USSR national team played under the flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States (by that time the Soviet Union had already ceased to exist).

In recent history, the Russian team has qualified for the finals four times - in 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012. In 2008, the Russian team won the bronze medals of the European Championship.

1960 European Cup (France)

In the first draw of the European Cup, the Soviet team entered the rank of champion of the Melbourne Olympic Games (1956). The tournament path to victory included an uncompromising rivalry with the teams of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, a boycott of the Spanish government, and ended with a tense final match against the most principled opponent at that time - Yugoslavia.

During the final match, the Soviet team led by Gavriil Kachalin was inferior to the Yugoslavs, but still pulled out a victory in extra time with a score of 2:1. The decisive goal seven minutes before the end was scored by 23-year-old Victor Monday.

1964 European Cup (Spain)

On the way to the European Cup final, the USSR national team, led by Konstantin Beskov, broke the resistance of the Italians, Swedes and Danes. In the final of the tournament, the USSR team met with the Spanish team. Four years earlier, the Franco government had banned the Spanish national team from playing against the USSR, but this time politics gave way to football. The decisive match of the tournament, held at the stadium "Santiago Bernabeu" in Madrid and gathered more than 120 thousand spectators, ended with a minimal advantage in favor of Spain (2:1).

1968 European Championship (Italy)

The format of the competition has undergone changes, for the first time a qualifying tournament was held, according to the results of which the participants in the playoffs were determined. At the qualifying stage, the USSR national team was ahead of Austria, Greece and Finland and reached the quarterfinals, in which they beat Hungary. In the goalless semi-final confrontation between the Soviet team and Italy, the strongest was determined by a simple lot with the help of a coin (a penalty shoot-out had not yet been used at that time). Fortune smiled at the hosts of the decisive part of the championship and did not allow the USSR national team to play in the final for the third time in a row. In the match for third place, the team of Mikhail Yakushin lost to the team of England (0:2).

1972 European Championship (Belgium)

In the qualifying tournament, the USSR national team took first place in the group with Spain, Northern Ireland and Cyprus and advanced to the playoffs of the competition.

In the quarter-finals, the team of Alexander Ponomarev confidently defeated Yugoslavia, in the semi-finals they defeated Hungary with a minimum score. However, in the decisive match of the European Championship, Soviet football players lost to the German team with a score of 0:3.

1976 European Championship (Yugoslavia)

In the qualifying round, the USSR national team successfully opposed Ireland, Turkey and Switzerland and took first place. In the quarter-finals, Soviet footballers led by Valery Lobanovsky lost to Czechoslovakia after two meetings.

1980 European Championship (Italy)

The USSR national team, led by Konstantin Beskov, participated in the qualifying tournament together with Hungary, Greece and Finland and could not qualify

1984 European Championship (France)

Valery Lobanovsky's wards took second place in the qualifying group along with Portugal, Poland and Finland and failed to qualify for the decisive stage of the competition.

European Championship 1988 (FRG)

In the qualifying tournament for Euro-88 in the group with France, East Germany, Norway and Iceland, the USSR team took first place.

In the final tournament, Lobanovsky's team confidently won the group stage, and left no chance for the Italians in the semi-finals. In the final of the tournament, the USSR national team lost to Holland with a score of 0:2.

1992 European Championship (Sweden)

The USSR national team, which was received by Anatoly Byshovets, the victor of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, qualified for the finals through a qualifying tournament in which they met with the teams of Italy, Norway, Hungary and Cyprus. In the decisive stage of the competition, the team was already performing under the flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States, by that time the Soviet Union had already ceased to exist. According to the results of the group stage of the final tournament, the CIS team took fourth place, letting Scotland, Germany and Holland pass ahead of them, and failed to reach the playoffs.

1996 European Championship (England)

In 1996, the Russian national team for the first time in history took part in the continental championship. The rivals of our team in the group in the qualifying round were the teams of Scotland, Greece, Finland, the Faroe Islands and San Marino. During the qualifying games, our team took first place in the group.

In the final stage of the tournament, the teams of Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic became the rivals of the Russian team. Having scored only one point during the group stage of the tournament, the Russian team, led by Oleg Romantsev, which meant the end of the fight for the championship medals.

European Championship 2000 (Belgium, Netherlands)

The qualifying tournament for Euro 2000, in which France, Ukraine, Iceland, Armenia and Andorra became our rivals, was dramatic for the Russian team. After three defeats at the start of the qualification, Oleg Romantsev replaced Anatoly Byshovets as the head of the coaching staff. Our team won six victories in a row, including on the road over the current world champions of the French. However, for the first place in the group, a home victory over Ukraine in the final match was not enough: the guests answered the goal of Valery Karpin with an accurate shot by Andriy Shevchenko.

European Championship 2004 (Portugal)

In the group stage of the qualifying tournament of the European Championship, the teams of Switzerland, Georgia, Ireland and Albania became the rivals of the Russian team. Before the decisive autumn games, Valery Gazzaev left the post of national team coach, he was replaced by Georgy Yartsev. With 14 points, the Russian players took second place in the group. In the play-offs, the Russian team met with the Wales team. The first match between the teams in Moscow ended in a goalless draw. In the second match, our players managed to win with a score of 0:1 and got a ticket to the final part of the European Championship.

At the group stage of the final part of the tournament, the rivals of the Russian team were the teams of Spain, Portugal and Greece. Having scored three points, the Russian team took fourth place in their group and finished the fight for championship medals.

European Championship 2008 (Austria, Switzerland)

In the group stage of the qualifying round of the European Championship, the rivals of the Russian team were the teams of Croatia, England, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia and Andorra. The Russian team finished the qualifying round of the 2008 European Championship in 2nd place in their group, gaining 24 points.

Second place gave the Russian team, led by the Dutchman Guus Hiddink, the right to directly qualify for the finals of the championship. At the group stage of the final part of the tournament, the rivals of the Russian team were the teams of Spain, Sweden and Greece. Having scored six points, our team took the second place in the group and advanced to the playoffs of the tournament. In the 1/4 finals, the Russian team defeated Holland in extra time - 3:1. In the semi-finals, the Spaniards became the rivals of the Russian football players, the meeting ended in their favor - with a score of 3:0. Thus, the Russian team won the bronze medals of the European football championship.

European Championship 2012 (Ukraine, Poland)

In the group stage of the qualifying round of the European Championship, the rivals of the Russian team were the teams of Ireland, Armenia, Slovakia, Macedonia and Andorra. Having scored 23 points, the Russian team took first place in the group and qualified for the final part of the championship. At the group stage of the final part of the tournament, the rivals of the team of Dick Advocaat were the teams of the Czech Republic, Greece and Poland. Having scored 4 points, the Russian team took third place in the group and left the European championship.

Prepared on the basis of materials from open sources

On the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the oldest Russian insurer - the title sponsor of the Russian Football Championship ROSGOSSTRAKH - a well-known journalist Leonid Parfenov tells in his own unique way about a memorable event in 1960: the victory of the USSR national team at the European Football Championship. Read more about this famous success in the article “95 years with football, 95 years with the country”. The main title in the history of national football was won in 1960. It was the first European football championship in history. If the world championships have been held since 1930, then the tournament of European teams had to wait another 30 years.

How the Euro was born

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) was founded in 1954. Three years later, at the congress, it was decided to hold a tournament among the best European teams. However, 13 out of 30 UEFA members refused to participate in the European Championship. Among them were Germany, England, Italy and other famous teams.

The refusal was explained by the heavy workload on the players during club competitions. As a result, only 17 teams took part in the selection for the first Euro. To leave 16 teams in the preliminary round, the Czechoslovaks and the Irish had to identify the strongest. Such was the team from Czechoslovakia.

How was the selection for Euro 1960

With 16 teams, a full-fledged qualifying tournament has already begun. It is noteworthy that the host of the competition, France, was not guaranteed a place at the Euro - the team participated in the selection on an equal basis with everyone else. 16 teams split into pairs and played one match at home and away. After that, 8 teams remained, which were again divided into pairs: France - Austria, USSR - Spain, Portugal - Yugoslavia, Romania - Czechoslovakia.

However, one of these quarter-finals was not destined to take place. The Spaniards refused to go to the Soviet Union. For this, they were awarded defeat and a fine of 31,500 Swiss francs. The proposal of the Spaniards to play the match on a neutral field was rejected by UEFA. There are two versions of why Spain abandoned the play-offs with the USSR. The first one is politics. The Spaniards announced that they would not go to a "communist power". The second version is the fear of losing. Spain coach Elenio Herrera was present at the Luzhniki stadium and saw how the Soviet footballers defeated the Polish national team with a score of 7:1. Shortly after this game, the Spaniards refused to go to the USSR.

How the USSR national team took the first title

As a result, three teams from the communist countries came to the final stage of Euro 1960 in France: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the USSR. In the first semi-final, the French team unexpectedly lost to the Yugoslavs - 4: 5, and the USSR team confidently won the Czechoslovaks - 3: 0. Our team excelled Victor Monday and twice Valentin Ivanov.

The final match was held on July 10 in Paris at the Parc des Princes stadium (by the way, at the upcoming Euro 2016, the final will also be held on July 10 and also at the Parc des Princes). The match was officiated by an English referee Arthur Edward Ellis. Apparently, he is less tired of club football than his fellow footballers. The meeting turned out to be very tense. Leonid Parfyonov told more about it in the video of the Rosgosstrakh company:

The main time ended in a draw. Galich scored against the Yugoslavs in the 43rd minute, and Metreveli scored against us in the 49th. There were two more halves of 15 minutes. And now, 7 minutes before the end of extra time, Viktor Monday scored the winning goal with his head. Perhaps it was the most important goal in the history of Soviet football. The USSR national team, after two hours of the game, found the strength to make a lap of honor around the stadium. The best goalkeeper of the tournament was recognized, of course, Lev Yashin, who played in the usual cap. Then it was allowed for goalkeepers.

Midfielder Igor Netto, who participated in that final, published the book "My Football" in 1974. This is how he recalls what happened after winning Euro 1960:

“The European Football Federation hosted a gala reception in a hall located high on the Eiffel Tower. We, Soviet football players, were awarded gold medals of the European Cup winners, our fellow rivals - Yugoslav football players - silver. Of course, we warmly congratulated each other. Downstairs, Paris was noisy, lived its ebullient life. It was visible from here all at a glance, the stone masses of houses, wide verdant avenues, the sharp spiers of the Notre Dame Cathedral with its frozen chimeras, as if guarding time ... We were unusually good.

It may seem strange, but the first European tournament was held only in 1960 (started in 1958). Frankly, he was unusual. Only 17 teams took part in it. England, Italy and West Germany simply refused to play in the first draw. But the USSR national team was marked in it by several "eternal" achievements. The first match was held in Moscow at the Central Stadium named after V.I. Lenin (now it is Luzhniki). The first goal was scored by the player of the USSR national team Anatoly Mikhailovich Ilyin. The Soviet team became the first European champion. To do this, it took her only 4 matches (all rivals from Eastern Europe). In September 1958, the Hungarian team was defeated. A year later, the Hungarian national team was beaten for the second time. Six months later, the USSR national team should play 2 matches with the Spanish national team. But the Spanish politicians were afraid of a possible defeat, and the match was canceled, and the Spanish team was credited with defeat. Such was the time. Then politics and football were too closely connected. 4 years later, the situation almost repeated itself. The national team of the USSR and Spain met in the final in Madrid. And we lost. Sometimes journalists like to say: "The USSR national team was so strong that Konstantin Ivanovich Beskov was removed for 2nd place." In fact, at that time there were countries that could not be lost. But let's go back to 1960. After the refusal of the Spanish team, the Soviet team got into the final tournament. In which only 4 teams participated. In the semi-finals, the Czechoslovak team was defeated. In the 113th minute final, Victor Vladimirovich Monday scored the winning goal in the match against Yugoslavia.

The first two tournaments were called "European Nations Cup". From the third tournament - "European Championship". Verbatim. "European Nations Cup - Henri Delaunay Cup" renamed to "European Championship - Henri Delaunay Cup". The tournaments were different. The national teams of the USSR and Russia had successful tournaments. 1960 - first place, 1964 - second place, 1968 - fourth place (defeat by lot. That year they didn’t take post-match penalties and didn’t appoint replays, but simply threw a coin), 1972 - second place, 1988 - second place, 2008 - third place (as well as the Turkish team, as there was no match for 3rd place). There were also failures. 1980 Moscow. 1000 spectators. Coach: Konstantin Beskov. Composition: Gontar, Berezhnoy, Bubnov, Khidiyatullin, Makhovikov, Shavlo, Veremeev, Gavrilov, Bessonov, Oganesyan, Andreev, Yurchishin, Kazachenok. A draw with the Finnish national team and the USSR national team takes the last place in its qualifying group.

In this section of my site you can find the results of all matches (qualifiers and finals). Protocols of almost all matches. As well as various statistical information (to find out who is the most inconvenient opponent of a particular team, the biggest defeat of the selected country, and much more).

European Football Championship. 2020 Final part.

Group A(Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland)
Group B(Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia)
Group C(Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, undefined)
Group D(England, Croatia, undefined, Czech Republic)
Group E(Spain, Sweden, Poland, not defined)
Group F(not defined, Portugal, France, Germany)

European Football Championship. 2020 Qualifying Tournament.

Group A(England, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo)
Group B(Portugal, Ukraine, Serbia, Lithuania, Luxembourg)
Group C(Holland, Germany, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Belarus)
Group D(Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, Georgia, Gibraltar)
Group E(Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan)
Group F(Spain, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Faroe Islands, Malta)
Group G(Poland, Austria, Israel, Slovenia, Macedonia, Latvia)
Group H(France, Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldova, Andorra)
Group I(Belgium, Russia, Scotland, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, San Marino)
Group J(Italy, Bosnia, Finland, Greece, Armenia, Liechtenstein)

European Championship Match Schedule.

The FIFA World Cup is an international sports tournament held under the auspices of FIFA, in which the best national teams of the planet compete. , and since then the competition has been held every 4 years (in 1942 and 1946 the tournament was not held due to the events of World War II).

The winner of the first World Cup was Uruguay, who defeated Argentina 4:2 in the final game at the Estadio Centenario (Centenario). In total, 13 teams took part in the debut World Cup: 7 from South America, 4 from Europe and two from North and Central America. Since then, 20 more World Cups have taken place.

Table of all world football champions by year

Year	Tournament host	Winner	Check	Runners-up
1930	Uruguay	Uruguay	4-2	Argentina
1934	Italy	Italy	2-1 (extra time)	Czechoslovakia
1938	France	Italy	4-2	Hungary
1950	Brazil	Uruguay	2-1	Brazil
1954	Switzerland	West Germany	3-2	Hungary
1958	Sweden	Brazil	5-2	Sweden
1962	Chile	Brazil	3-1	Czechoslovakia
1966	England	England	4-2 (extra time)	West Germany
1970	Mexico	Brazil	4-1	Italy
1974	West Germany	West Germany	2-1	Netherlands
1978	Argentina	Argentina	3-1 (extra time)	Netherlands
1982	Spain	Italy	3-1	West Germany
1986	Mexico	Argentina	3-2	West Germany
1990	Italy	West Germany	1-0	Argentina
1994	USA	Brazil	0-0 (3-2 penalty shootout)	Italy
1998	France	France	3-0	Brazil
2002	Japan and South Korea	Brazil	2-0	Germany
2006	Germany	Italy	1-1 (5-3 penalty shootout)	France
2010	South Africa	Spain	1-0 (extra time)	Netherlands
2014	Brazil	Germany	1-0 (extra time)	Argentina
2018	Russia	France	4:2	Croatia

In the entire history, only 8 teams have won the World Cup. The most titled country in the World Cup is Brazil, which won the world football championship 5 times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). The current world champion is the French team, which in the final match of the 2018 World Cup defeated the Croats with a score of 4: 2.

Below is a table of winners by country:

Note: Germany has been world champion three times as West Germany (1954, 1974 and 1990).

Some interesting facts about the World Cup

According to the current format, 32 national teams are participants in the final part of the World Cup. As mentioned above, 13 teams competed at the first World Cup. From 1934 to 1978 - 16. In 1982, the number of participants was increased to 24 teams.

The current current format consists of 32 teams. It was first presented at the 1998 World Cup in France. In 2026, 48 teams will take part in the final part of the World Cup.

Germany's Miroslav Klose is the top scorer in World Cup history. He has 16 goals scored. In second place is the Brazilian Ronaldo with 15 goals. A complete list of the best goal scorers of the World Cup can be viewed.

The record holder for the number of matches played at the World Cup is the midfielder of the German national team Lothar Matthäus (25 games). Behind Matthäus is his compatriot Miroslav Klose (24 games). Closes the top three of the best Italian national team legend Paulo Maldini (23 games).