Euro-2012

Euro-2012

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament was hosted for the first time by Poland and Ukraine, between 8 June and 1 July 2012, after their bid was chosen by UEFA's Executive Committee in 2007. Euro 2012 set the record for both the highest aggregate attendance (1,440,896) and the highest average attendance per game (46,481) under the 16-team format (since 1996).

The final tournament featured 16 nations, the last European Championship to do so; from Euro 2016 onward, there will be 24 finalists. Qualification was contested by 51 nations between August 2010 and November 2011 to determine the remaining 14 finalists. The tournament was played across eight venues, four in each host country, five of which were newly built for the tournament. Aside from venues, the host nations have also invested heavily in improving infrastructure, such as railways and roads, at UEFA's request.

The tournament opened with a 1–1 draw between Poland and Greece at the National Stadium in Warsaw on 8 June 2012. The final match took place 23 days later on 1 July 2012 at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, where Spain defended their title with a 4–0 win over Italy. Spain became the first team to win two consecutive European Championships, and the first international team to win three straight major tournament titles (Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012). Since Spain had already gained entry to the 2013 Confederations Cup by winning the 2010 World Cup, the runners-up Italy qualified.

Euro 2012 was the second consecutive European Championship (after Euro 2008 held in Austria and Switzerland) in which neither of the hosts emerged from the group stage, as both Poland and Ukraine were eliminated.