European Championship Qualifier (1962-present)

Competition:
European Championship Qualifier
Period:
1962-present
Notes:
The competition, first held in France in 1960 under the name the European Nations Cup, quickly evolved into one of international football’s most prestigious tournaments. England, alongside notable absentees such as West Germany and Italy, declined to take part in that inaugural edition. In its early years, only the semi‑finals and final were staged in the host nation, with the preceding rounds played on a home‑and‑away basis.
England entered the tournament for the first time in 1962 but were beaten 6–3 on aggregate by France. Their second attempt in 1968 proved more successful: after topping the 1967–68 British Home Championship, which doubled as a qualifying group, they defeated Spain 3–1 on aggregate in the quarter‑final to reach the finals in Italy. There, they were edged out 1–0 by Yugoslavia in the semi‑final before beating the Soviet Union in the third‑place play‑off.
England then missed out on the next two tournaments but returned in 1980, the first edition to feature an expanded eight‑team finals, narrowly falling short of a semi‑final place in Italy. Their best performance of the 20th century came at Euro ’96 on home soil, where they reached the semi‑finals but lost on penalties to Germany.
Qualification failures followed at times – most notably in 2008, costing Steve McClaren his job as manager. However, England returned strongly: the Euro 2016 campaign saw them record a perfect 100% record in qualifying, although the finals ended in disappointment with a shock defeat to Iceland in the Round of 16.
England achieved their first European Championship final at Euro 2020 (played in 2021 due to the COVID‑19 pandemic), beating Germany and Denmark en route before losing to Italy at Wembley on penalties. At Euro 2024 in Germany, England again went deep into the competition, progressing past Switzerland and the Netherlands before falling to Spain in the final – their second consecutive European Championship runners‑up finish.

Matches by Type

  • Home, Away or Neutral
  • Played
  • Won
  • Drawn
  • Lost
  • For
  • Against
  • Home 58 42 11 5 157 26
  • Away 56 36 14 6 119 41
  • Neutral 2 1 1 0 4 1
    • Total
    • 116
    • 79
    • 26
    • 11
    • 280
    • 68

    Most Caps in European Championship Qualifying Matches

    Most Goals in European Championship Qualifying Matches

    Sources

    • 468 sources from 116 matchesSelect from match list to see sources.

    Match List