Following the excitement of the 2018 World Cup, European football fans were desperately excited for the 2020 European Championships, but none anticipated the tournament more than England and France.
After a great World Cup with England, with their best performance at a major tournament in almost 20 years, manager Gareth Southgate had become a hero and many were confident of a great showing in the upcoming Euro 2020.
France on the other hand, had of course won the World Cup, as French football fans were hoping for the double to spark an era of French dominance to follow the Spanish dynasty that had since begun to wane.
But as 2020 rolled around, the Covid-19 pandemic brought everything to an abrupt halt. The year came and went, with lockdowns across the globe preventing any notion of a major international tournament.
Amidst concerns of a ghost tournament that would never be, the competition was delayed a year, as it was announced it would take place from June 11th through to July 11th.
30 days of Euro action to help distract the football world from a torrid year of very real-world problems.
UEFA carefully planned the tournament to ensure the safety of players, fans, and both coaching staff and event staff. Even though there were fears of a fanless tournament, UEFA even allowed spectators albeit at a reduced capacity to allow for adequate social distancing.
Venues Across the Continent
Aside from the changes in lieu of the pandemic, Euro 2020 was different to its predecessors for another reason. This edition was pan-European. Instead of being hosted by a single nation, the tournament was spread across 11 cities in 11 different countries.
This innovative approach allowed fans from all over the continent to be part of the celebration. The host cities included Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Budapest, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Munich, and Rome.
After 3 years of waiting, the tournament finally began on June 11, 2021, with an opening match at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, where Italy faced Turkey.
The opening half of the long-awaited first game was a cagey affair, but after what was surely a rousing speech from manager Roberto Mancini, Italy came out the second half swinging, landing multiple hits before Insigne delivered the knockout blow, as Italy demolished Turkey 3-0 with 3 goals in the space of 23 minutes.
The Group Stages
Turkey would prove to be Group A’s punching bag, as come the end of their third and final group game, they sat rock bottom without a single point, managing a single consolation goal all tournament.
As the best four 3rd placed teams also went through, the other two teams of Switzerland and Wales profited from Turkey’s poor showing, both finishing on 4 points behind a rampant Italy that won all three games, scoring 7 goals without conceding any.
The Swiss finished behind Wales on goal difference, but four points was enough to see them enter the knockout round.
Group B was by far the most hotly contested of the lot. Once again the group favourites ran away with first place, Belgium won all three games, but Finland, Denmark and Russia all finished the first stage on three points, a goal difference delta of 6 separating 2nd from 4th.
It started so well for Finland, opening with a 1-0 win over Denmark, but there was little cause to celebrate as this good start was marred by drama and tragedy.
With 42 minutes gone, Cristian Eriksen was waiting to receive the ball from a throw-in when he suddenly collapsed. The play immediately stopped, as Danish players knew something was horribly wrong.
The national team shielded Eriksen from the camera feed to give him privacy while he was treated by medical staff. Thankfully, Eriksen was seen conscious as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher, despite the fact that he needed chest compressions and the use of a defibrillator.
The midfielder had suffered a cardiac arrest, his heart completely stopped, and the midfielder was dead for four minutes.
Thanks to the quick action of both the medical staff and Simon Kjaer the midfielder made a full recovery and was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) to shock his heart back into a regular rhythm should the same happen again.
Both Finland and Denmark fans chanted his name while they waited 90 minutes for the game to eventually resume upon the insistence of both sides.
Action resumed, and Finland won 1-0, though the loss mattered little to Denmark.
The Danes would eventually go through, a 4-1 thrashing of Russia giving them the goal difference boost to finish second, while 3rd place Finland just missed out on making it through as one of the best 3rd-placed teams.
In Group C, the Netherlands became the 3rd team in a row to win all 3 group games comfortably beating Austria and plucky underdogs North Macedonia, while they narrowly beat Ukraine in a 3-2 thriller.
Austria did well to finish second on points while Ukraine scraped into the next round thanks to a single goal, at the expense of Finland.
After 3 high-scoring groups, Group D changed things up by being dull as dishwater.
A cagey 1-0 win over Croatia saw England start with a win, Sterling grabbing the only goal of the game, while Scotland were torn apart by a talismanic Patrick Schick as the striker grabbed a brace that included a spectacular effort from the halfway line.
England could then only muster a 0-0 draw against rivals Scotland before the Scot’s misery was compounded by a 3-1 loss to Croatia.
England ended up top, beating Czech Republic 1-0, another Sterling goal, and the two Eastern European sides finished level on points and goal difference.
In the final two groups, Sweden shocked everyone by finishing top, ahead of Spain, while the Spanish recorded the competition’s biggest win: A 5-0 drubbing of Slovakia.
The final group, the group of death made up of Germany, Portugal, France and Hungary almost saw an even bigger upset, as up until the 84th minute, Hungary were poised to knock the Germans out until a Goretzka equaliser sent the brave Huns packing.
Action Packed Knockouts
Defending champions Portugal were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Belgium in a tight 1-0 win. The solace of Cristiano Ronaldo becoming the tournament’s all-time leading goal scorer provided little solace in what was assumedly the striker’s penultimate major tournament.
But the biggest shock of them all came against the world champions, France, was eliminated by Switzerland in a thrilling penalty shootout, after an incredible Swiss fightback from 3-1 down.
Then in another nailbiter of a match, Spain needed extra time to overcome Croatia in a game that featured 8 goals, including a 91st-minute equaliser.
Meanwhile, Denmark rebounded from their sobering Group stage to hammer Wales 4-0, doing Eriksen proud.
And there were still other great games of football in the first knockout round, with Ukraine scoring a 121st-minute winner with Dovbyk to send Sweden packing, while the Czech Republic upset the Netherlands.
Finally, England got one over on their old arch-rivals Germany thanks to two late goals from Harry Kane, and Raheem Sterling, who by now was well and truly proving his critics wrong.
The Round of 16 had been the best knockout round in the tournament’s history, possibly the best across all major international tournament history, but the Quarter-Finals were considerably less dramatic.
An underwhelming Spain edged out Switzerland in another penalty shoot-out, the game finishing 1-1 after extra-time.
A fast-paced frenetic first half between Italy and Belgium that saw 3 goals in the final 15 minutes of the half, failed to continue in the same fashion and finished 2-1 to Italy.
England trounced Ukraine 4-0, while the most interesting story came in the form of the tournament protagonists, Denmark ending Czechia’s great run and progressing to the Semi-finals for the first time since they won the whole thing at Euro 1992.
The Final Three Games: Too Close For Comfort
England faced the high-spirited Denmark in the semi-finals. The match was a close-fought contest, with Damsgaard getting the Danes off to a roaring start, whipping a fierce, wonderful free-kick past Pickford from 30 metres out, Damsgaard putting the might of Denmark behind the strike.
England were a little shell-shocked initially but did well to recover, equalising through a quick break that saw Kjaer turn the ball into his own net.
The game stayed close, going the distance with neither side able to be separated as yet another knockout game went to extra time.
When the deadlock was finally broken, it was in contentious circumstances. England’s man of the tournament Raheem Sterling broke into the box, dancing past 2 defenders as he cut inside. As Maehle stuck a foot out, Sterling went down, the referee calling for a penalty.
It was a complete dive, saying this as an Englishman, It was genuinely hard for me to feel proud or happy about the outcome of the game, Denmark deserved better.
Kane stepped up and saw his kick saved heroically by Schmeichel, it looked to be the Hollywood moment, but his save could only palm it back into Kane’s path, who had an unmissable chance.
Denmark were so so close, and gave England as good a game as any, but fell to gut-wrenching circumstances.
Italy vs. Spain also went the distance, this tie between two giants going to penalties, Spain choking in the shootout losing 4-2.
The final was a tense affair, with multiple big moments of drama, culminating in one of the craziest penalty shootouts in international tournament history, despite the fact that only 5 were taken on each side.
In the end, Italy were victorious, England’s loss perhaps karmic for the manner in which they progressed against Denmark.
Italy’s victory in the Euro 2020 final marked their second European Championship title, with their previous win coming in 1968.
