UEFA Euro 2012
| Mistrzostwa Europy w Piłce Nożnej 2012 (in Polish) Чемпіонат Європи з футболу 2012 (in Ukrainian) | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=logo} Razem tworzymy przyszłość (Creating the Future Together) Творимо історію разом (Creating History Together) | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Poland Ukraine |
| Dates | 8 June – 1 July |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venues | 8 (in 8 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Spain (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Italy |
| Third place |  Portugal Germany[1] |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 76 (2.45 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,440,896 (46,481 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Mario Mandžukić Mario Gómez Mario Balotelli Cristiano Ronaldo Alan Dzagoev Fernando Torres(3 goals each) |
| Best player | Andrés Iniesta |
← 2008 2016 → | |
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 July 2012, was co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine (both first time hosts), and was won by Spain, who beat Italy in the final at the Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine.[2]
Poland and Ukraine's bid was chosen by the UEFA Executive Committee on 18 April 2007.[3] The two host teams qualified automatically while the remaining 14 finalists were decided through a qualifying competition, featuring 51 teams, from August 2010 to November 2011. This was the last European Championship to employ the 16-team finals format in use since 1996; from Euro 2016 onward, it was expanded to 24 finalists.
Euro 2012 was played at eight venues, four in each host country. Five new stadiums were built for the tournament, and the hosts invested heavily in improving infrastructure such as railways and roads at UEFA's request. Euro 2012 set attendance records for the 16-team format, for the highest aggregate attendance (1,440,896) and average per game (46,481).
Spain became the first and to date only team to win two consecutive European Championships, and also three straight major tournaments (Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012).[4] Spain had already gained entry to the 2013 Confederations Cup by winning the World Cup, so runners-up Italy qualified instead. As at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, both 2012 host nations were eliminated in the group stage.
Six players ended on a total of 3 goals, but because Fernando Torres made an assist and played the fewest minutes of those players, he was named as the Golden Boot winner for the tournament.[5]
Bid process
[edit source]The hosting of the event was initially contested by five bids representing seven countries: Croatia–Hungary, Greece, Italy, Poland–Ukraine, and Turkey.[6] In November 2005, after an initial consideration of the bid data by UEFA, both the Greek and Turkish bids were eliminated from the process, to leave three candidates.[7]
In May 2006, this was followed by a second round of the selection process, which included visits by UEFA to all candidates.[8] The final decision was due to be announced on 8 December 2006 in Nyon, but this was postponed to "give bidding associations more time for the fine-tuning of their bids".[9] On 18 April 2007, the Poland–Ukraine bid was chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee, at a meeting in Cardiff.[3] It was the first time UEFA awarded the tournament organization to the former Eastern Bloc since Yugoslavia in 1976.[10]
Poland–Ukraine became the third successful joint bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium–Netherlands (2000) and Austria–Switzerland (2008). Their bid received an absolute majority of votes, and was therefore announced the winner, without requiring a second round. Italy, which received the remaining votes,[3] had been considered favourites to win the hosting, but incidents of fan violence and a match-fixing scandal were widely cited as factors behind their failure.[11][12][13]
There were some later alterations from the initial bid plan, regarding the venues, before UEFA confirmed the eight host cities in 2009.[14][15] During the preparation process in Poland and Ukraine, UEFA repeatedly expressed concern about their preparation to host the event, with different candidates reported as being alternative hosts if they did not improve;[16][17] however, in the end, UEFA affirmed their selection.[18]
Qualification
[edit source]The draw for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying competition took place at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw on 7 February 2010.[19][20] Fifty-one teams entered to compete for the fourteen remaining places in the finals, alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine. The teams were divided into nine groups, with the draw using the new UEFA national team coefficient for the first time in order to determine the seedings. As defending champions, Spain was automatically top-seeded. The qualifying process began in August 2010 and concluded in November 2011. At the conclusion of the qualifying group stage in October 2011, the nine group winners qualified automatically, along with the highest ranked second placed team. The remaining eight second-placed teams contested two-legged play-offs, and the four winners qualified for the finals.[21]
Twelve of the sixteen finalists participated at the previous tournament in 2008. England and Denmark made their return to the Euro after missing out on 2008, while Republic of Ireland returned after a twenty-four-year absence to make their second appearance at a European Championship. One of the co-hosts, Ukraine, made their debut as an independent nation (before 1992 Ukraine participated as part of the Soviet Union). With the exception of Serbia – according to UEFA's ranking at the end of the qualifying stage – Europe's sixteen highest-ranked teams all qualified for the tournament.
Romania and Turkey were the only teams failing to qualify for the final tournament after qualifying to UEFA Euro 2008. (Austria and Switzerland also failed to qualify, but, as hosts of the previous tournament, they did not need to take part in qualifying.)
As of 2024, this was the last time Greece qualified for the European Championship finals, and the last time Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey failed to qualify.
Qualified teams
[edit source]The following sixteen teams qualified for the finals:[22]
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament[A] |
|---|---|---|---|
 Poland | Co-host | 18 April 2007 | 1 (2008) |
 Ukraine | 0 (debut) | ||
| Germany[B] | Group A winner | 2 September 2011 | 10 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
| Italy | Group C winner | 6 September 2011 | 7 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
 Netherlands | Group E winner | 6 September 2011 | 8 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
| Spain | Group I winner | 6 September 2011 | 8 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
 England | Group G winner | 7 October 2011 | 7 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) |
| Russia[C] | Group B winner | 11 October 2011 | 9 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008) |
 France | Group D winner | 11 October 2011 | 7 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
 Greece | Group F winner | 11 October 2011 | 3 (1980, 2004, 2008) |
 Denmark | Group H winner | 11 October 2011 | 7 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) |
 Sweden | Best runner-up | 11 October 2011 | 4 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
| Croatia | Play-off winner | 15 November 2011 | 3 (1996, 2004, 2008) |
 Czech Republic[D] | Play-off winner | 15 November 2011 | 7 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
| Portugal | Play-off winner | 15 November 2011 | 5 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
 Republic of Ireland | Play-off winner | 15 November 2011 | 1 (1988) |