8 Biggest Teams to Never Win the Euros (Ranked)

This summer, the European Football Championship celebrated its 17th anniversary, and it was a tournament full of incredible performances and games. In its history, some of the biggest nations on the continent have got their hands on the trophy, but there are a significant number of teams who have yet to do so. This article now ranks the eight biggest countries to not win the Euros.

Ranking factors

To select them, we decided to use a number of criteria, including:

• How many times they reached the group stages
• Number of appearances in the semi-finals or final

But before we begin, it’s important to remember that the Euro formula has evolved over the years. Which is why we’d like to take you back in time.

From 1960 to 1976, only four teams took part in the final phase of the competition (semi-finals, third-place play-off and final). As the popularity of the event grew, UEFA decided to increase the number of participating nations to eight from 1980 to 1992, then to 16 from 1996 to 2012, and finally to 24 from 2016.

8 Russia

Although it played its first match in 1992, a year after the collapse of the USSR, the Russian national team competed in its first Euro under its own colours – some Russian players played in the competition under the flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States team in 1992 – in 1996.

It was a first-round exit that was to become almost customary for the Sbornaia, who had gone out at this stage of the competition in five of their six appearances at a European Championship finals. And although they have only made it past this stage once, they came very close to springing a surprise.

In 2008, Guus Hiddink’s team came through Group D (Spain, Greece and Sweden), before eliminating the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, however, his reunion with La Roja did not go so well, as the Russians were soundly beaten 3-0 by the eventual winners. Excluded from the competition because of the military invasion of Ukraine, Russia will have to wait a little longer before returning to the pitch at a European football championship.

7 Turkey

Like Russia, Turkey had to wait until 1996 to take part in their first European Championship. Although they were eliminated in the first round, the experience they gained helped them reach the quarter-finals four years later, but they were finally knocked out by Portugal and a Nuno Gomes brace at the Amsterdam Arena.

Absent from the 2004 edition, the team with the crescent and star made a remarkable comeback in 2008, delivering a masterful performance against the Czech Republic in a crucial quarter-final. Trailing by two goals going into the final quarter of an hour, the team-mates of Nihat Kahveci, scorer of a double that evening, managed to turn the situation around and continue an adventure that took them all the way to the semi-finals, where they eventually fell to Germany.

6 Sweden

One of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s biggest regrets will surely be the fact that he was never able to bring home a single title for the Swedish national team. Unlucky semi-finalists at their first-ever European Championship in 1992, the Blagult side went on to take part in every edition between 2000 and 2020.

But after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, the Swedes also failed to book their ticket to Germany. A real under-performance given the pool of young talent available to the Scandinavian team, but perhaps too uneven in terms of line-by-line analysis.

5 Hungary

As explained in the table below, from 1960 to 1976 (inclusive), the quarter-finals, as well as the potential last 16, of the European Championship were played outside the tournament. The so-called “final phase”, on the other hand, only began at the semi-final stage. That’s why the history books only mention four major finals played by the Magyars.

After reaching the semi-finals in 1964 and 1972, Hungary had to wait until 2016 to take part in another European Championship. In France, the Red and Whites fell at the Round of 16 stage. They failed to repeat the feat in 2020, being eliminated at the group stage. In Germany next June, the Hungarian national team, armed with a number of talented players, intends to establish itself as a genuine outsider.

4 Czech Republic

Following the break-up of Czechoslovakia – winner of Euro 1976 – in 1993, the Czech national team was born in 1994. The Národní tým (the national team in Czech, Ed) has qualified for every final phase of the competition for which it has been eligible, even reaching the final of the tournament on its first appearance in 1996.

Beaten by Germany, they never repeated the same performance, although they did reach the semi-finals in 2004. However, in their 7 appearances (the 8th will be in 2024), the Czech Republic have only been knocked out in the first round once, in 2016.

3 Belgium

How frustrating it must be to support the Belgian national team. Despite having some very talented players for many years, they have never managed to win a single major footballing trophy. Apart from a gold medal at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920, the Red Devils have always suffered setbacks and disappointments.

Semi-finalists at the 1986 and 2018 World Cups and the 1972 European Championship, beaten in the final of the competition by West Germany eight years later, Belgium want to finally finish off their history and take advantage of the last dance of their golden generation to make their mark on the continental stage.

2 England

A case of deja vu for England happened at Euro 2024, as they failed at the final hurdle once again. A few years on from the heartbreaking defeat of the national team against Italy at Wembley in the final of Euro 2020, hope was more alive than ever. And with good reason.

In Germany, Gareth Southgate was able to count on one of the finest generations of English players in history as he attempted to bring a first continental title back to his homeland. Since 1960 and the first edition of the European Championship, the Three Lions had never lifted the Henri Delaunay Cup in 10 appearances at a final phase. After finding themselves back in the final once again, England tasted defeat thanks to a late Mikel Oyarzabal goal against Spain.

1 Yugoslavia

Although it played its last match on 25 March 1992 (after being disbanded and replaced by Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and, later, Serbia and Montenegro), the late Yugoslavia did make its mark on the history of the European Championship in its own way.

Involved in some of the greatest matches played in the competition, they never managed to reach the top step of the podium, failing on two occasions in the final (1960, 1968). In 5 appearances at a final phase, however, the team has never been eliminated before the quarter-finals – or in the first round when there were only 8 teams at the start of the tournament.