The Eurocup of selections, competition that was officially born in 1958 with the first qualifying match for the European Championship in 1960, has evolved until the seventeenth edition that is currently hosting, with a historic dominance of the German team, that shares the top of the record with Spain, with three titles each, and with ten countries conquering the championship.
The number of participating nations has grown significantly since the first edition took place. The dismemberment of Europe, the abolition of borders and economic interests have led to a gradual increase in the number of teams competing for it.
Because if in the edition of 1960, a total of 17 selections and there was a final phase that hosted France with the semifinals and the final, to this day they are 53 the participants and 24 the teams that will take part in the final phase of Germany in 2024. A) Yes, the number of teams that played it went from 17 in 1960 a 28 in 1964 and between 1968 Y 1992 were between 31 Y 33 the participants. at that stage, the final phase was considered a culmination and for this reason in the first five editions only four teams qualified for the final phase and in the following four 7.
The great leap took place with the edition of 1966 when it was expanded to 47 the number of participants. Since then, It has never dropped below that figure and has reached 55 competitors.
The increase in the number of participants has had its equivalent with an increase in the number of qualifiers for the final phase. because it was also in 1996 when a turning point was marked and it happened to 15 qualified for the final phase, number that has increased to 23 in the year 2016.
This increase in countries has also led to changes in the format. Because of the elimination system in the editions of 1960 Y 1964 moved to a group stage before the qualifiers (1968, 1972 Y 1976), and to a format of groups of 1980 a 1992. Since then a format has been followed that has combined groups and playoff except when in 2008 that playoff did not take place.
Regarding proper names of the selections, a USSR-Hungary before more than one hundred thousand spectators in Moscow and which ended with a local victory by 3-1 It went down in history as the first meeting of the first edition. And it was precisely the Soviet Union that was the first champion. It is the only title that today is attributed to Russia, one-time champion like the Czech Republic, Portugal, Netherlands, denmark and greece. Ahead of them appear in the historical list of winners Italy and France, with two titles each and Germany and Spain, with three conquests in each case.
It is the German team that has faced the most editions, a total of 13, what has led him to be the team with the most matches, a total of 53, and with more points (94) if we multiply by 3 every win and for 1 every draw. In that imaginary classification of points, Italy would be second with 81 points 10 editions and Spain third with 78 points 11 editions.
curiously, in the 'top 10' of that classification by points, nine of its teams have been proclaimed champions on some occasion. And only England, seventh on that list, he has not celebrated the title, although in the last edition he reached the final. The British team will try to break their spell in 2024 in Germany and starts in a position to do so because it is one of the favorites according to the betting odds in Tonybet. Those interested in learning more about this bookmaker can access aTonybet bookmaker reviewmade in Sportytrader, in which the propositions about the next Eurocup are not limited only to the champion, but also include bets on the winner of each group or the teams that will advance to the final phase.
