EURO 2024 will officially kick off at 02:00 on June 15 (Vietnam time), with a match between Germany and Scotland. The home team Germany was rated higher for the victory, which was also a continuation of their unbeaten streak in the opening matches of EURO.
Let's look back at the results of the opening matches of 16 EURos held since 1960.
EURO 1960 (host France): France 4-5 Nam Tu
The match at the Prince's Park witnessed one of the most goalscored matches in the history of EURos. The first scorer was Milan Gallic of the old Nam Tu team.
EURO 1964 (host Spain): Spain 2-1 Hungary (after extra time)
Jesus Maria Pereda scored the first goal, but it was not until extra time that the finalists were determined (until 1976, the tournament had only four participating teams).
EURO 1968 (host Italy): Italy 0-0 Soviet Union (Italy won by issuing coins)
The only opening match without a goal and also because there is no penalty shootout, this is the only match that must determine the winner or loser by issuing coins.
EURO 1972 (host Belgium): Belgium 1-2 West Germany
Legendary Gerd Muller opened the scoring and was also the second person to score a double in a match at EURO.
EURO 1976 (host Nam Tu): Diep Khac 3-1 Netherlands (after extra time) and Nam Tu 2-4 Tay Duc
For the first time - and also the only time, the two opening matches took place at the same time and interestingly, the two opening goals both came in the 19th minute, Anton Ondrus scored for Tiep Khac and Danilo Popivoda scored for Nam Tu.
EURO 1980 (host Italy): Tiep Khac 0-1 West Germany
The final round increased to 8 teams but for the first time the home team did not play the opening match but was the defending champion.
EURO 1984 (host France): France 1-0 Denmark
The reopening match against the home team and legend Michel platini helped the French team win the opening match.
EURO 1988 (host West Germany): West Germany 1-1 Italy
The opening match in EURO history did not have the final winner or loser results because the tournament had entered the group stage format.
EURO 1992 (host Sweden): Sweden 1-1 France
The second match in the 3 consecutive opening matches has a score of 1-1.
EURO 1996 (host UK): England 1-1 Switzerland
EURO 1996 doubled the number of teams (16), but the opening match score remained unchanged from the previous two legs.
EURO 2000 (host Belgium-Netherlands): Belgium 2-1 Sweden
For the first time, an EURO final round will be hosted by two countries. Belgium and the Netherlands started well, but neither team reached the finish line.
EURO 2004 (host Portugal): Portugal 1-2 Greece
The match saw Cristiano Ronaldo debut and score at EURO, but the Portuguese team failed.
EURO 2008 (host Austria-Switland): Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic
Switzerland became the fifth home team to lose in the opening match.
EURO 2012 (host Poland-Ukraine): Poland 1-1 Greece
Robert Lewandowski described his "unimaginable" joy when scoring his first goal in the final round in front of his home crowd. But Poland still has only 1 point.
EURO 2016 (host France): France 2-1 Romania
The French team started smoothly but could not win the championship at home.
EURO 2020 (no host): Turkey 0-3 Italy
The tournament celebrates its 60th anniversary in many countries and has been postponed for 1 year due to COVID-19. The opening match of the tournament is also the match with the highest margin of victory in the opening matches.
