What are the Euros? First off, we’re talking about soccer (or football), not the currency. If you’d rather read about money, we recommend this article. The Euros, in soccer terms, is the informal term for the UEFA European Football Championship. (UEFA stands for the Union of European Football Associations.) Held every four years, the month-long tournament crowns one nation as the continental champion. Because most of the world’s soccer powerhouses that are not located in South America are located in Europe, the Euros are the next best thing to the World Cup. In fact, it is the second most-watched soccer tournament in the world after the World Cup. Here are 10 other numbers to provide a little framework.
1960
The year of the first tournament, won by the Soviet Union.
3
The most championships won. The honor is shared by Germany (1972 as West Germany, 1980 as West Germany, 1996) and Spain (1964, 2008, 2012).
55
The number of teams that are eligible to qualify for the tournament. This number is greater than the number of countries in Europe. The discrepancy owes itself in part to the participation of Gibraltar, the Faroe Islands, Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland as independent entities. Furthermore, certain countries that toe the line between Europe and Asia are eligible, with examples including Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Finally, outliers such as Kazakhstan and Israel are in the mix.
24
The number of teams that actually qualify for the tournament. The teams are divided into six groups of four, with each team playing the other three teams in its group once. The top two teams in each group and the four best third place teams (16 teams total) then advance to a single-elimination phase that determines the champion.
51
The total number of matches that are played during the tournament.
11
The number of cities hosting matches in the “2020” tournament, played in 2021 due to a coronavirus-related delay. The list includes Amsterdam, Baku (Azerbaijan), Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Munich, Rome, St. Petersburg, and Seville.
600 million
The approximate number of global viewers who watched at least some of the 2016 final between Portugal and France (won by Portugal).
99.8
The percent of TV viewers in Iceland who watched the country defeat England in the 2016 tournament. That means only 0.2 percent of TVs that were turned on in Iceland during the match were tuned in to something else.
2.13 billion
The revenue in U.S. dollars generated by the tournament in 2016.
Many million
The number of Americans who will have no idea the tournament is occurring and/or complain that there’s not enough scoring in soccer.
Assuming you made it this far and didn’t get sidetracked by the article about the currency, go ahead and tune in to the Euros. Then, after you watch a 0-0 tie, you can switch to the NBA playoffs.
4 Responses
Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising) have never watched the Euros before !
I need to watch some too….sounds like a great reason to find a patio bar.
Yes, these sporting events are a great excuse to locate the nearest patio bar!
That can change…maybe at a patio bar as recommended in the comments!