Top 10 Euros Finals Goals

Here we take a look at the top 10 European Championship finals goals of all time as we edge towards the finale of Euro 2020 at Wembley on Sunday.

The Euro 2016 final served up perhaps one of the drabbest finals to date. Portugal were battling hard against home nation France following a first-half injury to their captain and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and really at this point, a France win should’ve been a foregone conclusion.

But, following stern defensive displays from the likes of Pepe for Portugal, Fernando Santos’ side stayed firm and up stepped Swansea striker Eder in the 109th minute in extra time, who drove home a long-range strike past Hugo Lloris into the bottom left corner of the goal past a helpless Hugo Lloris to win Portugal their first-ever major footballing trophy.

It is a rarity that Germany lose a penalty shootout, but, the Euro 1976 final was one of the few occasions that they did. Having drawn the match 2-2 after extra time, Ladislav Jurkemik’s penalty put them 4-3 up against Germany, before Uli Hoeneß failed to convert his from the spot, giving Antonin Panenka the chance to win the Czech Republic of all teams the European Championship.

The Red Star Stadium in Belgrade held its breath and Panenka ran up and scored one of the most audacious and notable penalties in the history of football. As his name suggests, he did Panenka penalty down the middle of the goal past Sepp Maier in the net for Germany who could only watch as the Panenka penalty was introduced against him and history was made.

As mentioned above, Marco Delvecchio scored Italy’s goal in the Euro 2000 final, which was the first of one of his four strikes in 22 appearances for the Azzurri between 1998 and 2004. At this point in his career, Delvecchio was an established striker and started regularly for Roma and showed why when slotting away a clinical Italian move, following a backheel by Francesco Totti that split the France defence, which lead to Gianluca Pessotto drilling an inviting cross across the six-yard box in mid-air, which saw Delvecchio smash the ball into the back of the net past Fabian Barthez to give his side the lead in the 55th minute.

Scoring your first goal is usually a moment to remember and to do so in a final is even more remarkable, but, unfortunately for Delvecchio, this was the peak of his international career, having been denied by a matter of seconds from scoring the winner at Euro 2000 by Wiltord of France.

The Euro 2000 final is up there as the most dramatic to date, as Italy took the lead through Marco Delvecchio just before the hour mark and had looked to have won the match, but for a 94th-minute equaliser by Sylvain Wiltord of Arsenal to deny them of a first Euros win since 1968.

What made this game even more painful for the Italians, was the fact that Golden Goal in extra time was around and had previously won Germany Euro 96 at the expense of the Czech Republic and the same was about to happen to them, as a cross in from the left-wing from Robert Pires was met by David Trezeguet in the 103rd minute who thumped a shot into the roof of the net and removed his shirt in celebration as France had won the tournament.

At Euro 2012, Spain came into the tournament as favourites having won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. These two sides had previously met on matchday one in Group C and had drawn 1-1, and many expected a tight affair once again. However, Spain thumped Italy 4-0 in what is the widest winning margin in European Championship finals history.

A goal that is perhaps forgotten about in the midst of all this is David Silva’s sublime opener which was a typical Spain goal at the time, which involved an incisive pass from Andreas Iniesta into a channel down the right-hand side which split the Italian defence and saw Cesc Fabregas drive past Giorgio Chiellini and hammer a ball across goal at head height which Silva met as sweet as a nut on his forehead and directed it perfectly into the top right-hand corner of the goal.

Another goal from the Euro 2012 final has made the cut and it was Spain’s second of the match by Jordi Alba of all people. The Barcelona full-back made a marauding run following some neat play by Spain and was picked out by an exquisite trademark pass from Xavi and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon with ease and ultimately set Vicente Del Bosque’s side on their way to back-to-back European Championship triumphs.

The Euro 1992 final saw one of the biggest shocks in European Championship history, as unfancied Denmark took on Germany, having previously beaten the holders the Netherlands on penalties in semi-finals. John Jensen scored a scorcher in the 18th minute of the game in Gothenburg, hammering a strike into the top right corner of the net past Bodo Illgner in the German goal to put the Danes on their way to a 2-0 win.

What might make this goal even more remarkable to some, is that Arsenal signed Jensen off the back of this to replace club legend David Rocastle, but it soon became evident that this was a one-off goal, as the former Brondby man scored just one goal in 99 league matches for Arsenal before returning back to his homeland.

Greece were 150/1 to win Euro 2004 heading into the competition in Portugal but fought against all odds, knocking out Spain in the group stages France in the round of 16, before beating Portugal not once, but twice in the competition, having beaten them 2-1 in Group A thanks to goals from Giorgos Karagounis and Angelos Basinas on matchday one.

In the final history repeated itself, as in the 57th minute Basinas’ right-wing corner was met by Angelos Charisteas who met the ball at the near post and bulleted a header past Ricardo in the Portugal goal, following some slack defending from Ricardo Carvalho and Jorge Andrade on the set-piece. What makes this goal incredible is perhaps not the quality of it, but the goal which we all remember as being the one that won an underdog in Greece the Euros against all odds.

For this next goal, we go all the way back to Euro 1968 when Italy last won the tournament, following a replay with Yugoslavia. The initial match in Rome had finished 1-1 just two days earlier, thanks to a late equaliser by Inter Milan forward Angelo Domenghini. But the replay which was also played at the Stadio Olimpico saw a much easier outcome for the Italian’s as they ran out as 2-0 winners.

What stood out in this match was Pietro Anastasi’s sensational ball control, swivel and volley combination for Italy’s second goal which was so good that Juventus in the same year went out and paid a world-record fee of 650m Lire to sign him from Varese.

This goal is perhaps the most notable of them all in terms of the greatest goal to be scored in European Championship.

What makes this goal so iconic is the impossible angle of which Van Basten scores the volley from, as the three-time European Footballer of the Year volley the ball from near the by-line on the right-wing straight into the far top corner of the USSR goal. The Dutch forward put his insane technique down to his time trying to become a gymnast before his football days as it helped his flexibility and agility to pull off such audacious goals.