The 16e edition of the European Nations Championship is finally launching this summer, with a delay of one year due to the health crisis. But that did not reduce his interest, quite the contrary. With an audience that should once again populate the stadiums, the event is not lacking in stakes, beyond the final victory. Whether it’s personal bests or a place to take in history, here are 5 issues that will punctuate the competition.
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France among the most successful nations?
The Blues are aiming for a very select club this summer: to join Germany and Spain among the most successful nations on the continent, with three victories each. The French, who have won the tournament twice, in 1984 and then in 2000, have already grasped this opportunity: it was five years ago, during the last edition, and this sad final lost at home against Portugal (0-1, ap). It was the first time that France lost a final in the tournament. The Germans (3 finals lost) and the Spaniards (one) have also experienced a similar mishap in history.
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France and Portugal for a double
There will be another major stake for the Blues, that of succeeding again in the double World Cup-Euro. A feat that they were the first to achieve in history, by chaining the successes of 1998 and 2000. This performance has since been equaled and then surpassed by the great Spain of the 2010s, which achieved the Euro 2008-World treble 2010-Euro 2012. By winning Euro 2020, France would therefore kill two birds with one stone by consolidating its place among the great nations of continental football.
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France is not the only one, since Portugal is also aiming for a historic double. For the Lusitanians, there is first in play a 2e A major international trophy, which is available to most of the major countries on a continental scale (Germany, Spain, France, Italy). But there is also the possibility of imitating the Spanish neighbor by becoming the 2e team in history to keep its title after La Roja, winner in 2008 and 2012.
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Belgium, England: will we have a new winner?
The club of the winners of major international competitions is a closed circle, in which new members are only rarely invited. This is mainly the case in the World Cup (21 editions for 8 different winners), a little less for the Euro (15 editions for 10 different winners), which in particular had two new winners in the last four editions (Greece 2004 , Portugal 2016). Can the 2021 edition once again consecrate a new nation? In relation to their dynamics and the forces involved, two teams seem to be able to claim it: England and Belgium.
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The Belgians, whose trajectory has been ascending for nearly a decade, hope that their golden generation (Courtois, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Hazard) will be rewarded, after the disappointment of 2016 and 2018 when they were among the big favorites. They only played one Euro final, lost against the FRG in 1980. As for the British, returned in 2018 in the last four of a major competition for the first time since 1996, they hope to capitalize on a generation rising (Rashford, Mount, Foden …) to offer their audience a 2e international trophy (only). England, the nation to have taken part in the largest number of editions of the Euro (9) without ever having won the title or even played in the final, will welcome the final four of this 2021 edition at Wembley.
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CR7 can join Casillas … and overtake Platini
It is not only the nations which aim for records, since certain individuals could take advantage of this Euro to consolidate their place in the history books. This is the case of Cristiano Ronaldo, who alone could bring down two very symbolic records. The Portuguese, who already holds the record for minutes (1,793) and matches played in a Euro (21), can join Iker Casillas, the only player so far to have taken part in a European championship 5 times. Another record and not the least for CR7, that of the number of goals scored, which he currently shares with Michel Platini (9). A small goal, and he would be alone in the ranking of historic scorers in this competition.
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Mannschaft is square
Other more “secondary” records will be at stake. Among the nations, Germany, which has not won the competition since 1996, will aim for a 4e crown in order to occupy the head of the prize list alone. In the event of a semi-final, the Mannschaft would also become the 2e nation in history to reach the last four in 4 consecutive editions (after 2008, 2012 and 2016), which only the Soviet Union managed to do (in 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972).
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On the players side, Sergio Ramos also played his place in the history books. The Spaniard could become the first player to win the Euro 3 times, and he also had his sights set on the record for the number of matches won (11), held by his compatriots Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas (currently 10). But the defender of Real Madrid, not sufficiently in form, is not among the players selected by the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique.
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