Semi-final matches will be held for the 16th time in the 17th European championships. For the 11th time, the semi-finalists obtained this right with their performances in the final stage.
Idman.biz has reviewed the European championships history and the record holders of semi-finals.
In the first 5 championships, the final stage started directly from the semi-finals. In 1980, there were no semi-final games. The group winners were called directly to the finals.
The team that has played in the most semi-finals so far is Germany. Bundesteam played in the final stage of the continental competition for the 14th time and played in the semi-finals 8 times. The record holder, who last played at this stage in 2016, has not been able to enter the first "4th" for 3 consecutive championships.
The teams of France, Spain, and the Netherlands will play in the semi-finals for the 6th time. Like them, Italy and Portugal have played in this stage 5 times so far, but this time they gave up their claim early and saved their 6th attempt for the next championship. The British will experience their 4th semi-final in Germany.
USSR, who played in the semi-finals 5 times, has lost the opportunity to increase this statistic since the country collapsed more than 30 years ago. However, the Soviet team has several unique records in continental championships. The team, which did not concede even 1 goal in 5 semi-finals, kept a clean sheet in all semi-finals in the first 4 European championships consecutively (1960-1972).
No other team has reached the semifinals 4 times in a row. Germany has experienced 3 consecutive semi-finals twice (1988-1996, 2008-2016).
The team with the most names from the semi-finals to the final is Germany - 5 times. However, the team that solves this issue the most in 90 minutes is the USSR. The Soviet team won 4 times in 90 minutes, and the only defeat was in 1968, when it ended 0:0, with the help of lots.
The Germans won 3 of the 5 semi-final victories, 1 in overtime, and 1 in penalties. Spain won 1 of the 4 victories, 1 in extra time, 2 in penalties, Italy 1 in regular time, 2 in penalties, 1 in the draw.
The biggest penalty shootout in the semi-finals is in Spain. The Pyrenees won 2 out of 3 series. Italy was successful in both attempts, while the Netherlands missed both "lottery" chances.
Although Italy reached the final in 2 out of 5 semi-finals, they failed to score in these matches. In these games, they were helped once by the draw and once by penalties. Mario Balotelli scored the first goal of the Italians in the semi-finals in the 4th attempt (2012).
The Netherlands is the team whose path is blocked the most in one step of the final. At this stage, the "Oranges" stopped their way in 4 out of 5 attempts. Germans lost the most in 90 minutes - 3 times.
In general, 19 teams have played in the semi-finals so far.
At this stage, Germany is the leader in the number of goals with 15 balls. Bundesteam conceded the most balls - 14. This team has scored in all 8 semi-finals.
Only the USSR won a major victory over Czechoslovakia (1960) and Denmark (1964). Both games ended with a score of 3:0.
The most goals were scored in the game where Yugoslavia beat France 5:4 in the first championship.
The scorers of the semi-finals are Soviet football player Valentin Ivanov and German Dieter Muller. If Ivanov did it in two championships (1960 – 2 goals, 1964 – 1 goal), Muller did it in one game. In the 1976 semi-final against the Yugoslavs, the German football player, who appeared in the 80th minute, scored a hat-trick 1 minute later, and 2 goals in extra time.
Vugar Mammadov
Idman.biz
