Italy set new record for longest EURO winning run
Friday 9 July 2021
Article summary
Italy's 2-1 quarter-final defeat of Belgium was the team's 15th consecutive EURO victory, qualifying included – a new record for the competition.
Article top media content
Article body
Italy established a new record for the longest winning sequence in the UEFA European Championship, qualifying included, after securing their 15th consecutive victory in the competition against Belgium.
The two teams went into their Munich quarter-final both level with the previous landmark, established by Joachim Löw's Germany when they won all ten of their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers as well as their first three group matches and their quarter-final at the tournament in Poland and Ukraine. They then lost to Italy in the last four.
Belgium and Italy both reached UEFA EURO 2020 with unblemished records: ten wins out of ten. Subsequently, the pair won all three of their group games before adding another victory in the first knockout round to set up their last-eight showdown. The Azzurri ultimately streaked clear, also equalling the records for most consecutive wins at the finals and most wins in a single final tournament, before their winning run was ended in the semi-final against Spain – a tie in which they nevertheless prevailed on penalties.
EURO's longest winning runs (qualifying and final tournaments combined)
15 Italy (23/03/19 – 06/07/2021)
14 Germany (03/09/10 – 22/06/12)
14 Belgium (21/03/19 – 27/06/21)
12 France (25/06/00 – 13/06/04)
10 Czech Republic (06/09/98 – 09/10/99)
10 Spain (26/06/08 – 11/10/11)
10 England (08/09/14 – 12/10/15)
10 Spain (12/10/14 – 17/06/16)
Most consecutive wins (final tournaments only)
5 France (12/06/84 – 27/06/84)
5 Netherlands (15/06/88 – 12/06/92)
5 Czech Republic (21/06/00 – 27/06/04)
5 Italy (11/06/21 – 06/07/2021)
Most wins in one tournament
5 France (1984, out of 5)
5 France (2000, out of 6)
5 Spain (2008, out of 6)
5 France (2016, out of 7)
5 Italy (2020, out of 7)
5 England (2020, out of 7)