Euro 2016 : Records Made and Broken

The 2016 edition of the European Championships in France saw numerous exhilarating moments. Here’s a list of some of those moments that will go down in the footballing history books:

Record-Breaking Champions:

Portugal tasted European glory for the first time in their history when they became the Euro 2016 Champions by defeating tournament favourites France 1-0 at the end of extra time. Lille striker Eder scored the winner as Portugal ended their embarrassing run of 10 straights defeats to France, who had eliminated Portugal in the semi-finals of Euro 1984, Euro 2000 and World Cup 2006.

Also, Portugal are now the first ever team to have won a Euro without winning a single game in the first round. By defeating France in the final, Portugal won their 3rd match in extra time, after playing out to a 6th draw in 7 games at Euro 2016, the most by any Champion in Euro history.

Highest Goal-Scorer in Euro History:

Cristiano Ronaldo added yet another feather to his cap by equaling French maestro Michel Platini’s record of being the leading goal-scorer in the elite European competition. The Portuguese forward took his tally in the Euros to 8 following the brace he scored in the match against Hungary in the group stage and netted his record-equaling 9th goal by heading home in the 50th minute in the 2-0 semi-final win over Wales.

Smallest nation:

Iceland, who had their first ever outing in a major tournament, eclipsed the Netherlands to become the smallest nation to qualify for the European tournament. Harboring a population of just 3,30,000, the tiny country’s national team had a terrific qualifying campaign that included home and away wins against European heavyweight, the Netherlands. Iceland were the surprise package in Euro 2016, finishing 2nd in their group ahead of Portugal and Austria. They also caused the upset of the tournament by defeating England in the Round-of-16.

Most Appearances:

Cristiano Ronaldo became the player with the maximum number appearances in Euro history in the group stage match against Hungary. Ronaldo broke the previous record for most appearances, jointly held by former France defender Lillian Thuram and former Holland goal-keeper Edwin Van Der Sar, when he featured for the 17th time in Portuguese colors in the Euros against Hungary. Ronaldo now has a total of 21 Euro appearances.

Youngest Portuguese Player:

Bayern Munich’s teenage sensation Renato Sanches had a memorable debut as he became the youngest player ever to feature in a major tournament for Portugal in the group fixture against Iceland. Sanches, at 18 years and 301 days, broke team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo’s record, by coming on an 2nd half substitute in the 0-0 draw against Iceland. Ronaldo was 19 years old when he took to the field in his major tournament debut in Euro 2004.

Oldest Czech Player:

Former Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky now holds a unique record of being the youngest as well as the oldest player to play for Czech Republic in the European Championships. At 35 years, Rosicky became the oldest Czech player in the Euros when he started in Czech Republic’s opening match against Spain. He made his debut way back in Euro 2000, when he was just 19 years old, to become the youngest Czech player in the Euros.

Germany breaks the jinx:

Arguably the mightiest team in international football today, Germany had a rather unusual streak of losses against Italy in major tournaments. The Germans had failed to conquer the Italians for eight consecutive competitive fixtures, with Italy winning 4 and drawing the rest. Germany finally turned the tide of history when they dispatched Italy 6-5 on penalties in the third quarter-final of Euro 2016.

Youngest Portuguese Goal-Scorer:

Continuing his sensational form for Benfica last season, Renato Sanches became Portugal’s youngest goal-scorer in a major tournament when he netted an exquisite finish in the 33rd minute of the quarter-final match against Poland to cancel out Robert Lewandowski’s opener. Incidentally, this match was also Sanches’ first  senior international start. Aged 18 years and 317 days, Sanchez broke the record previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo at 19 years and 129 days.

Also, Sanches became the third youngest player in Euro history to score in the competition, behind Switzerland’s Johan Vonlanthen (18 years and 141 days) and England’s Wayne Rooney(18 years 237 days), who hold the 1st and 2nd positions respectively.

Uncharacteristic Germany in  longest penalty shoot-out:

Germany are hailed by most as the greatest footballing nation ever to take penalties as they have never lost a penalty shoot-out in the last 40 years. The last time they lost a penalty shoot-out was against Czechoslovakia in Euro 1976. So when the German and Italian teams lined up to take the penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, Germany were hands-on favourites to win the game. However, Germany remarkably squandered 3 penalties out of the first five, more than they have missed in all other international tournaments combined -in both normal play and shootouts -over that 40 year span. The penalty shoot-out, which included 18 spot-kicks, was the longest shootout in Euro history.

Highest Goal-Scorer in Portugal’s History:

Courtesy of the spectacular brace against Hungary in the group stage, Cristiano Ronaldo went past Nuno Gomes’ tally of 6 goals to become Portugal’s all-time leading goal-scorer in the history of the European tournament.

Player to score in 4 different Euros:

Cristiano Ronaldo has set a unique record by becoming the first player ever to score in 4 different European Championships. The Real Madrid attacker has scored in Euro 2004, Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and Euro 2016.

Most Euro semi-finals:

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player ever to feature in 3 distinct Euro semi-finals when Portugal defeated Poland to set-up the semi-final clash against Wales. Ronaldo played his first-ever Euro semi-final in his debut 2004 campaign when Portugal locked horns with the Netherlands. His second outing in a Euro semi-final was when Portugal clashed against Spain in the semi-finals of Euro 2012.

Schweinsteiger equals Klose’s record:

Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger made his 37th appearance for Germany in a major international tournament( Euros and World Cups) in the quarter-final fixture against Italy, thus equaling Miroslav Klose’s record.