It is always said that to win you learn, strengthening the team over the years, building a winning mentality and so on. Victory calls victory, but will it be true?
The European Championship is definitely against the trend. In the previous 15 editions, only one team managed to defend the title: Spain in 2012. Four years later, the red furies stopped at the eighth: Portugal is warned.
The French fans will be happy to know that, in general, the team beaten in the final went a little better at the next European Championship: this is the case with Germany in 1980 and 1996.
Defends the European title
| Year | Sample | Placement in the next edition |
| 1960 | Soviet Union | Vice-sample |
| 1964 | Spain | Quarterfinals |
| 1968 | Italy | Quarterfinals |
| 1972 | West Germany | Vice-sample |
| 1976 | Czechoslovakia | Third-ranked |
| 1980 | West Germany | Group stage |
| 1984 | France | Unqualified |
| 1988 | Netherlands | Semifinal |
| 1992 | Denmark | Group stage |
| 1996 | Germany | Group stage |
| 2000 | France | Quarterfinals |
| 2004 | Greece | Group stage |
| 2008 | Spain | Sample |
| 2012 | Spain | Round of 16 |
| 2016 | Portugal |
*Double qualifying match for the four-team finals
Better still went to the World Cup team. France (2000) and Spain (2012) won the European title after the world title, while Germany reached the final in 1976 and 1992 and England came third in 1968 (his best finish).
Reigning World Champions at EURO
| World Cup/EURO | World Champion | Placement at EURO |
| 1966/1968 | England | Third-ranked |
| 1974/1976 | West Germany | Vice-sample |
| 1982/1984 | Italy | Unqualified |
| 1990/1992 | Germany | Vice-sample |
| 1998/2000 | France | Sample |
| 2006/2008 | Italy | Quarterfinals |
| 2010/2012 | Spain | Sample |
| 2014/2016 | Germany | Semifinal |
| 2018/2020 | France |
**Winner of the 1990 World Cup as West Germany, she participated in EURO ’92 as Germany