How many teams participate in Euro each season?

How many teams participate in Euro? Along with the World Cup, the UEFA European Championship – Euro is the second largest tournament that attracts the attention of millions of football fans in Europe and around the world. Since its first edition in 1960, Euro has gone through 15 seasons. Throughout each season, the European Football Association has established regulations to adjust the format and number of participating teams to make it more reasonable. So, how many teams are currently participating in Euro? Let’s with wintips find out in this article.

How many teams participate in Euro?

As mentioned above, after each season, the Euro tournament organizers establish regulations to adjust the format and number of participating teams to make it more appropriate. Therefore, unlike the World Cup, which has 32 countries participating, the number of teams participating in Euro will not have a fixed number.

In addition, this issue also depends on whether the teams have registered to participate in the competition or not. Therefore, to get the answer to the question “how many teams participate in Euro,” we can only know the exact number of teams participating in each season.

Learn more about: Unleash the power of our soccer tips today and beat the bookmakers.

Teams participating in the Euro tournament through the seasons

Currently, Europe is recognized to have 50 countries and 12 territories. However, not every Euro season has enough teams from these countries and territories registered to participate. Accordingly, the number of teams participating in Euro tournaments over specific years are as follows:

• 1960: At this time, due to political turmoil in Europe, only 17 teams participated and some big teams (England, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Scotland) were absent.
• 1964: The number of participating teams in this season was increased to 29 and played in a knockout format.
• 1968: There were 31 teams participating and playing in a group stage format.
• 1972: 32 European teams participated, playing in a group stage and knockout format in the quarterfinals.
• 1976: There were also 32 teams participating in this season, and the penalty shootout was first applied to determine the winner.
• 1980: In this season, a total of 31 teams participated. The finals were expanded to 8 teams, including the best teams from the qualifying round.
• 1984: 32 teams participated. 7 teams passed the qualifying round and the host country was chosen to participate in the finals.
• 1988: In this season, the football association maintained the same rules as in previous seasons with the participation of 32 teams.
• 1992: The number of teams participating was increased to 33.
• 1996: In the 10th season, there were up to 47 teams participating in the qualifying round and 16 teams in the finals.

• 2000: A total of 49 teams played in the qualifying round to select 14 teams to enter the finals.
• 2004: 2004 had up to 50 teams participating in the qualifying round. The 16 teams participating in the finals also played in a knockout format.
• 2008: In this season, 50 teams were placed in 7 groups.
• 2012: This season had 51 teams participating in the qualifying round and was divided into 9 groups.
• 2016: There were 53 teams participating in the qualifying round and 24 teams in the finals. The host team, France, was exempt from the qualifying round and entered the finals directly.
• 2020: 16 retained 24 teams participating in the finals according to the same rules as the previous season, but up to 55 teams participated in the qualifying round.

Conclusion

The above information provides insight into the number of teams participating in the Euro football tournament throughout the years, a crucial aspect we want to share with our readers. By reading the article, you will gain knowledge about the participation count in the Euro and develop a deeper understanding of one of the planet’s two major football tournaments. For staying updated on other significant sports details, feel free to visit this website promptly, where you can also find valuable bookmakers online information.

See more: What tournament is Euro? How often is Euro organized?