Though both are major football tournaments involving national sides there are notable differences between the World Cup and the Euro Championships.
The latter tends to have more ‘groups of death’ simply by virtue of having far fewer minnows involved.
This may change, as the competition inevitably expands in years to come. For now though, it has a higher concentration of elite teams compared to its bigger brother.
Contradicting this somewhat, we find that the Euros has a habit of producing unlikely winners whereas the World Cup absolutely does not.
From Czechoslovakia bettering West Germany in 1976, to Denmark gaining late entry in 1992 and conquering the continent, to Greece dumbfounding one and all in 2004, there have been several shock victors who have made a mockery of the football betting.
There is something quintessentially endearing about this.
The last key difference however takes us back to the original point, that of the Euros being generally a more level playing field.
In World Cups past, eight or nine-goal drubbings have occurred, comprehensive thrashings that make a neutral grimace or laugh, depending on their sensibility.
Whereas in 64 years of the Euros the biggest margin of victory is five goals, a margin achieved on five occasions.
All are celebrated below.
We begin though by quickly highlighting a trio of four-goal wins/defeats from recent years, that all feature home nations.
Germany 5-1 Scotland (2024)
The Scots went into the tournament hopeful after an excellent qualifying campaign but reality bit hard and quick as they were ruthlessly dismantled by the hosts.
A successfully converted penalty following a sending off influenced proceedings but in truth Germany were already two up and utterly dominant by that stage.
Steve Clarke’s men improved in their next two group games but from an extremely low bar.
England 4-0 Ukraine (2021)
Ukraine had squeaked through to the quarters after finishing third in their group, superior goal difference proving crucial, and frankly this showed as a one-sided affair played out before a packed Wembley Stadium.
Going into the game jittery pundits and fans alike talked up England’s opponents, but an early Harry Kane strike settled any nerves, the rest of the damage done after the break.
Denmark 4-0 Wales (2021)
Five years earlier, Wales had embarked on a wonderful adventure, reaching the last four while creating memories to treasure for a lifetime.
Here though, age was beginning to tell on their best players and with Allen, Ramsey and Bale all battling their bodies as much as the Danes the lack of quality elsewhere proved costly.
Moreover, Denmark were on a crusade. A fortnight earlier, Christian Eriksen had all-but-died on the pitch, mercifully recovering in due course.
Propelled by emotion and adrenaline, the Scandinavians admirably made it to the semi-finals.
Netherlands 6-1 Yugoslavia (2000)
This memorable last-eight mismatch remains the only time in Euro history that a team have slotted home six and of course it just had to be Yugoslavia on the wrong end of it.
Blessed with a cornucopia of fantastically gifted talents, the Eastern Europeans typically either excelled or spectacularly imploded on the international stage.
Here it was very much a case of the latter but that was due in no small part to Holland’s excellence.
With Patrick Kluivert, Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars all at their magisterial best ahead of Cocu and Davids, the Oranje were sensational on the night, with Kluivert bagging only the eighth hat-trick in the competition’s history.
France 5-0 Belgium (1984)
Les Bleus were well fancied as the tournament loomed, with a midfield consisting of La Carre Magique (‘Magic Square’) and Patrick Battison artful and prolific up front.
This thorough tonking only confirmed their status as favourites, a tag they lived up to, ultimately winning Euro ’84 on home soil.
But back to that sublime quartet in midfield, who tormented Belgium throughout.
Michel Platini notched the opener, going on to claim a record-breaking haul of nine goals before he was done that summer. Before he was done here, Le Roi (‘The King’) had stroked in a hat-trick.
Additionally, Alain Giresse scored and provided two assists while Jean Tigana and Luis Fernandez also boasted goal involvements.
These four all seemed to play with their socks down, and so cultured were they each presumably had a dog-eared copy of Balzac stuffed into the back of their shorts.
Denmark 5-0 Yugoslavia (1984)
We’re back to Yugoslavia imploding again, this time at the hands of a magnificent collective who were two years shy of being coined the ‘Danish Dynamite’.
Before they gained lifelong adoration for their displays in Mexico ’86 though – doing so while wearing a Hummel kit that made your heart skip a beat – Michael Laudrup and company overwhelmed an opponent that was all promise and no substance.
Clinical and fluid, the Dynamite were two to the good just 16 minutes in.
Sweden 5-0 Bulgaria (2004)
The Swedes looked the business in Group C, thrashing Bulgaria before holding Italy and neighbours Denmark to very respectable draws.
Indeed, with a forward line consisting of Freddie Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic they can consider themselves unfortunate not to progress much further, exiting to Holland in the knock-outs on pens.
Which leaves this opening masterclass a performance to cherish, its highlight being a diving header from Larsson that’s well worth a YouTubing.
Slovakia 0-5 Spain (2021)
La Roja had flattered to deceive to this point, leaving them in need of a win over Slovakia in their third group outing.
Against Sweden and Poland there had been too many chances spurned. Too many passages of play fizzling away to nothing.
The online betting community was getting worried. Had Luis Enrique’s men been overly hyped?
Those doubts disappeared when the Slovaks quite literally gave a nervy Spain a helping hand, when keeper Martin Dubravka pawed the ball into his own net, blinded by the sun. From that moment on, the team that had long threatened to emerge duly did so.
PSG’s Pablo Sarabia was the star of the show, scoring his nation’s third then laying on a fourth, as Spain ran riot.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Adobe*
