UEFA Euro 2012 facts for kids
| Mistrzostwa Europy w piłce nożnej 2012 ' Чемпіонат Європи з футболу 2012 ' |
|
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Poland Ukraine |
| Dates | 8 June – 1 July |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 8 (in 8 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Spain (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 76 (2.45 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,440,846 (46,479 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Fernando Torres (3 goals) |
| Best player | Andrés Iniesta |
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The UEFA Euro 2012 was a big football tournament for European national teams. It was the 14th time this championship was held. The official name was the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. It took place from June 8 to July 1, 2012.
The tournament was hosted by two countries: Poland and Ukraine. Sixteen teams made it to the final part of the competition. Spain was the defending champion from the previous Euro in 2008. The team that won this tournament also earned a spot in the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Contents
How Teams Qualified
Fifty-one teams from Europe wanted to play in Euro 2012. To decide which teams would play, UEFA organized them into 9 groups. The qualification games started in August 2010 and finished in November 2011.
The following 16 teams successfully qualified for the main tournament:
Poland (as a host country)
Ukraine (as a host country)
Germany (won Group A)
Russia (won Group B)- Italy (won Group C)
France (won Group D)
Netherlands (won Group E)
Greece (won Group F)
England (won Group G)
Denmark (won Group H)- Spain (won Group I)
Sweden (was the best second-place team)
Croatia (won a play-off game)
Czech Republic (won a play-off game)
Portugal (won a play-off game)
Republic of Ireland (won a play-off game)
Where the Games Were Played
The Euro 2012 games were played in 8 different stadiums across 8 host cities. These cities were Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław, and Poznań in Poland. In Ukraine, the cities were Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk, and Kharkiv.
Many of these stadiums were either brand new or had been greatly improved for the tournament. Here is a table showing the stadiums and their locations:
| Warsaw | Gdańsk | Wrocław | Poznań | ||||
| National Stadium Capacity: 58,500 |
PGE Arena Capacity: 43,600 |
Municipal Stadium Capacity: 42,800 |
Municipal Stadium Capacity: 43,300 |
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| 3 matches in Group A (including opening match), 1 quarter-final and 1 semi-final |
3 matches in Group C and 1 quarter-final |
3 matches in Group A | 3 matches in Group C | ||||
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyiv | Donetsk | Kharkiv | Lviv | ||||
| Olympic Stadium Capacity: 60,000 |
Donbass Arena Capacity: 50,000 |
Metalist Stadium Capacity: 35,000 |
Arena Lviv Capacity: 30,000 |
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| 3 matches in Group D, 1 quarter-final and the final |
3 matches in Group D, 1 quarter-final and 1 semi-final |
3 matches in Group B | 3 matches in Group B | ||||
Tournament Results
The 16 qualified teams were divided into four groups (A, B, C, and D). Teams played against each other in their group, and the top two teams from each group moved on to the knockout stage.
Group A Matches
In Group A, the teams were Poland, Greece, Russia, and the Czech Republic.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 6 |
| Greece |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Russia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| Poland |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 2 |
Greece finished above Russia because they won their game against Russia (1-0). The Czech Republic was the first team to win a European Championship group even with a negative goal difference.
Group B Matches
Group B was known as the "Group of Death" because it had many strong teams: Germany, Portugal, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 |
| Portugal |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 |
| Denmark |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | –1 | 3 |
| Netherlands |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | –3 | 0 |
Group C Matches
Group C included Spain, Italy, Croatia, and the Republic of Ireland.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| Italy |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| Croatia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 |
| Republic of Ireland |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | –8 | 0 |
Group D Matches
Group D featured England, France, Ukraine, and Sweden.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 |
| France |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Ukraine |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –2 | 3 |
| Sweden |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
Ukraine finished above Sweden because Ukraine won their game against Sweden (2-1).
Knockout Stage
The top two teams from each group moved on to the knockout stage. This included quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final match. If a game was tied after extra time, it went to a penalty shootout.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 21 June – Warsaw | ||||||||||
| Czech Republic |
0 | |||||||||
| 27 June – Donetsk | ||||||||||
| Portugal |
1 | |||||||||
| Portugal |
0 (2) | |||||||||
| 23 June – Donetsk | ||||||||||
| Spain (p) |
0 (4) | |||||||||
| Spain |
2 | |||||||||
| 1 July – Kyiv | ||||||||||
| France |
0 | |||||||||
| Spain |
4 | |||||||||
| 22 June – Gdańsk | ||||||||||
| Italy |
0 | |||||||||
| Germany |
4 | |||||||||
| 28 June – Warsaw | ||||||||||
| Greece |
2 | |||||||||
| Germany |
1 | |||||||||
| 24 June – Kyiv | ||||||||||
| Italy |
2
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| England |
0 (2) | |||||||||
| Italy (p) |
0 (4)
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Spain won the final match against Italy with a score of 4-0. This made Spain the champion of UEFA Euro 2012!
| UEFA Euro 2012 Winners |
|---|
 Spain 3rd title |
Tournament Statistics
Here are some interesting facts and numbers from the tournament.
Goalscorers
These players scored the most goals during Euro 2012:
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
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- 1 goal
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- 1 own goal
- Glen Johnson (playing against Sweden)
Final Rankings
This table shows how all 16 teams ranked based on their performance in the tournament.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 14 |
| 2 | Italy |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | –1 | 9 |
| Eliminated in the Semi-finals | |||||||||
| 3 | Germany |
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 12 |
| 4 | Portugal |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 10 |
| Eliminated in the Quarter-finals | |||||||||
| 5 | England |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 |
| 6 | Czech Republic |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –2 | 6 |
| 7 | Greece |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | –2 | 4 |
| 8 | France |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | –2 | 4 |
| Eliminated in the Group stage | |||||||||
| 9 | Russia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| 10 | Croatia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 |
| 11 | Sweden |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | Denmark |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | –1 | 3 |
| 13 | Ukraine |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –2 | 3 |
| 14 | Poland |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 2 |
| 15 | Netherlands |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | –3 | 0 |
| 16 | Republic of Ireland |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | –8 | 0 |
- These rankings show how well teams did, not how good they are overall. They are also not official and don't use head-to-head results to decide ties.
Images for kids
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Warsaw fan zone, view during a game, 16 June
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Monumental Adidas Tango 12 in Kiev
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Spain players holding the Henri Delaunay Trophy.
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Fernando Torres and Mario Balotelli (both with number 9) in the final match
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Police in Warsaw before the match between Poland and Russia
See also
In Spanish: Eurocopa 2012 para niños
