Introduction
UEFA is the federation for
European countries. It holds qualifying in the European region for the
World Cup.
Europe has been the most successful continent in the
World Cup thus far. Through
World Cup X - 12 different teams have reached the semifinals, 10 have won a medal, 6 have reached the finals, 5 have won the World Cup and 2 have won it twice.
In
World Cup I France became the first champion while
Netherlands took silver.
World Cup II was the most successful tournament for Europe as they swept all medals with
Georgia taking gold,
France earning silver, and
Norway winning the bronze.
World Cup III was the first tournament that Europe didn't win, though
France still grabbed silver while
Turkey beat
Greece for third place.
Georgia then became the first two time winners by capturing
World Cup IV with
Sweden also picking up the bronze. In
World Cup V Norway won their first title as
Georgia only managed fourth.
Norway then became the first champion to repeat by taking
World Cup VI as
Romania beat out
Bosnia-Herzegovina for the bronze.
England then won
World Cup VII while
France finished fourth.
World Cup VIII was the first World Cup in which no European teams won a medal, their highest finisher was
Netherlands, who took fourth. However, in
World Cup IX,
Italy became the fifth champion from Europe while
Belgium defeated
Netherlands for bronze.
World Cup X was the second cup in which no Europeans won a medal, with
Sweden finishing highest at fourth.
UEFA's continental tournament is the
Euro Cup. It has been contested twice so far, and has been won by
Spain and then
Norway.
World Cup / Euro Cup ResultsTeam | Qualified | Best Result | Qualified | Best Result |
France | 10 | Champions | 2 | Quarterfinals |
Netherlands | 10 | Second Place | 2 | Second Place |
Norway | 9 | Champions (2) | 2 | Champions |
England | 8 | Champions | 2 | Quarterfinals |
Romania | 8 | Third Place | 2 | Group Stage |
Italy | 7 | Champions | 2 | Second Place |
Turkey | 6 | Third Place | 2 | Group Stage |
Sweden | 6 | Third Place | 2 | Group Stage |
Spain | 6 | Quarterfinals | 2 | Champions |
Portugal | 6 | Quarterfinals | 2 | Quarterfinals |
Germany | 6 | Quarterfinals | 2 | Quarterfinals |
Russia | 6 | Quarterfinals | 0 | None |
Czech Republic | 6 | Round of Sixteen | 1 | Group Stage |
Georgia | 5 | Champions (2) | 1 | Quarterfinals |
Belgium | 4 | Third Place | 1 | Group Stage |
Croatia | 4 | Quarterfinals | 1 | Group Stage |
Serbia & Montenegro | 4 | Quarterfinals | 0 | None |
Denmark | 4 | Round of Sixteen | 1 | Group Stage |
Finland | 4 | Group Stage | 0 | None |
Greece | 3 | Fourth Place | 0 | None |
Ireland | 3 | Round of Sixteen | 1 | Fourth Place |
Hungary | 3 | Round of Sixteen | 0 | None |
Austria | 3 | Round of Sixteen | 0 | None |
Bulgaria | 3 | Group Stage | 2 | Group Stage |
Switzerland | 3 | Group Stage | 0 | None |
Ukraine | 3 | Group Stage | 0 | None |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | 2 | Fourth Place | 0 | None |
Scotland | 2 | Quarterfinals | 0 | None |
Wales | 2 | Round of Sixteen | 1 | Quarterfinals |
Poland | 2 | Round of Sixteen | 0 | None |
Slovenia | 2 | Round of Sixteen | 0 | None |
Iceland | 1 | Quarterfinals | 0 | None |
Slovakia | 1 | Round of Sixteen | 0 | None |
Latvia | 1 | Group Stage | 0 | None |
Albania | 1 | Group Stage | 0 | None |
Lithuania | 0 | None | 1 | Third Place |
Belarus | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Estonia | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Israel | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Macedonia | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Montenegro | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Northern Ireland | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Serbia | 0 | None | 0 | None |
Teams
bold teams are no longer UEFA members