Euro 2024 starts: nine Nerazzurri have lifted the trophy

The countdown starts and the anticipation mounts. Euro 2024 starts this evening at the Allianz Arena in Munich at 21:00 CEST. The 17th edition of the tournament will be inaugurated by the hosts Germany, who will face Scotland in Group A. In this edition, 13 Inter players will be present, who will try to climb to the top of Europe with their respective national teams, an achievement that would be historic for many.

Bastoni, Barella, Darmian, Dimarco and Frattesi will feature for Italy, Kristjan Asllani for Albania, Marko Arnautovic for Austria, Benjamin Pavard and Marcus Thuram for France, Denzel Dumfries e Stefan de Vrij for the Netherlands, Yann Sommer for Switzerland and finally Hakan Calhanoglu for Turkey. 16 editions have been held, with the first in 1960 in France, for a roll of honor that sees Germany and Spain in the lead with three victories, then Italy's two (reigning champions), as do France, and finally a victory for the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and Portugal.

INTER'S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS

There are 9 players who, when they won the European title with their national team, were with the Nerazzurri. Nine Interisti European Champions: Luis Suarez (in 1964, with Spain), four Azzurri in Facchetti, Burgnich, Domenghini and Mazzola (in Rome, in 1968), Laurent Blanc (France, in 2000), Giorgos Karagounis (Greece, 2004), and Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolò Barella, who featured in the Wembley triumph in 2021.

1964 | SUAREZ: TWO TIMES EUROPEAN CHAMPION

In 1964, Spain hosted the European Championship. Luisito Suarez, former Ballon d'Or winner in 1960 and European Champion, was orchestrating the proceedings in the Spanish midfield and on 27 May he won the first European Cup in Nerazzurri history, a 3-1 success at the Prater in Vienna. Soon thereafter, Suarez would become European champion again thanks to a 2-1 win in the final against the Soviet Union.

1968 | ITALY ON TOP OF EUROPE THANKS TO A COIN TOSS

In 1968, Italy hosted the European championships. Four Inter players were included in the Italy squad: Giacinto Facchetti, Tarcisio Burgnich, Angelo Domenghini and Sandro Mazzola. Aristide Guarneri had just finished his first season at Bologna, after his triumphs with the Nerazzurri. On 5 June, there was the semi-final at San Paolo: Italy 0-0 Soviet Union, with penalties not used as an outcome: the finalist was decided the toss of the coin. Captaining the Azzurri and therefore choosing "heads or tails" was Giacinto Facchetti. The referee's first throw, in the changing room was invalid as the coin got stuck in a crack in the floor. Facchetti chose heads again, a lucky choice that took Italy to the final against Yugoslavia. In the first match on 8 June it was the Nerazzurri's Domenghini who saved Italy, who were 1-0 down. It ended in a draw, but no coin this time and a replay was played. Two days later, again at the Olimpico in Rome, the Azzurri returned to action. All four Inter players were there, including Mazzola: it ended 2-0, with goals from Riva and Anastasi. Italy won its first European title. 2000 | BLANC'S FRANCE WIN WITH THE GOLDEN GOAL

Still incredible today, when you think about it. The final in 2000 was one of the biggest disappointments in the history of the Italian national team. It was Dino Zoff's Italy, with only one Nerazzurri player, Gigi Di Biagio, and with the future Inter goalkeeper, Francesco Toldo, between the sticks. A European Championship in Belgium and Holland, the first-ever edition split between two countries. A legendary Italy team was in the semi-final, with Toldo the protagonist in the match against the Netherlands. In the final, in Rotterdam, the Azzurri took the lead through Delvecchio. In the 90th minute, the sucker punch came, as Wiltord equalised. In extra time, Trezeguet's "golden goal" sealed sealed victory for France, already world cup champions, to become top of Europe, too. France, under Lemerre, had Laurent Blanc as its defence linchpin: after missing the World Cup final due to being suspended, the defender who joined Inter in 1999, starred across the entire European Championship and was also selected in the tournament's best 11. There was also a former Nerazzurri player, Youri Djorkaeff, who had moved to Kaiserslautern the previous summer.

2004 | THE GREECE FAIRY TALE WITH KARAGOUNIS

Perhaps one of the greatest surprises in the history of football. Portugal hosted the European Championships, with them as favourites. They lost their opening match 2-1 against Greece. On the scoresheet was the Nerazzurri's Karagounis, who in his two seasons at Inter - from 2003 to 2005 - never found the net. The fate of that European Championship was sealed from the first match. Otto Rehhagel's Greece finished the group in second place, and then eliminated France and the Czech Republic 1-0, 1-0 and... gaain 1-0 in the final against Portugal, through Charisteas' goal. Karagounis was suspended for the final, but he became a European Champion.

2021 | THE EXTRAORDINARY AZZURRI TRIUMPH

Italy's path to the 2020 European Championship was perfect and exciting, but it was played in the summer of 2021 due to the pandemic. The Azzurri, led by former Nerazzurri coach Roberto Mancini, dominated the group by winning their three group matches against Turkey, Switzerland and Wales. In the round of 16, a hard-fought 2-1 victory in extra time against Arnautovic's Austria put the national team in serious difficulty. In the quarter-finals, Nicolò Barella's extraordinary goal broke the deadlock in the match against Belgium. Italy won 2-1, thus entering the semi-final against Spain, which ended with the Azzurri winning on penalties which opened the doors to the magical night at Wembley. The one dreamed of by all Italians, the one that Inter fans cradled by giving the sweetest thoughts to Nicolò Barella and Alessandro Bastoni. It was the penalty shoot-out at Wembley that awarded the title of European Champions to Roberto Mancini's Azzurri. It ended 1-1 after extra-time, with goals from Shaw and Bonucci; then, penalties: misses by Belotti and Jorginho for the Azzurri, Rashford, Sancho and Saka for England. Italy, European Champions, with Barella on the pitch for 54 minutes before being replaced. Bastoni was an unused sub.

13 NERAZZURRI AT EURO 2024

ITALY

Nicolò Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, Matteo Darmian, Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi

• Italy-Albania - Saturday 15/06 21:00 – Group B | Dortmund

• Spain-Italy - Thursday 20/06, 21:00 – Group B | Gelsenkirchen

• Croatia-Italy - Monday 24/06, 21:00 - Group B | Lipsia

ALBANIA

Kristjan Asllani

• Italy-Albania - Saturday 15/06, 21:00 – Group B | Dortmund

• Crotzia-Albania - Wednesday 19/06, 15:00 – Group B | Hamburg

• Albania-Spain - Monday 24/06, 21:00 – Group B | Dusseldorf

AUSTRIA

Marko Arnautovic

• Austria-France - Monday 17/06, 21:00 – Group D | Dusseldorf

• Poland-Austria - Friday 21/06, 18:00 – Group D | Berlin

• The Netherlands-Austria - Tuesday 25/06, 18:00 – Group D | Berlin

FRANCE

Benjamin Pavard, Marcus Thuram

• Austria-France- Monday 17/06, 21:00 – Group D | Dusseldorf

• The Netherlands-France - Friday 21/06, 21:00 – Group D | Leipzig

• France-Poland - Tuesday 25/06, 18:00 – Group D | Dortmund

NETHERLANDS

Stefan de Vrij, Denzel Dumfries

• Poland-Netherlands - Sunday 16/06, 15:00 – Group D | Hamburg

• Netherlands-France - Friday 21/06, 21:00 – Group D | Leipzig

• Netherlands-Austria - Tuesday 25/06, 18:00 – Group D | Berlin

SWITZERLAND

Yann Sommer

• Hungary-Switzrland - Saturday 15/06, 15:00 – Group A | Koln

• Scotland-Switzrland - Wednesday 19/06, 21:00 – Group A | Koln

• Switzrland-Germany - Sunday 23/06, 21:00 – Group A | Frankfurt

TURKEY

Hakan Calhanoglu

• Turkey-Georgia - Tuesday 18/06, 18:00 – Group F | Dortmund

• Turkey-Portugal - Saturday 22/06, 18:00 – Group F | Dortmund

• Czechia-Turkey - Wednesday 26/06, 21:00 – Group F | Hamburg

GROUPS

Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England, Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France Group E: Romania, Ukraine, Belgium, Slovakia Group F: Türkiye, Georgia, Portugal, Czechia

DATES

The first phase of the tournament will take place from 14 to 26 June where the first and second-placed teams from the six groups, as well as the four best third-placed teams, will qualify for the round of 16. The round of 16 will take place between 29 June and 2 July, then the quarter-finals on 5 and 6 July, the semi-finals on 9 and 10 July, while the final is scheduled for 14 July in Berlin.