What is the biggest win in European Championship history?

Cameron Smith
Cameron Smith
  • 7 Mar 2024 12:00 GMT
  • 3 min read
Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala, 2023
© IMAGO

The European Championship is one of the biggest tournaments in international football and it sees the best players from the continent go head-to-head every four years.

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While the competition is often very tight, and frequently needs penalty shootouts to determine results, some games have been rather easy over the years.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through the biggest wins in Euros history.

READ MORE: European Championship all-time top scorers - Ronaldo, Griezmann and the greatest goal kings

The biggest winning margins in European Championship history

ScoreTournament
France 5-0 Belgium1984
Denmark 5-0 Yugoslavia1984
Netherlands 6-1 Yugoslavia2000
Sweden 5-0 Bulgaria2004
Slovakia 0-5 Spain2021

France 5-0 Belgium (1984)

France, the tournament hosts, began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Denmark and they followed that up with a 5-0 thrashing of Belgium.

Michel Platini scored a hat-trick during the game, while Alain Giresse and Luis Fernandez also found the back of the net as Les Blues set a new record for the largest winning margin in European Championship history.

READ MORE: European Championship all-time appearances - Ronaldo and Pepe lead the way

Denmark 5-0 Yugoslavia (1984)

On the very same day as France’s huge win over Belgium, Denmark also won 5-0, beating Yugoslavia in emphatic fashion.

Frank Arnesen (x2), Klaus Berggreen, Preben Elkjaer and John Lauridsen all scored as Denmark marked their debut Euros campaign with a historic victory.

Netherlands 6-1 Yugoslavia (2000)

Yugoslavia appear on this list again after their 6-1 defeat to the Netherlands in 2000.

Patrick Kluivert (x3), Dejan Govedarica (OG) and Marc Overmars (x2) netted as the Netherlands became the first and only country to score six goals in a single European Championship match.

Savo Milesevic scored a consolation goal for Yugoslavia in the 90th minute to deny the Netherlands a clean sheet.

Sweden 5-0 Bulgaria (2004)

Sweden tore Bulgaria to shreds with a resounding group stage win in 2004, with Freddie Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson (x2), Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Allback on the scoresheet.

However, Sweden eventually exited the tournament at the round of 16 stage after a penalty shootout defeat against Netherlands.

Slovakia 0-5 Spain (2021)

Spain became the latest country to join this list after their 5-0 victory over Slovakia in 2021.

Luis Enrique’s side had drawn their opening two group stage matches and needed a victory against Slovakia in the final matchday. Goals from Martin Dubravka (OG), Aymeric Laporte, Pablo Sarabia, Ferran Torres and Juraj Kucka (OG) sealed a massive win.

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