Top 5 Greatest UEFA Euro Finals

The reigning champions of both the 2008 Euro title and the 2010 World Cup came into the 2012 European Championship in top form.

The only struggles they faced in this competition were ending in a draw versus Italy in group play and playing to penalties against rival Portugal in the semi-finals. No other nation could keep up with the Spanish attack.

La Roja showed tremendous improvement the second time around dismantling a strong Italy squad 4-0 to secure the title. The victory made Spain the first nation win back-to-back European Championships.

Sticking to the theme of making history...

After losing to Denmark in the 1992 Euro final, Germany returned to the 1996 final match searching for redemption.

This was the first Euro tournament that expanded to include 16 nations.

USMNT head coach Jürgen Klinsmann tied for the second most goals scored in the tournament with 3, helping the German national squad get through the knockout phase and into the final.

The contest went to extra time and was decided by the first Golden Goal in tournament history(Oliver Bierhoff, 95'). Germany's 2-1 victory was their second official Euro title and the first as a unified nation. This was Germany's first major title after winning the World Cup in 1990 as West Germany.

Which leads us to...

In 1972, the Euro tournament was a much different affair. At that point in the tournament's history, only 4 teams competed in the knockout phase which featured just a semi-final and final round.

Heavy favorites West Germany qualified for the tournament after shockingly missing out in 1968.

Led by the legendary Gerd Müller, they ousted host nation Belgium 2-1 in the semi-final. This secured what was a poetic championship game versus the much maligned super power, the USSR. With obvious tensions between the two nations, West Germany briefly pulled back the Iron Curtain with a decisive 3-0 victory.

Now back to the 2000's...

In the year 2000, 2016 hopefuls France made the tournament's knockout round in a fairly top heavy group D that featured another strong squad in the Netherlands.

After placing second in their group behind the Dutch Eleven, France performed in a curiously consistent fashion winning each of their knockout matches 2-1. This includes their victory over Italy in the final which featured the second and consecutive Golden Goal victory in UEFA Euro history.

France was the first squad to win the European Championship as the reigning World champions.

For another 2016 contender...

In 2004, Portugal was the host nation and were one of a few favorites to win it all. They would be led by up and coming striker and eventual worldwide phenom Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 2004 Euro was ripe with upsets and foreshadowing for the coming rounds starting with the opening match in group play between Portugal and Greece. Greece shocked the continent by opening up this bizarre tournament defeating Portugal 2-1.

Greece managed to finish second in their group behind Portugal, preventing both Spain and Russia from entering the knockout rounds. This was the first Euro tournament that Greece had qualified for in 24 years.

Greece continued their Cinderella story winning 1-0 against the defending Euro champs France. They then defeated the Czech Republic en route to a rematch vs CR7 and the Portuguese team.

The Grecian underdogs played strong defense and were opportunistic in their attack all tournament long and ultimately upset Portugal 1-0 to bring the first and only European Championship to Greece.

The 2004 UEFA Championship ended as it started. It was the first Euro tournament where the opening match featured the same two teams as the final.

Ronaldo struggled in his first Euro tournament, scoring only 2 goals total.

Portugal also became the first host nation to lose a final match.

Greece was to 2004 what Iceland was to 2016, except Greece was able to close it out with the title.

Ronaldo and Portugal look ahead towards a better result in 2016 against host nation France.