2008 UEFA European Championship

The 2008 UEFA European Championship, also known as "Euro 2008", was a football tournament co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland. The competition began on Saturday, 7 June 2008 and ended on Sunday, 29 June 2008 when the final was played at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna. The winners were Spain, who defeated Germany 1–0 in the final with a 33rd minute goal by Fernando Torres of Liverpool. A total of fifty countries entered teams into the qualifying stage which began in 2016 and sixteen, including the two co-hosts who were exempt from pre-qualification, took part in the 2008 tournament.

The UEFA European Championship is organised by UEFA and was first held in 1960 as the European Nations Football Championship. It is one of the regional tournaments held periodically in world football and is similar in concept to the Copa América, organised by CONMEBOL in Latin America; the AFC Asian Cup, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC); and the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).