By Habeeb Akinfegbe
Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996).
They have also been runners-up three times in the European
Championships, four times in the World Cup, and have won a further four
third places. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any national football team in history, with a record 2200 points. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas. The current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germany has also won the European Championship three times (Spain and France
are the only other multiple-time winners with three and two titles
respectively), and finished as runners-up three times as well.
The Germans have qualified for every European Championship tournament
except for the very first European Championship they entered in 1968.
For that tournament, Germany was in the only group of three teams and
thus only played four qualifying games. The deciding game was a
scoreless draw in Albania
which gave Yugoslavia the edge, having won in their neighbour country.
The team's worst result in the competition was a first round elimination
in 2000 and 2004.
After Ukrainian Independence and the country's breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992. The team's biggest success on the world stage was reaching the quarter finals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which also marked the team's début in the finals of a major championship. As the host nation, Ukraine automatically qualified for Euro 2012. Four years later, Ukraine qualified for UEFA Euro 2016 via the play-off route, the first time qualifying for a UEFA European Championship via the qualifying process, as it finished in third place in its qualifying group. This marked the first time in Ukraine's five play-off appearances that it managed to win such a tie, previously unsuccessful in the play-off ties for the UEFA Euro 2000, 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. As a host nation Ukraine qualified automatically for UEFA Euro 2012, marking their début in the UEFA European Championship. In their opening game against Sweden, Ukraine won 2–1 in Kyiv. Despite the team's efforts, the co-hosts were eliminated after a 0–2 loss to France and a 0–1 loss to England, all in Donetsk.
Poland first qualified for the European Football Championships in 2008. They also qualified automatically for the 2012 European Football Championship by virtue of being joint hosts with Ukraine. They finished bottom of their group on both occasions. Under the new manager Leo Beenhakker, who replaced Paweł Janas in 2006, Poland began its Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in a distinctly unimpressive fashion, losing 1–3 to Finland at Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz. They followed that up with a 1–1 draw against Serbia at Legia Stadium in Warsaw on 6 September 2006. Their first win came against Kazakhstan
on 7 October 2006 (final score 0–1). Just four points from three
relatively easy games put the Poles on the brink of early elimination. However, in the next five games Poland notched five straight victories. Poland faced Portugal on 11 October 2006, winning 2–1 in Chorzów, after an excellent performance. Next they headed to Brussels where they defeated Belgium 1–0. They recorded wins against Azerbaijan (5–0) and Armenia (1–0) at home in Poland, and away to Azerbaijan (1–3), however they failed to pick up any points in Armenia on 6 June 2007 (0–1). Poland then traveled to Lisbon to face Portugal, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. They returned from Helsinki
with another point (0–0). A power outage briefly marred the rematch
against Kazakhstan but Poland collected three points (3–1). Poland
clinched its Euro 2008 berth with a 2–0 victory against Belgium in Chorzów and followed that up with a draw (2–2) against Serbia in Belgrade. Poland finished its qualifying campaign as group leaders. Ebi Smolarek finished with 9 goals under his tally for Poland and was the third overall top scorer in the qualifications only behind David Healy of Northern Ireland (13 goals), and Eduardo of Croatia (10 goals). At the 2008 finals, Poland was drawn in the group that consisted of Germany, co-hosts Austria and Croatia.
In a rematch from the 2006 World Cup Poland took on Germany in the
first game. Although the Poles were far from dominated in the game and
created many chances, the match ended with a victory for Germany with
the final score being 2–0. Lukas Podolski
the Polish-born German striker scored the two goals for Germany in the
game. In the second game Poland would take on the co-hosts Austria in Vienna. Roger Guerreiro
opened the scoring for Poland in the 30th minute. Austria equalized in
stoppage time in the 93rd minute after a very controversial penalty,
which the Austrian striker Ivica Vastic converted making the final score 1–1. In any hopes of qualifying Poland
would need a large victory in their last game against Croatia. However,
Croatia went on to beat Poland 1–0 and eliminated them from the
tournament. On 18 April 2007 in Cardiff, Wales, Poland along with Ukraine were elected by UEFA's Executive Committee to co-host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.
It was the 14th European Championship. Poland's and Ukraine's bid
defeated the other shortlisted bids from Italy and Croatia/Hungary,
becoming the third successful joint-bid for the European Championship,
after those of Belgium/Netherlands, for Euro 2000, and
Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008. The Polish-Ukrainian hosting is seen
as a way of shifting the focus towards regions and nations of central
and eastern Europe, whose population demonstrates a strong feeling for
football, but are less developed in terms of the quality of the local
leagues and football infrastructure, when compared with western Europe.
The final tournament draw was held in, Kiev, Ukraine,
and the groups were decided. Poland, automatically seeded in Group A,
were drawn with Russia, Greece and Czech Republic. The host team were
eliminated without earning a single win after a 1–0 loss against the
Czech Republic.
Northern Ireland has competed in three FIFA World Cups, reaching the quarter-final stage in the 1958 and 1982 tournaments. UEFA Euro 2016 will be their first appearance at the continental tournament. On 23 February 2014 Northern Ireland were drawn to face the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Romania in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group F. The matches were scheduled to be played between September 2014 and October 2015.
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Twitter:@bizarre_comms
Facebook: Bizarre Communications
Email: bizarrecommunications@gmail.com
Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996).
They have also been runners-up three times in the European
Championships, four times in the World Cup, and have won a further four
third places. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any national football team in history, with a record 2200 points. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas. The current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germany has also won the European Championship three times (Spain and France
are the only other multiple-time winners with three and two titles
respectively), and finished as runners-up three times as well.
The Germans have qualified for every European Championship tournament
except for the very first European Championship they entered in 1968.
For that tournament, Germany was in the only group of three teams and
thus only played four qualifying games. The deciding game was a
scoreless draw in Albania
which gave Yugoslavia the edge, having won in their neighbour country.
The team's worst result in the competition was a first round elimination
in 2000 and 2004.After Ukrainian Independence and the country's breakaway from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on 29 April 1992. The team's biggest success on the world stage was reaching the quarter finals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which also marked the team's début in the finals of a major championship. As the host nation, Ukraine automatically qualified for Euro 2012. Four years later, Ukraine qualified for UEFA Euro 2016 via the play-off route, the first time qualifying for a UEFA European Championship via the qualifying process, as it finished in third place in its qualifying group. This marked the first time in Ukraine's five play-off appearances that it managed to win such a tie, previously unsuccessful in the play-off ties for the UEFA Euro 2000, 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. As a host nation Ukraine qualified automatically for UEFA Euro 2012, marking their début in the UEFA European Championship. In their opening game against Sweden, Ukraine won 2–1 in Kyiv. Despite the team's efforts, the co-hosts were eliminated after a 0–2 loss to France and a 0–1 loss to England, all in Donetsk.
Poland first qualified for the European Football Championships in 2008. They also qualified automatically for the 2012 European Football Championship by virtue of being joint hosts with Ukraine. They finished bottom of their group on both occasions. Under the new manager Leo Beenhakker, who replaced Paweł Janas in 2006, Poland began its Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in a distinctly unimpressive fashion, losing 1–3 to Finland at Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz. They followed that up with a 1–1 draw against Serbia at Legia Stadium in Warsaw on 6 September 2006. Their first win came against Kazakhstan
on 7 October 2006 (final score 0–1). Just four points from three
relatively easy games put the Poles on the brink of early elimination. However, in the next five games Poland notched five straight victories. Poland faced Portugal on 11 October 2006, winning 2–1 in Chorzów, after an excellent performance. Next they headed to Brussels where they defeated Belgium 1–0. They recorded wins against Azerbaijan (5–0) and Armenia (1–0) at home in Poland, and away to Azerbaijan (1–3), however they failed to pick up any points in Armenia on 6 June 2007 (0–1). Poland then traveled to Lisbon to face Portugal, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. They returned from Helsinki
with another point (0–0). A power outage briefly marred the rematch
against Kazakhstan but Poland collected three points (3–1). Poland
clinched its Euro 2008 berth with a 2–0 victory against Belgium in Chorzów and followed that up with a draw (2–2) against Serbia in Belgrade. Poland finished its qualifying campaign as group leaders. Ebi Smolarek finished with 9 goals under his tally for Poland and was the third overall top scorer in the qualifications only behind David Healy of Northern Ireland (13 goals), and Eduardo of Croatia (10 goals). At the 2008 finals, Poland was drawn in the group that consisted of Germany, co-hosts Austria and Croatia.
In a rematch from the 2006 World Cup Poland took on Germany in the
first game. Although the Poles were far from dominated in the game and
created many chances, the match ended with a victory for Germany with
the final score being 2–0. Lukas Podolski
the Polish-born German striker scored the two goals for Germany in the
game. In the second game Poland would take on the co-hosts Austria in Vienna. Roger Guerreiro
opened the scoring for Poland in the 30th minute. Austria equalized in
stoppage time in the 93rd minute after a very controversial penalty,
which the Austrian striker Ivica Vastic converted making the final score 1–1. In any hopes of qualifying Poland
would need a large victory in their last game against Croatia. However,
Croatia went on to beat Poland 1–0 and eliminated them from the
tournament. On 18 April 2007 in Cardiff, Wales, Poland along with Ukraine were elected by UEFA's Executive Committee to co-host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.
It was the 14th European Championship. Poland's and Ukraine's bid
defeated the other shortlisted bids from Italy and Croatia/Hungary,
becoming the third successful joint-bid for the European Championship,
after those of Belgium/Netherlands, for Euro 2000, and
Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008. The Polish-Ukrainian hosting is seen
as a way of shifting the focus towards regions and nations of central
and eastern Europe, whose population demonstrates a strong feeling for
football, but are less developed in terms of the quality of the local
leagues and football infrastructure, when compared with western Europe.
The final tournament draw was held in, Kiev, Ukraine,
and the groups were decided. Poland, automatically seeded in Group A,
were drawn with Russia, Greece and Czech Republic. The host team were
eliminated without earning a single win after a 1–0 loss against the
Czech Republic.Northern Ireland has competed in three FIFA World Cups, reaching the quarter-final stage in the 1958 and 1982 tournaments. UEFA Euro 2016 will be their first appearance at the continental tournament. On 23 February 2014 Northern Ireland were drawn to face the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Romania in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group F. The matches were scheduled to be played between September 2014 and October 2015.| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Ireland |
10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 21 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | Romania |
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 20 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | ||
| 3 | Hungary |
10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 16 | Advance to play-offs | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | |
| 4 | Finland |
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 12 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | ||
| 5 | Faroe Islands |
10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 17 | −11 | 6 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 6 | Greece |
10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 6 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — |
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Twitter:@bizarre_comms
Facebook: Bizarre Communications
Email: bizarrecommunications@gmail.com
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