Since the first European Championship tournaments in 1960, UEFA have been forced to ban two countries from competing in the tournament.
Other than the World Cup, winning the European Championship is potentially the most prestigious achievement a player can manage while representing a national team.
Ever since the first competition took place France in 1960, 10 different national teams have lifted the trophy, with current champions Spain boating the most titles having won four.
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In total, 36 nations have played in the European Championship at least once, with Georgia being the most recent debutant having featured for the first time in Euro 2024.
However, there are three countries that have previously been banned from competing in the European Championship, and one of them remains suspended ahead of the Euro 2028 competition.
Over three decades after the first-ever European Championship, UEFA decided to ban Yugoslavia from the 1992 competition following the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars and the United Nations sanctions that came in response to the conflict.
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Yugoslavia were informed of the ban on May 31, just 10 days before Euro 1992 began, with UEFA deciding to immediately disqualified the nation from the tournament in Sweden.
Instead, Yugoslavia was replaced by Denmark, who had finished second behind Yugoslavia in the qualifying group.
Despite initially failing to qualify for the tournament, Denmark went on to spectacularly win the European Championship defeating Germany 2–0 in a now legendary final.
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More recently, UEFA handed out a ban to Russia in response to their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Both UEFA and FIFA announced that all Russian clubs and the national team would be suspended from competing in international competitions 'until further notice.'
Russia later attempted to appeal this decision, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected this claim in July 2022, confirming the legality of their ban.
Therefore, Russia were excluded from the Euro 2024 qualification draw and could miss out on the 2028 competition should the conflict continue.
Which fixtures have UEFA banned from taking place at the European Championship?
Although UEFA and FIFA are reluctant to outright ban a country from competing internationally, there are several matches that cannot take place due to political drama or cultural clashes that threaten to turn a football match into a dangerous affair.
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In total, there are six matches that are forbidden from taking place, they are as follows:
- Spain v Gibraltar - Disputes over who owns Gibraltar
- Armenia v Azerbaijan - Ethical and territorial conflict
- Kosovo v Serbia - Historical and ethical conflict - Kosovo independence
- Kosovo v Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnia support of Serbia against Kosovo
- Kosovo v Russia - Russia support of Serbia against Kosovo
- Russia v Ukraine - Ongoing conflict
Ben McCrum