<P> Prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations (which qualify automatically) compete in a qualifying process . The championship winners earn the opportunity to compete in the following FIFA Confederations Cup, but are not obliged to do so . </P> <P> The 15 European Championship tournaments have been won by ten different national teams: Germany and Spain each have won three titles, France has two titles, and Soviet Union, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and Portugal have won one title each . To date, Spain is the only team in history to have won consecutive titles, doing so in 2008 and 2012 . It is the second most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup . The Euro 2012 final was watched by a global audience of around 300 million . </P> <P> The most recent championship, hosted by France in 2016, was won by Portugal, who beat France 1--0 at the final at the Stade de France in Saint - Denis after extra time . The final also attracted 284 million viewers which is the second most viewed game in European tournament history . </P> <P> The idea for a pan-European football tournament was first proposed by the French Football Federation's secretary - general Henri Delaunay in 1927, but it was not until 1958 that the tournament was started, three years after Delaunay's death . In honour of Delaunay, the trophy awarded to the champions is named after him . The 1960 tournament, held in France, had four teams competing in the finals out of 17 that entered the competition . It was won by the Soviet Union, beating Yugoslavia 2--1 in a tense final in Paris . Spain withdrew from its quarter - final match against the USSR because of two political protests . Of the 17 teams that entered the qualifying tournament, notable absentees were England, the Netherlands, West Germany and Italy . </P>

Where was the last european football championship held