UEFA Women's European Championship

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The UEFA European Women's Championship is an international women's football competition contested by member associations of UEFA. Also known as the UEFA Women's Euro, the tournament was founded in 1984 and had just four countries (Sweden, England, Denmark and Italy) participating in the maiden edition. During the 1997 edition jointly hosted by Norway and Sweden, the number was increased to eight and, subsequently, to 12 in the 2009 tournament held in Finland. Since 2017, 16 teams have featured in the finals including the host nation.

The UEFA European Women's Championship uses the round-robin format like all the major international competitions. Four groups of four are derived from the 16 teams who are seeded according to their coefficient ranking at the end of the qualifying group stage (excluding the play-offs).

All the teams play three matches in the first stage. Three points are awarded, one for a draw and zero for a defeat. The two highest-ranked clubs then progress to the quarterfinals and the winners subsequently contest for a spot in the final by featuring in the semi-final. Losers of the semis play in the third-place play-off for a second runner-up to be determined. All ties in the knock-out phase are decided with 30 minutes of extra-time and penalty shootouts if need be.

Did you know? The 2017 edition of the UEFA European Championship held in the Netherlands allowed for a fourth substitute to be made during extra time for the first time in the history of the competition.