The UEFA European Championship is one of the major competitive international football tournaments, first played in 1960, whose finals stage has been held every four years, with the sixteenth staging of the competition occurring in 2021 (postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe).
The Sweden men's national football team first entered the UEFA European Championships during 1992 as host nation. In their first match they draw with France and then defeated Denmark and England. Sweden faced Germany in the semi-finals, losing 2-3. Sweden failed to qualify for Euro 1996, falling behind Switzerland and Turkey in points. Sweden qualified for Euro 2000 ahead of England during qualification. In the group stage, they lost to co-hosts Belgium, then drew with Turkey and lost to Italy. They qualified for Euro 2004, finishing ahead of Latvia. Sweden defeated Bulgaria 5-0 in their opening group stage match, followed by draws with Italy and Bulgaria. In the quarter final against the Netherlands, after 0-0, Sweden lost in penalties. During the qualifying phase for Euro 2008, Sweden finished behind Spain to qualify. They finished third in the group stage with a win over Greece, followed by losses to Spain and Russia. Sweden qualified for Euro 2012, having finished second behind the Netherlands. During the group stage they lost their first two matches, to co-hosts Ukraine and then England; despite a win over France, Sweden did not progress past the group stage. For Euro 2016, Sweden defeated Denmark during a playoff to qualify. During the group stage they drew with Ireland then lost to Italy and Belgium, and did not advance. For Euro 2020, after qualifying behind Spain, they again faced Spain in the group stage resulting in a draw; this was followed by wins over Slovakia and Poland. In the Round of 16, they lost to Ukraine in extra time 2-1. Sweden did not qualify for Euro 2024 following defeats by both Belgium and Austria.
^The match, originally scheduled for 21:45 local time, was delayed 15 minutes to prevent overlap with the other Group D match between Ukraine and France, which had been delayed due to rain.[9]