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An enthralling Euro 2020 tournament came to an end on Sunday, with Italy beating England on penalties to win their second title in the competition.
The Three Lions made a brisk start at the Wembley in London, with Luke Shaw registering the fastest goal ever in European Championship history to put England in front. Italy, however, restored parity when Leonardo Bonucci scored midway through the second half.
With no more goals in the remainder of regulation time and thirty minutes of extra time, a penalty shootout ensued. England squandered a 2-1 lead, missing three consecutive spot-kicks, with the last of them from Bukayo Saka sealing a 3-2 win for Italy.
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In the process, the Azzurri won their first European Championship in 53 years, creating a new record for the longest gap between successive Euro triumphs. The win also saw Italy join Germany (3), Spain (3) and France (2) as the only teams in competition history to win multiple titles.
In a goal-rich tournament - producing a European Championship record 142 goals - there were numerous other records and milestones. Some of them were unwanted ones, recorded by various players and teams during the month-long extravaganza.
Denmark made an inspired run to the semi-finals, becoming the first team in European Championship history to advance to the knockout rounds after losing their first two games. Polish custodian Wojciech Szczesny became the first keeper to score an own goal at the Euros. Switzerland dumped out reigning world champions France to reach their first major quarter-final in 67 years.
Without further ado, here's a look at the ten most interesting stats and talking points from Euro 2020:
#10 For the first time, the first goal at a European Championship was an own goal
Merih Demiral created unwanted history in the opening game of Euro 2020 between Turkey and eventual winners Italy. The Juventus centre-back inadvertently put one past his own goalkeeper to give the Azzurri a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute.
In the process, Demiral became the first player to open the scoring at a European Championship by putting one past his own goalkeeper.
Turkey lost the game 3-0 in Rome and fared no better in their next two games. The Euro 2020 dark horses lost 2-0 to Wales and 3-1 to Switzerland to finish last in their group and exit the tournament without bagging a point.
Minnows North Macedonia were the only other team who lost all their games at Euro 2020.
#9 Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to appear and score in 5 different European Championships
Cristiano Ronaldo was a man on a mission at Euro 2020. By appearing against Hungary in Portugal's tournament opener, the 36-year-old became the first player to appear in five different European Championships.
To make it an occasion to remember, Ronaldo scored two late goals in the game, the first of which made him the first player to net in five different editions of the Euros.
Ronaldo then scored in his team's 4-1 defeat to Germany before netting two penalties in a thrilling 2-2 draw with world champions France to help Portugal avert an embarrassing group-stage exit. The second of those two goals helped Ronaldo go level with Ali Daie as the joint-most prolific goalscorer in international football.
However, with Ronaldo drawing a blank and the rest of his teammates failing to turn up, Portugal slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16 to end their title defence with a whimper.
#8 Federico Chiesa emulated his father Enrico to become the first father-son pair to score goals at the European Championship
Federico Chiesa was one of the stars of Italy's triumphant Euro 2020 campaign. The 23-year-old winger, who played all seven of Italy's games at the tournament, opened the scoring for the Azzurri in their 2-1 Round-of-16 win over Austria.
With the goal, Chiesa joined his father Enrico as the only father-son pair to score goals at the Euros. Enrico, who played as a centre-forward, scored his lone goal in the competition when he scored the Azzurri's lone goal in their 2-1 defeat to eventual finalists Czech Republic in a group-stage game at Euro' 96.
Federico Chiesa scored a stunner against Spain in the semi-finals, a game Italy won on penalties to reach their fourth European Championship final.
#7 Croatia and Spain's 8-goal thriller at Euro 2020 was the second-highest scoring game in European Championship history
In arguably the game of the tournament at Euro 2020, Spain beat Croatia 5-3 after extra-time in an eight-goal Round-of-16 thriller.
The three-time winners recovered from conceding a bizarre own goal and looked on course for the quarter-finals when they led 3-1 with five minutes to go. But Croatia, who were runner-ups to France at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, scored twice in quick succession to force extra time.
However, Spain recovered to score two unanswered goals in extra time to reach the Euro 2020 quarter-finals. In the process, the game became the second-highest scoring match in European Championship history.
Spain, who also scored five against Slovakia in their previous game, became the first team in European Championship history to score five goals in consecutive games in the competition.
La Roja went on to beat Switzerland on penalties in the last eight before succumbing in another shootout to eventual Euro 2020 winners Italy in the semi-final.
Also Check Out: Euro Cup Winners List 2021
#6 There were more own goals at Euro 2020 than at all the other editions of the competition combined
Denis Zakaria beat his own keeper Yann Somer to gift Spain the lead in Switzerland's Euro 2020 quarter-final, a game the Alpine nation lost on penalties. That marked the tenth own goal scored at the tournament, more than all the other editions of the Euros combined.
Merih Demiral, Mats Hummels, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Wojciech Szczęsny, Lukas Hradecky, Martin Dubravka, Juraj Kucka and Pedri also scored own goals.
Danish captain Simon Kjaer scored the 11th own goal of Euro 2020 when he beat his own keeper after being put under pressure by Raheem Sterling in the semi-final.
#5 England became the first team to open their European Championship campaign with five consecutive clean sheets
Defensive solidity, sometimes at the cost of flair, has been the hallmark of England under Gareth Southgate. The Three Lions did not play the most attractive football at Euro 2020 but were one of the most difficult to score against.
The tactic paid them rich dividends as England breezed through the group stage and the first two knockout rounds at Euro 2020 to reach the semi-finals. That made the Three Lions the first team in European Championship history to open their campaign in the competition with five consecutive clean sheets.
Spain are the only other team to register five clean sheets in a single edition of the Euros when they did so in 2012, but that wasn't achieved in their first five games.
After playing out a 1-1 draw against Italy in their tournament opener in Gdansk, La Furia Roja did not concede another goal en route to lifting their third Euro title.
#4 Italy create a new record for most consecutive wins at the Euros, including qualifiers
Euro 2020 winners Italy arrived at the tournament after a perfect qualifying campaign.
The Azzurri then breezed through the group stage without conceding a goal before beating Austria and Belgium 2-1 to create a new record for most consecutive wins in European Championship history, including qualifiers.
Incidentally, their win over Belgium helped Italy break a tie with the Red Devils, who had won all ten of their qualifying games and their first four matches at Euro 2020.
The Azzurri's winning run came to an end in the semi-finals, though, as they needed a penalty shootout to see off Spain.
#3 Mikel Damsgaard scored the first (and only) direct free-kick goal of Euro 2020
Denmark provided one of the most endearing storylines at Euro 2020. After seeing their star midfielder Christian Eriksen collapse with cardiac arrest in their tournament opener, the former winners recovered from losing their first two games to reach the Round of 16.
Once in the knockout rounds, the 1992 winners upped the ante by beating Wales and the Czech Republic to reach their first European Championship semi-final since their only triumph in the competition.
Kasper Hjulmand's men took the game to England at Wembley, opening the scoring when Mikkel Damsgaard curled a fabulous free-kick beyond a despairing dive from Jordan Pickford. The strike marked the first direct free-kick goal at Euro 2020.
However, the Three Lions recovered from the setback to complete a hard-fought 2-1 win after extra time to reach their first European Championship final, their first summit clash at a major tournament since the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
Damsgaard's effort turned out to be the only free-kick goal of Euro 2020.
#2 Leonardo Bonucci becomes the oldest player to score in a European Championship final
After England had taken an early lead in the Euro 2020 final, Leonardo Bonucci scored from a goalmouth melee to level proceedings in the second half.
That made the 34-year-old Juventus centre-back the oldest player to score in a European Championship final, beating the previous record of Bernd Holzenbein (1976) by almost four years.
It was only the seventh goal Bonucci has scored for the Azzurri in 110 games, and his first in 17 games at the Euros. That was not his only contribution in the game, though.
Bonucci was one of Italy's three scorers in the penalty shootout, helping the Azzurri win their first European Championship in over five decades.
#1 Italy are the first team to win multiple shootouts in a single European Championship campaign
Italy capped off a triumphant Euro 2020 campaign by prevailing over nervy England in a penalty shootout to win their second European Championship title. Earlier in the tournament, the Azzurri also needed a shootout to see off three-time winners Spain in the semi-finals.
That made Italy the first team in European Championship history, and only the third at a major tournament, to win multiple shootouts in the same campaign.
In the process, England became the first team to lose four penalty shootouts in European Championship history. The Azzurri, meanwhile, moved to within one win of the longest unbeaten streak (35 games) in international football, a record held jointly by Spain and Brazil.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, who saved two spot-kicks in the shootout against England and kept three clean sheets in the tournament, became only the second goalkeeper to win the Player of the Tournament award at the Euros.
