The UEFA European Football Championship for men has featured mascots since 1980. The first mascot was Pinocchio, for the UEFA Euro 1980 in Italy.[1] Since then, every tournament has had a mascot except for the UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012, that both had two. The mascots are mostly targeted at children, with cartoon shows and other merchandise released to coincide with the competition.
In 2017, UEFA Women's Championship launched its first-ever mascot, Kicky for the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 which was held in the Netherlands.
List of mascots
editMen's Tournament
editFor the men's tournament, there have been a total of 12 mascots (a duo was featured in both 2008 and 2012) in the nine tournaments since 1980:
| European Football Championship | Mascot(s) | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy 1980 | Pinocchio | Based on the character from the children's story of the same name. Pinocchio is a small wooden boy with a long nose in the colours of the Italy national flag and a white hat emblazoned with EUROPA 80.[1][2] | |
| France 1984 | Péno | A white cockerel, a traditional national symbol of France, dressed in a French coloured football strip? including football boots and white gloves.[3] | |
| West Germany 1988 | Berni | An anthropomorphic, cartoon Flemish Giant rabbit wearing a football kit in the colours of the Germany national flag: a black shirt with UEFA across the front, red shorts and yellow socks, additionally with white head and wristbands. Mostly depicted while jumping and dribbling a football. | |
| Sweden 1992 | Rabbit | The 1992 mascot was also a rabbit, this time in the Swede national colours, but with head and wristbands dribbling a football like the mascot from four years prior. | |
| England 1996 | Goaliath | Goaliath was designed in a similar fashion to the original mascot of the 1966 World Cup called World Cup Willie. Goaliath is a lion dressed in an England kit and football boots whilst holding a football under his right arm. | |
| Netherlands/Belgium 2000 | Benelucky | A lion with a devil's tail and human hands. A lion's head appears on the crest of the Royal Dutch Football Association, and the Belgium national football team is historically nicknamed the "Red Devils". The name Benelucky is a portmanteau of "Benelux", the term for the three nations of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and the ending "-lucky" wishing the participating teams good luck.
It wore football boots and held a football under its left arm. One of the most striking characteristics of Benelucky was its multicoloured mane which incorporated the colours of both the Belgian and the Dutch national flags. |
|
| Portugal 2004 | Kinas | A cartoon version of a boy dressed in the Portugal football strip. The mascot's name, Kinas, is taken from "Bandeira das Quinas", which is a name for the Portugal national flag. | 
|
| Austria/Switzerland 2008 | Trix and Flix | A twin set of mascots to represent the two host countries, Austria and Switzerland. The Rainbow Productions and Warner Bros. design was of two children dressed in red and white football strips. These are the colours of the national flags of Austria and Switzerland. | |
| Poland/Ukraine 2012 | Slavek and Slavko | Once again, Rainbow Productions and Warner Bros. created the mascots. The twins represent the two host nations, Poland and Ukraine. One wears the Poland national colours of white and red, the other wears the yellow and blue of Ukraine. | .jpg)
|
| France 2016 | Super Victor | A child in the kit of the France national football team, with a red cape at the back to echo the flag of France. Other considered named were Dribblou and Goalix. The cape, boots and ball are claimed to be the child's superpowers.[4] | |
| Euro 2020 | Skillzy | A character inspired by freestyle football, street football and panna culture.[5] | |
| Germany 2024 | Albärt | Through its design and endearing presence, the mascot pays homage to the enduring appeal of the humble teddy bear, which is said to have originated in Germany in the early 20th century.[6] Following a vote from website users and children across Europe, Albärt has been chosen as the name for the official mascot of UEFA EURO 2024 [7] | 
|
| United Kingdom/Ireland 2028 | TBD | ||
| Italy/Turkey 2032 | TBD |
Women's Tournament
editFor the women's tournament, there have been a total of 4 mascots (a trio was featured in 2022) in the 2 tournaments since 2017:
| Women's European Football Championship | Mascot(s) | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands 2017 | Kicky | Kicky is an orange-coloured cat-like lion mascot. | |
| England 2022 | Hat Trick | The Hat Trick are girl-like robots and the trio consist of Kai (yellow), Ashley (pink) and Robyn (blue). | |
| Switzerland 2025 | TBD |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Italy meets UEFA European Football Championship 1980 (Euro 80)". Euro 2012 Live Online. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ "Brands - Pinocchio". Brands of the World. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ "Brands - Peno". Brands of the World. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
- ^ "EURO mascot name revealed as Super Victor". 30 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014.
- ^ "EURO 2020 mascot revealed... now it's your move". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 March 2019. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ "UEFA EURO 2024 mascot unveiled – now we need your helping naming it!". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 June 2023.
- ^ "EURO 2024 mascot named: Meet Albärt!". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 5 July 2023.
External links
edit- The weird and wonderful world of EURO mascots at UEFA.com