Éder's fizzing 20-metre strike in extra time proved to be the undoing of UEFA EURO 2016 hosts France, slow and steady winning the race for Portugal, despite Cristiano Ronaldo's absence.
Spain's progress to the UEFA EURO 2012 showpiece was derided as "boring" by some commentators, but Vicente del Bosque's side rounded off with a memorable final feast.
In our series looking through the UEFA European Championship annals we revisit 1960 when Viktor Ponedelnik hit the winner in the first final. Half a century on, the memory remained fresh.
Luis Suárez recalls his role in leading Spain to their first major title in a year when he also helped Internazionale Milano to the first of back-to-back European Champion Clubs' Cups.
The defining moment of Dino Zoff's career may be lifting the FIFA World Cup for Italy in 1982 at the age of 40 but 14 years earlier he was part of another triumph, as he remembers here.
The hero of the 1972 finals was Gerd Müller, who scored both goals in the 2-1 semi-final win against Belgium and two more in the 3-0 defeat of the Soviet Union. He recalls those days here.
Antonín Panenka discusses the physical toll – to his waistline – developing his audacious penalty took and why the chance to use it in the 1976 EURO final shoot-out made it all worth it.
At 23 Horst Hrubesch was playing lower league football, but six years on the "late starter" scored Germany's last-gasp winner in the 1980 UEFA European Championship final.
In an all-star France team the inspiration was captain Michel Platini, whose nine-goal tally, including two hat-tricks, remains a record. The brilliant talisman analyses France's first success.
A hat-trick against England, a semi-final winner versus West Germany and a spectacular volley to see off the Soviet Union in the final – Marco van Basten is not short of memories from 1988.
Peter Schmeichel, who kept goal for Denmark at EURO '92 in Sweden, tells UEFA.com about the emotional journey of the summer when his country stunned the watching world.
Matthias Sammer scored the quarter-final winner against Croatia and evoked memories of Franz Beckenbauer with his performances at EURO '96. Here he reflects on a memorable summer.
One of two men to make their name at the UEFA European Championship by scoring a golden goal in the final, David Trezeguet gives the lowdown on events in the Low Countries.
Greece captain Theodoros Zagorakis was Player of the Tournament in 2004 for his stubborn performances that kept a superb defence well protected. He indulges in some nostalgia here.
Xavi Hernández, whose metronomic passing and superb reading of the game made him a pivotal part of Spain's triumph, reflects on the Roja's bid for glory in Austria and Switzerland.
Cristiano Ronaldo was injured at the start of the final, but proved to be as inspiring from behind the touchline as he had been on the pitch as Portugal ground out another victory.
Andrés Iniesta reflects on Spain's historic triumph in Poland and Ukraine, how a squad rife with discord found harmony before enjoying the "magical sensation" of victory together.