The European Baseball Championship is a biennial tournament between the national teams of Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) members. It was first held in 1954, a year after the founding of the CEB. The competition has been dominated by the Netherlands and Italy which have combined to win 34 of the 37 Championships and placing one-two 20 times.
It has also served as the European qualification tournament for the Olympics since the Games' first tournament in 1984. In that year, Italy earned a spot in the Olympics as the 1983 tournament's winner. The second place team (the Netherlands) advanced to a play-out versus the third place nation at the 1983 Pan American Games. After 1987, the Netherlands received the European slot in the games as the tournament's winner. The second place team (Italy) advanced to a play-out versus the third place nation at the 1987 Pan American Games.
For the 1992 Olympics, with Italy earning a spot in the games as the 1991 tournament's winner. The second place team (the Netherlands) advanced a play-out versus the third place nation at the 1991 Pan American Games. Spain, the third-place team, was the Olympic host nation and also played.
For both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, the top two teams from the previous year's Championships advanced to the Olympics. In both years the Netherlands and Italy finished in first and second place respectively.
The 2003 tournament also served as a pre-qualification tournament for the 2004 Olympics, with the top seven teams earning spots in the European Olympic Qualification Tournament. Greece, which placed second, was exempted due to it have already qualified as the host nation of the Olympics. The event was a qualifier for the 2008 Olympics and was a pre-qualifier for the 2020 Olympics (the top five teams going to the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier).
European Championships[edit]
Year
|
Host City
|
Dates
|
Teams
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
Bronze
|
1954
|
Antwerp, Belgium
|
June 26 - June 27
|
4
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
Belgium
|
1955
|
Barcelona, Spain
|
July 5 - July 10
|
5
|
Spain
|
Belgium
|
Germany
|
1956
|
Rome, Italy
|
July 10 - July 15
|
5
|
Netherlands
|
Belgium
|
Italy
|
1957
|
Mannheim, Germany
|
July 7 - July 13
|
5
|
Netherlands
|
Germany
|
Italy
|
1958
|
Amsterdam, Netherlands
|
June 5 - June 12
|
6
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Germany
|
1960
|
Barcelona, Spain
|
September 22 - September 25
|
4
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
1962
|
Amsterdam, Netherlands
|
July 21 - July 29
|
7
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
1964
|
Milan, Italy
|
August 29 - September 6
|
5
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
1965
|
Madrid, Spain
|
August 29 - September 5
|
5
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Germany
|
1967
|
Antwerp, Belgium
|
August 6 - August 12
|
5
|
Belgium
|
United Kingdom
|
Germany
|
1969
|
Wiesbaden, Germany
|
July 27 - August 3
|
7
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
1971
|
Parma and Bologna in Italy
|
September 5 - September 12
|
9
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Germany
|
1973
|
Haarlem, Netherlands
|
June 30 - July 8
|
6
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
1975
|
Barcelona, Spain
|
July 25 - August 3
|
6
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Germany
|
1977
|
Haarlem, Netherlands
|
July 23 - July 31
|
6
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Belgium
|
1979
|
Trieste, Italy
|
August 11 - August 19
|
4
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Belgium
|
1981
|
Haarlem, Netherlands
|
July 11 - July 19
|
4
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Sweden
|
1983
|
Florence, Italy
|
July 28 - August 7
|
6
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Belgium
|
1985
|
Haarlem, Netherlands
|
July 6 - July 14
|
6
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Belgium
|
1987
|
Barcelona, Spain
|
July 17 - July 26
|
7
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
1989
|
Paris, France
|
September 6 - September 15
|
8
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Spain
|
1991
|
Rome, Italy
|
August 2 - August 11
|
8
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Spain
|
1993
|
Stockholm, Sweden
|
July 9 - July 18
|
8
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Sweden
|
1995
|
Haarlem, Netherlands
|
July 7 - July 16
|
10
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Belgium
|
1997
|
Paris, France
|
August 30 - September 6
|
12
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Spain
|
1999
|
Parma and Bologna in Italy
|
July 23 - July 31
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
France
|
2001
|
Bonn and Cologne in Germany
|
July 28 - August 5
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Russia
|
Italy
|
2003
|
Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands
|
July 23 - July 27
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Greece
|
Spain
|
2005
|
Blansko, Chocen, Olomouc, and Prague in the Czech Republic
|
July 7 - July 17
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
2007
|
Spain
|
September 5 - September 16
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
United Kingdom
|
Spain
|
2010
|
Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Tuebingen in Germany
|
July 23-August 1
|
12
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Germany
|
|
2012
|
Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht in Netherlands
|
September 7-September 16
|
12
|
Italy
|
Netherlands
|
Spain
|
2014
|
Regensburg in Germany and Ostrava, Brno, Blansko and Trebic in the Czech Republic
|
September 12-September 21
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
2016
|
Hoofddorp in Netherlands
|
September 9-September 18
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Spain
|
Italy
|
2019
|
Bonn and Solingen in Germany
|
September 7-September 15
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
Italy
|
Spain
|
2021
|
Turin in Italy
|
September 12-September 19
|
16
|
Netherlands
|
Israel
|
Italy
|
2023
|
Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Trebic and Blansko in Czech Republic
|
September 24-October 1
|
16
|
Spain
|
United Kingdom
|
Netherlands
|
Medaling Nations[edit]
The following countries have never won a Medal but have played in the event (best finish in parentheses): Czech Republic (5th, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2023), Croatia (7th, 2021), Hungary (16th, 2023), Ukraine (9th, 1995), Slovenia (10th, 1995), San Marino (5th, 1971), Austria (10th, 2019), Slovakia (16th, 2021) and Switzerland (12th, 2023). The Soviet Union's only appearance prior to breakup was 6th in 1991.
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