SQL Exercise: Find the teams played the first match of EURO cup 2016

Last update on January 16 2026 12:32:44 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

1. From the following table, write a SQL query to find out which teams played the first match of the 2016 Euro Cup. Return match number, country name.

Sample table: match_details

 match_no | play_stage | team_id | win_lose | decided_by | goal_score | penalty_score | ass_ref | player_gk
----------+------------+---------+----------+------------+------------+---------------+---------+-----------
        1 | G          |    1207 | W        | N          |          2 |               |   80016 |    160140
        1 | G          |    1216 | L        | N          |          1 |               |   80020 |    160348
        2 | G          |    1201 | L        | N          |          0 |               |   80003 |    160001
        2 | G          |    1221 | W        | N          |          1 |               |   80023 |    160463
        3 | G          |    1224 | W        | N          |          2 |               |   80031 |    160532
        3 | G          |    1218 | L        | N          |          1 |               |   80025 |    160392
        4 | G          |    1206 | D        | N          |          1 |               |   80008 |    160117
        4 | G          |    1217 | D        | N          |          1 |               |   80019 |    160369
        5 | G          |    1222 | L        | N          |          0 |               |   80011 |    160486
..........
       51 | F          |    1207 | L        | N          |          0 |               |   80007 |    160140

View the table

Sample table: soccer_country

 country_id | country_abbr |    country_name
------------+--------------+---------------------
       1201 | ALB          | Albania
       1202 | AUT          | Austria
       1203 | BEL          | Belgium
       1204 | CRO          | Croatia
       1205 | CZE          | Czech Republic
       1206 | ENG          | England
       1207 | FRA          | France
       1208 | GER          | Germany
       1209 | HUN          | Hungary
.....
       1229 | NOR          | Norway

View the table

Sample Solution:

SQL Code:

-- This SQL query retrieves the match number and country name from the 'match_details' and 'soccer_country' tables
-- where the team ID in 'match_details' matches the country ID in 'soccer_country' and the match number is 1.

SELECT match_no, country_name
-- Selects the match number and country name columns.
FROM match_details a, soccer_country b
-- Specifies the tables involved in the query, using aliases 'a' for 'match_details' and 'b' for 'soccer_country'.
WHERE a.team_id = b.country_id
-- Connects rows in 'match_details' where 'team_id' matches 'country_id' in 'soccer_country'.
AND a.match_no = 1;
-- Further filters rows where the match number is 1.

Sample Output:

 match_no | country_name
----------+--------------
        1 | France
        1 | Romania
(2 rows)

Code Explanation:

The said query in SQL that retrieves the match number and country name from the tables 'match_details' alias as a and 'soccer_country' alias as b where the team ID in the 'match_details' table must matche the country ID in the 'soccer_country' table, and the match number must be 1.

Alternative Solution:

Using INNER JOIN:


SELECT match_no, country_name
FROM match_details a
JOIN soccer_country b ON a.team_id = b.country_id
WHERE a.match_no = 1;

Explanation:

This query uses an INNER JOIN to combine the match_details and soccer_country tables based on the condition that team_id matches country_id. It then filters the results to only include rows where match_no is 1.

Relational Algebra Expression: