On 18 June 2012, after recovering from his injury, Barzagli was picked over Leonardo Bonucci to play against Ireland alongside Juventus teammate Chiellini in Italy's last match of the Euro 2012 group stage. In his first match of the tournament, he aided the team to keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Ireland, which allowed Italy to qualify for the knock-out round. On 24 June 2012, Barzagli started in Italy's Euro 2012 quarter-final match against England, which also resulted in an Italian victory on penalties, after the match had finished 0–0 following extra time. On 28 June 2012, Barzagli continued his success in Euro 2012 by aiding Italy in a 2–1 victory against Germany. Italy were eventually defeated by defending European and World Champions Spain in the Final of the tournament; although they were defeated 4–0, their place in the final automatically qualified them for the 2013 Confederations Cup.