  We analysed the distribution of the number of goals scored in each of the 51
football matches played in the UEFA EURO 2020 final phase as well as the
waiting times between scores (also considering censored times). We found that
the Poisson model fits the score data and the exponential distribution fits
waiting times quite well. Such a good fit could be considered somewhat
counterintuitive and unrealistic given the memoryless property of the
exponential model. However, some peculiar features of this study have to be
considered: the abilities of the teams were relatively homogeneous; the time
span was short; there was no distinction between home and away games; only the
total number of goals scored in each game was considered. Although UEFA EURO
2020 can certainly not be considered a "pure game of chance", this competition
can be seen as an intriguing example of the pervasive real-world ubiquity of
the concept of independence and its ability to encompass complex situations in
a single, parsimonious model.
