(Redirected from 1996 European Football Championship)
The '1996 UEFA European Football Championship' ('Euro 96') was hosted by
England.
It was the tenth
European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by
UEFA. The tournament's final stages took place between
June 8 and
June 30,
1996. The slogan of the tournament was "Football Comes Home", as it was the first time the tournament took place in
England, the land where the game was born. English football and popular culture has since referenced the competition fondly even though the team did not reach the final. The national impact of the competition can be measured by the fact that the song "
Three Lions", which became the song the England fans sang when their team played was re-released for the 1998 World Cup containing lyrics referencing Euro 96, such as "Psycho (
Stuart Pearce) screaming" replacing "Nobby (1966 team member
Nobby Stiles) dancing".
This was the first European Championship to introduce the current format of 16 countries competing in the final tournament. Fifteen teams had to go through a qualifying round to reach the final stage. England qualified automatically as hosts of the event.
The qualifying round was played throughout 1994 and 1995. There were eight qualifying groups of six teams each, with the exception of group 3, which only had 5. The matches were played in a home-and-away basis.
The winner and the runner-up of each group qualified automatically, with the exception of the two worst runners-up. These two teams had to play an additional
playoff between them (single match in neutral ground), to determine the 16th team to join all others in the final tournament. This was between
Republic of Ireland and
the Netherlands at
Anfield Stadium,
Liverpool which the Dutch won 2-0.
The first round group stage went mainly as most observers would have expected, with almost all the major teams qualifying for the quarter-finals. The only exceptions to this were the failures of Italy (from the "Group of Death" which also had Germany and the Czech Republic in it) and defending champions Denmark. The hosts England, after a draw against Switzerland, defeated arch rivals Scotland and then defeated the Netherlands 4-1 to qualify.
However, the knock-out stages were marked for their generally uninspiring play. Only 9 goals were scored in the 7 matches, with four of the games decided by penalty shoot-outs (three of them without goals). The semi-final between England and Germany ultimately ended in disappointment for the home side, as Germany beat England on penalties.
The final of the tournament was between Germany and the surprise of the tournament - the Czech Republic. In the end, it was a triumph for German striker
Oliver Bierhoff, who scored Germany's equaliser in the 2nd half after
Patrik Berger's penalty had given the Czechs the lead. As the game went into extra time, it was Bierhoff who scored the Golden Goal (after a mistake from the Czech goalkeeper, and the first Golden Goal in the history of international football) to give Germany another major tournament success.
The Championships were notable as being one of the most poorly attended in the modern era, with only games involving the hosts tending to sell out stadiums.
Qualification
UEFA Euro 1996 finalists.
The following teams participated in the final tournament:
★
★
★
★ [holders]
★ (hosts)
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
Croatia,
Russia and the
Czech Republic each qualified at their first attempts since the break-ups of
Yugoslavia, the
USSR and
Czechoslovakia.
Bulgaria,
Turkey and
Switzerland qualified for the first time. Notable absentees included
Sweden,
Republic of Ireland,
Belgium and
Poland.
Venues
★
Wembley Stadium,
London - Capacity: 78,000
★
Old Trafford,
Manchester - Capacity: 55,000
★
Anfield,
Liverpool - Capacity: 41,000
★
Villa Park,
Birmingham - Capacity: 40,000
★
Elland Road,
Leeds - Capacity: 40,000
★
Hillsborough Stadium,
Sheffield - Capacity: 39,000
★
St James' Park,
Newcastle - Capacity 37,000
★
City Ground,
Nottingham - Capacity: 30,000
Match officials
; Austria
★
Gerd Grabher
; Belgium
★
Guy Goethals
; Belarus
★
Vadim Zhuk
; Bulgaria
★
Atanas Uzunov
; Czech Republic
★
Václav Krondl
; Denmark
★
Peter Mikkelsen
★
Kim Milton Nielsen
; England
★
David Elleray
★
Dermot Gallagher
; France
★
Marc Batta
; Germany
★
Bernd Heynemann
★
Hellmut Krug
; Hungary
★
Sándor Puhl
; Italy
★
Piero Ceccarini
★
Pierluigi Pairetto
; Netherlands
★
Mario van der Ende
; Russia
★
Nikolai Levnikov
; Scotland
★
Leslie Mottram
; Spain
★
Antonio López Nieto
★
Manuel DÃaz Vega
; Sweden
★
Anders Frisk
★
Leif Sundell
; Switzerland
★
Serge Muhmenthaler
; Turkey
★
Ahmet Çakar
Squads
For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see
1996 UEFA European Football Championship squads.
First round
Note: All times local (
BST).
Group A
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|
| '7' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| '1' | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
----
----
----
----
----
Group B
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|
| '7' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 |
| '5' | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| '0' | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
----
----
----
----
----
Group C
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|
| '7' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| '1' | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 |
----
----
----
----
----
Group D
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|
| '7' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 |
| '6' | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| '0' | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -5 |
----
----
----
----
----
Knockout stages
Quarter-finals
----
----
----
Semi-finals
----
Final
| Euro 1996 Champions |
|---|
 Germany
'Germany'
'Third title' |
Statistics
Goal scorers
'5 Goals'
★
Alan Shearer
'3 Goals'
★
Hristo Stoichkov
★
Jürgen Klinsmann
★
Davor Å uker
★
Brian Laudrup
'2 Goals'
★
Oliver Bierhoff
★
Matthias Sammer
★
Teddy Sheringham
★
Pierluigi Casiraghi
UEFA Team of the Tournament
'Goalkeepers'
★
Andreas Köpke
★
David Seaman
'Defenders'
★
Colin Hendry
★
Fernando Couto
★
Dieter Eilts
★
Paolo Maldini
★
Matthias Sammer
'Midfielders'
★
Youri Djorkaeff
★
Paul Gascoigne
★
Karel Poborský
★
Steve McManaman
★
Jose Luis Caminero
★
Manuel Rui Costa
'Forwards'
★
Jürgen Klinsmann
★
Brian Laudrup
★
Alan Shearer
★
Davor Å uker
'UEFA Player of the Tournament'
★
Steve McManaman
Fastest goal
'3 Minutes' :
Alan Shearer (England vs Germany);
Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria vs Romania)
Best Overall Player
Jurgen Klinsmann
Average goals
2.06 per game.
Winning squad
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