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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 slow start against Switzerland, defeated arch rivals Scotland and then defeated the Netherlands 4-1 with a superb performance 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
The following teams participated in the final tournament:
Croatia, Russia and the Czech Republic each qualified at their first attempts since the break-ups of Yugoslavia, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Turkey and Switzerland qualified for the first time. Notable absentees included Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Poland.
For details concerning the qualifying phase, check 1996 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying
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
|
|
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England
|
7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
 Netherlands
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
 Scotland
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
 Switzerland
|
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| England | 1–1 | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| Shearer 23' | (Report) | Türkyilmaz (pen) 84' |
| Netherlands | 0–0 | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Switzerland | 0–2 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Cruyff 66' Bergkamp 79' |
| Scotland | 0–2 | England |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Shearer 53' Gascoigne 79' |
| Scotland | 1–0 | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| McCoist 36' | (Report) |
| Netherlands | 1–4 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Kluivert 78' | (Report) | Shearer (pen) 23', 57' Sheringham 51', 62' |
Group B
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 France
|
7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 |
 Spain
|
5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
 Bulgaria
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
 Romania
|
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| Spain | 1–1 | Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
| Alfonso 74' | (Report) | Stoichkov (pen) 65' |
| Romania | 0–1 | France |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Dugarry 25' |
| Bulgaria | 1–0 | Romania |
|---|---|---|
| Stoichkov 3' | (Report) |
| France | 1–1 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Djorkaeff 49' | (Report) | Caminero 86' |
| France | 3–1 | Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
| Blanc 21' Penev (o.g) 63' Loko 90' |
(Report) | Stoichkov 69' |
| Romania | 1–2 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Raducioiu 29' | (Report) | Manjarín 11' Amor 84' |
Group C
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Germany
|
7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
 Czech Republic
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 |
 Italy
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
 Russia
|
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 |
| Germany | 2–0 | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Ziege 26' Möller 32' |
(Report) |
| Italy | 2–1 | Russia |
|---|---|---|
| Casiraghi 5', 52' | (Report) | Tsymbalar 21' |
| Czech Republic | 2–1 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Nedvěd 4' Bejbl 35' |
(Report) | Chiesa 18' |
| Russia | 0–3 | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Sammer 56' Klinsmann 77', 90' |
| Russia | 3–3 | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Mostovoi 49' Tetradze 54' Beschastnykh 85' |
(Report) | Suchopárek 5' Kuka 19' Šmicer 88' |
| Italy | 0–0 | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
Group D
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portugal
|
7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 |
 Croatia
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
 Denmark
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
 Turkey
|
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -5 |
| Denmark | 1–1 | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| B. Laudrup 22' | (Report) | Sá Pinto 53' |
| Turkey | 0–1 | Croatia |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Vlaović 86' |
| Portugal | 1–0 | Turkey |
|---|---|---|
| Couto 66' | (Report) |
| Croatia | 3–0 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Šuker (pen) 53', 90' Boban 81' |
(Report) |
| Croatia | 0–3 | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Figo 4' João Vieira Pinto 33' Domingos 82' |
| Turkey | 0–3 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | B. Laudrup 50', 84' A. Nielsen 69' |
Knockout stages
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 22 June - London | ||||||||||
| England (pen) | 0 (4) | |||||||||
| 26 June – London | ||||||||||
| Spain | 0 (2) | |||||||||
| England | 1 (5) | |||||||||
| 23 June - Manchester | ||||||||||
| Germany (pen) | 1 (6) | |||||||||
| Germany | 2 | |||||||||
| June 30 – London | ||||||||||
| Croatia | 1 | |||||||||
| Germany (aet) | 2 | |||||||||
| 22 June - Liverpool | ||||||||||
| Czech Republic | 1 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 0 (4) | |||||||||
| 26 June - Manchester | ||||||||||
| France (pen) | 0 (5) | |||||||||
| France | 0 (5) | |||||||||
| 23 June - Birmingham | ||||||||||
| Czech Republic (pen) | 0 (6) | |||||||||
| Czech Republic | 1 | |||||||||
| Portugal | 0 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| England | 0–0 (AET) (4-2 PSO) | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Netherlands | 0–0 (AET) (4-5 PSO) | France |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Germany | 2–1 | Croatia |
|---|---|---|
| Klinsmann (pen) 20' Sammer 59' |
(Report) | Šuker 51' |
| Czech Republic | 1–0 | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Poborský 53' | (Report) |
Semi-finals
| France | 0–0 (AET) (5-6 PSO) | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| England | 1–1 (AET) (5-6 PSO) | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Shearer 3' | (Report) | Kuntz 16' |
Final
| Germany | 2–1 (AET) | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Bierhoff 73', (GG) 95' | (Report) | Berger (pen) 59' |
| Euro 1996 Champions |
|---|
 Germany Third title |
Statistics
Goal scorers
5 Goals
3 Goals
2 Goals
UEFA Team of the Tournament
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards
UEFA MVP of the Tournament
UEFA Player of the Tournament
Fastest goal
3 Minutes : Alan Shearer (England vs Germany); Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria vs Romania)
Best Overall Player
Andrew Hughes
Average goals
2.06 per game.
Winning squad
| Germany | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Club in 1996 |
| Goalkeepers | ||
| 1 | Andreas Köpke | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| 12 | Oliver Kahn | Bayern Munich |
| 22 | Oliver Reck | Werder Bremen |
| Defenders | ||
| 2 | Stefan Reuter | Borussia Dortmund |
| 5 | Thomas Helmer | Bayern Munich |
| 6 | Matthias Sammer | Borussia Dortmund |
| 14 | Markus Babbel | Bayern Munich |
| 15 | Jürgen Kohler | Borussia Dortmund |
| 16 | René Schneider | Hansa Rostock |
| Midfielders | ||
| 3 | Marco Bode | Werder Bremen |
| 4 | Steffen Freund | Borussia Dortmund |
| 7 | Andreas Möller | Borussia Dortmund |
| 8 | Mehmet Scholl | Bayern Munich |
| 10 | Thomas Häßler | Karlsruher SC |
| 13 | Mario Basler | Werder Bremen |
| 17 | Christian Ziege | Bayern Munich |
| 19 | Thomas Strunz | Bayern Munich |
| 21 | Dieter Eilts | Werder Bremen |
| Forwards | ||
| 18 | Jürgen Klinsmann | Bayern Munich |
| 20 | Oliver Bierhoff | Udinese Calcio |
| 11 | Stefan Kuntz | Beşiktaş |
| 9 | Fredi Bobic | VfB Stuttgart |
| Coach: Berti Vogts | ||
| International association football | ||
|---|---|---|
| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
| |
| Non-FIFA | ||
| UEFA European Championship | |
|---|---|
| Tournaments |
|
| Qualifying | |
| Finals | |
| Squads | |
| Bids | |
| Statistics | |
| Broadcasting rights | |
| Other records | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| |
