UEFA Euro 1984
| 1984 UEFA European Football Championship | |
| UEFA Championnat Européen de Football France 1984 |
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| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  France |
| Teams | 8 |
| Venue(s) | 7 (in 7 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |
France (1st title) |
Runners-up  |
 Spain |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 41 (2.73 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Michel Platini (9 goals) |
The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France. It was the seventh European Football Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place from 12 June to 27 June 1984.
At the time, only eight countries took part in the final stage of the tournament, seven of which had to come through the qualifying stage. France qualified automatically as hosts of the event; led by Michel Platini, who scored nine goals in France's five matches, Les Bleus won the tournament - their first major international title.
Contents |
Qualification
The following teams participated in the final tournament:
Belgium
Denmark- France (automatically qualified as host)
Portugal
Romania- Spain
Yugoslavia
West Germany
Mascot
The official mascot of this European Championship was Peno, a rooster, representing the emblem of the host nation, France. It has the number 84 on the left side of its chest and its outfit is the same as the French national team, blue shirt, white shorts and red socks.
Organization
Tournament format
After trying out several formats, UEFA finally developed for the 1984 tournament the format that would serve for all subsequent eight-team European Championships. The eight qualified teams were split into two groups of four that played a round-robin schedule. The top two teams of each group advanced to semi-finals (reintroduced after being absent from the 1980 tournament) and the winners advanced to the final. The third-place game, widely perceived as an unnecessary chore, was dropped. As usual at the time, a win was credited with two points only, teams on equal points were ranked by goal difference instead of head-to-head results, and the sudden-death rule in extra time did not apply.
Venues and fixtures
France's winning bid to host the Euro was based on seven stadia. The 48,000-seat Parc des Princes in Paris was the venue for the opening match and the final. Built in 1972, it was still state-of-the-art in 1984 and needed minor improvements only. Marseille's Stade Vélodrome was expanded to 55,000 seats to host one semi-final and some group matches, becoming France's largest stadium on the occasion. Lyon's Stade de Gerland, the venue for the other semi-final and some group matches as well, was thoroughly renovated and expanded to 40,000. Saint-Étienne's Stade Geoffroy-Guichard ans Lens's Stade Félix-Bollaert were the other existing stadia that hosted group matches and were expanded to 53,000 and 49,000, respectively. Lastly, two all-new stadia were built to host group matches (and subsequently provided worthy home grounds for the traditionally strong local club teams): Nantes' Stade de la Beaujoire (53,000) was built on an entirely new site while Strasbourg's Stade de la Meinau was rebuilt from the ground up on the site of the old stadium into a modern 40,000-seat arena.
Fixtures were scheduled according to an innovative rotation schedule in which each team played its three first-round matches in three different stadia. Host France, for instance, played in Paris, Nantes, and Saint-Étienne. This formula had the advantage of exposing residents of a given city to more teams but implied multiple and sometimes costly trips from town to town for fans who wanted to follow their side. In subsequent Euros, the organizers reverted to conventional schedules in which teams played in one or two cities only.
Overall impressions
Very few hooligan-related incidents were recorded throughout the tournament. Only one minor instance of fan trouble was recorded, in Strasbourg around the West Germany vs. Portugal match. The small group of German hooligans responsible for the incidents was arrested and deported back to West Germany on the same day using a new law specially passed by the French Parliament ahead of the Euro. Overall, the organization was flawless, a feat that established France's credentials as a host nation and eventually helped it win the right to stage the 1998 World Cup.
The entire competition was marked by exceptionally fine weather which, along with the high quality of play throughout the tournament (a welcome change from the 1980 European Championship) and the absence of hooligans, contributed to a very positive and enjoyable experience for teams and fans alike.
Match officials
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Squads
Group A
- France were the favourites of English bookmakers to win the tournament with odds of 5/8. Expectations at home were sky-high following the side's brilliant display and fourth-place finish at the 1982 World Cup. Les Bleus of 1984 seemed even stronger, having remedied many of the weaknesses that had dogged them at the World Cup. In Joël Bats, France had found at long last a first-class goalkeeper. The shaky dual-sweeper central defence of 1982 has made way for a rock-solid conventional setup around centre-back Yvon Le Roux and sweeper Patrick Battiston. The midfield, where gritty defensive upstart Luis Fernandez had joined 1982 veterans Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse, and Michel Platini in the so-called carré magique ("magic square"), was arguably the best in the world. In offense, manager Michel Hidalgo had worked around the lack of a world-class striker by designing a flexible 4-4-2 system that enabled Platini, then at the zenith of his footballing abilities, to switch from playmaker to centre-forward at short notice. The only major unknown was how the team would fare under the pressure of competition, as it had been exempted from the qualifying round as the host nation.
- Belgium was a possible title contender with odds of 7/1. The surprise finalists of Euro 1980 and second-round participants at the 1982 World Cup had matured into a very solid side well used to the pressure and rigors of final-round football and built around a backbone of world-class players such as goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff, midfielder Enzo Scifo, or strikers Erwin Vandenbergh and Jan Ceulemans. The team had proven its mettle in past Euro and World Cup qualifying campaigns and was a very tough opponent for anyone on any given day. One crucial caveat was the absence from the squad of defender Eric Gerets, one of Belgium's all-time greats, who was sidelined due to injury.
- Denmark celebrated its first appearance at a major tournament in decades yet were heavily tipped as a dark horse to win the Euro (with odds of 8/1) due to an impressive qualifying campaign in which they had edged out England, winning 1-0 at Wembley in the process. Manager Sepp Piontek's compact, athletic side relied on experienced professionals from some of the best European leagues of the time (Belgium, West Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy), had no obvious weakness, and could rely on the world-class individual talent of a Frank Arnesen, a Michael Laudrup, or a Søren Lerby to make the difference.
- Yugoslavia came in as perennial underachievers with odds of 16/1. As usual, the Balkan side boasted a wealth of individual talent (Katanec, Sušić, Baždarević, Zl. Vujović, Hadžibegić, "Piksi" Stojković) that could make many a rival drool with envy. The major unknown was whether manager Todor Veselinović could meld his stars into a cohesive team, a problem that had caused the undoing of nearly every Yugoslavia team in past final rounds. Also, and most unusually for a Yugoslav side, goalkeeping appeared to be a weak spot.
Group B
- West Germany were second favourites to win the tournament, with odds of 5/2, after reaching the final of the 1982 World Cup two years before. The squad boasted the usual array of world-class talent such as goalkeeper Harald Schumacher, arguably the world's best at the time, defenders Hans-Peter Briegel and Karl-Heinz Förster, defensive midfielder Lothar Matthäus, or strikers Pierre Littbarski, Rudi Völler, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. However, offensive midfield had emerged as a significant weakness during a hard-fought qualifying campaign in the absence of playmakers such as Hansi Müller, Bernd Schuster (both mired in long-standing feuds with the German football federation), or Felix Magath (in poor form). Still, West Germany's strength remained impressive and the side's legendary ability to rise to the challenge of a major competition was a factor to be reckoned with.
- Spain, at 8/1, were only rated an outsider for the title in spite of a squad awash with talent. Goalkeeper Luis Arconada, defenders José Antonio Camacho and Antonio Maceda, midfielder Rafael Gordillo, or strikers Santillana and Francisco Carrasco could hold their own against any direct counterpart bar none. Most players were veterans of the 1978 World Cup, Euro 1980, or 1982 World Cup campaigns and were used to final-round pressure. As usual, though, the main challenge of manager Miguel Muñoz was to build a team spirit among players hailing from a footballing culture that often placed regional rivalries (such as Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona) above national unity.
- Portugal, at 14/1, were widely seen as a rising force that might be a little too green to go all the way in its first participation to the final round of a major tournament in two decades. Having eliminated 1982 World Cup third-place finisher Poland and a strong USSR side was a label of quality for a talented young "golden generation" around midfielder Fernando Chalana or strikers Diamantino and Rui Jordão. The side bore the traditional hallmarks of Portuguese football with first-class offensive power, an inspired midfield, and a gritty defense. Inexperience in a final round and occasional lapses in tactical discipline were the main concerns of manager Fernando Cabrita as the tournament opened.
- Romania, at 16/1, were a near-complete unknown whose triumph in qualifying over World Cup holders Italy and Euro 1980 third-place finishers Czechoslovakia inspired awe. Opportunities to observe the side and its star players, who all came from domestic teams, were few at a time when the country was still firmly behind the Iron Curtain. Only midfielder Ladislau Bölöni had made a name for himself with an inspired performance in the qualifier at home against Italy, while a young striker named Gheorghe Hagi was still on the eve of an illustrious career.
Tournament summary
Group matches
The opening game of tournament featured France and Denmark. The sides played out a very close encounter until Michel Platini’s goal on 78 minutes gave the hosts a 1-0 victory. The opening game also saw a premature end to the tournament for Danish midfielder Allan Simonsen who suffered a broken leg. After scoring the winner against the Danes, Platini scored a hat-trick against both Belgium and Yugoslavia as the French took maximum points from Group A. Denmark took second-place in the group with victories over Belgium and Yugoslavia while Belgium were held to just one victory. Yugoslavia, despite going out with no points, did give the hosts a fright in their last group game when they took a 1-0 advantage into the half and then reduced France's 3-1 lead to a goal (through a Stojkovic penalty) only six minutes from time. The games in Group A greatly placed the emphasis on offense as 23 goals were scored over the six matches.
Group B was less exciting in terms of goal-scoring but still managed to produce a huge surprise; West Germany failed to qualify for the semi-finals after a 1-0 defeat to Spain, Antonio Maceda's goal at the death sending the holders out. It was a major setback for the West Germans and their fans who were not used to exiting a major championship so early. Portugal managed to take the second qualifying place in the group behind the Spanish.
Semi-finals and the Final
The first semi-final between France and Portugal is often considered one of the best matches in the history of the European Championship[1]. Jean-François Domergue opened the scoring for France but Portugal equalized through Rui Jordão on 74 minutes. The game went to extra time and Jordão scored again in the 98th minute to give the Portuguese a shock lead. But the French rallied and Domergue scored sixteen minutes after Portugal went ahead. Then, with the penalty shoot-out looming, Platini scored his 8th goal of the championship to give France a memorable 3-2 victory.
The other semi-final between Spain and Denmark saw two evenly-matched sides cancel each other out and the game ended 1-1; Soren Lerby’s goal after only 7 minutes was equaled by Maceda’s goal an hour later. There was no scoring in extra-time and the match went to a shoot-out where Spain converted all five of their penalties to win 5-4. Spain were through to final of the European Championship for the first time since 1964.
The final was played to a capacity audience at the Parc-des-Princes in Paris and the home fans would not be disappointed by their team. Just before the hour mark, Platini scored from a free-kick to put France in control. Spain fought hard to get back in to the match but were unable to find a way through. France were reduced to ten players when Yvon Le Roux was sent-off but the Spanish were unable to make their advantage count. The hosts held on to the lead and Bruno Bellone’s goal in 90th minute made the final score 2-0. France had won their first major championship in world football.
Results
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 |
| Denmark |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 4 |
| Belgium |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 2 |
| Yugoslavia |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 |
| 12 June 1984 20:30 |
France |
1 – 0 | Denmark |
Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 47,570 Referee: Volker Roth (West Germany) |
Platini  78' |
(Report) |
| 13 June 1984 20:30 |
Belgium |
2 – 0 | Yugoslavia |
Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden) |
| Vandenbergh 28' Grün 45' |
(Report) |
| 16 June 1984 17:15 |
France |
5 – 0 | Belgium |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Attendance: 51,359 Referee: Bob Valentine (Scotland) |
| Platini 4' 74' (pen.) 89' Giresse 33'Fernandez 43' |
(Report) |
| 16 June 1984 20:30 |
Denmark |
5 – 0 | Yugoslavia |
Stade de Gerland, Lyon Attendance: 34,745 Referee: Augusto Lamo Castillo (Spain) |
| Arnesen 8' 69' (pen.) Berggreen 16'Elkjær 82'Lauridsen 84' |
(Report) |
| 19 June 1984 20:30 |
France |
3 – 2 | Yugoslavia |
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne Attendance: 45,789 Referee: André Daina (Switzerland) |
| Platini 59' 62' 77' |
(Report) | Šestić 32' D. Stojković 84' (pen.) |
| 19 June 1984 20:30 |
Denmark |
3 – 2 | Belgium |
La Meinau, Strasbourg Attendance: 36,911 Referee: Adolf Prokop (East Germany) |
| Arnesen 41' (pen.) Brylle 60'Elkjær 84' |
(Report) | Ceulemans 26' Vercauteren 39' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| Portugal |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| West Germany |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Romania |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 |
| 14 June 1984 17:15 |
West Germany |
0 – 0 | Portugal |
La Meinau, Strasbourg Attendance: 47,950 Referee: Romualdas Yushka (Soviet Union) |
| (Report) |
| 14 June 1984 20:30 |
Romania |
1 – 1 | Spain |
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne Attendance: 17,102 Referee: Alexis Ponnet (Belgium) |
| Bölöni 35' |
(Report) | Carrasco 22' (pen.) |
| 17 June 1984 17:15 |
West Germany |
2 – 1 | Romania |
Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Attendance: 31,803 Referee: Jan Keizer (Netherlands) |
| Völler 25' 66' |
(Report) | Coras 46' |
| 17 June 1984 20:30 |
Portugal |
1 – 1 | Spain |
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Michel Vautrot (France) |
| Sousa 52' |
(Report) | Santillana 73' |
| 20 June 1984 20:30 |
West Germany |
0 – 1 | Spain |
Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 47,691 Referee: Vojtěch Christov (Czechoslovakia) |
| (Report) | Maceda 90' |
| 20 June 1984 20:30 |
Portugal |
1 – 0 | Romania |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Attendance: 24,266 Referee: Heinz Fahnler (Austria) |
| Nené 81' |
(Report) |
Knockout stage
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| 23 June – Marseille (Stade Vélodrome) | |||||||
| France (a.e.t.) |
3 | ||||||
| Portugal |
2 | ||||||
| 27 June – Paris (Parc des Princes) | |||||||
| France |
2 | ||||||
| Spain |
0 | ||||||
| 24 June - Lyon (Stade Gerland) | |||||||
| Spain (pen.) |
1 (5) | ||||||
| Denmark |
1 (4) | ||||||
Semi-finals
| 23 June 1984 20:00 |
France |
3 – 2 (a.e.t.) | Portugal |
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 54,848 Referee: Paolo Bergamo (Italy) |
| Domergue 24' 114' Platini 119' |
(Report) | Jordão 74' 98' |
| 24 June 1984 20:00 |
Spain |
1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Denmark |
Stade de Gerland, Lyon Attendance: 47,483 Referee: George Courtney (England) |
| Maceda 67' |
(Report) | Lerby 7' |
| Penalties | |||
| Santillana Señor Urquiaga Víctor Muñoz Sarabia |
5 – 4 | Larsen Olsen Laudrup Lerby Elkjær |
Final
| 27 June 1984 20:00 |
France |
2 – 0 | Spain |
Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 47,368 Referee: Vojtěch Christov (Czechoslovakia) |
| Platini 57' Bellone 90' |
(Report) |
| Euro 1984 Champions |
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France First title |
Statistics
Goal scorers
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9 goals 3 goals
2 goals
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1 goal
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Fastest goal
3 minutes: Michel Platini (France vs Belgium)
Average goals
2.73 goals per game
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International football
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