UEFA Euro 1996
| UEFA Euro 96 | |
| England '96 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  England |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 8 (in 8 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |
 Germany (3rd title) |
Runners-up  |
 Czech Republic |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 64 (2.06 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,276,137 (41,166 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Alan Shearer (5 goals) |
| Best player | Matthias Sammer[1] |
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, and the first to use the "Euro" name. The tournament's final stages took place between 8 June and 30 June 1996. The slogan of the tournament was "Football Comes Home", as it was the first time the tournament had taken place in England, where the rules of the game were first standardised. English football and popular culture has since referenced the competition fondly even though the home team did not reach the final.
Since the Taylor Report, England now boasted enough all-seater stadia of sufficient capacity to hold an expanded tournament. Although not all the games were sold out, the tournament had the highest aggregate attendance in championship history (1,276,000) and the highest average per game of 41,158 for the revised 16 team format with 31 games. Only Germany had had a higher average attendance in championship history with an average of 56,656 in 1988 but only staged 15 games in an 8 team championship.
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Qualification
Fifteen teams had to go through a qualifying round to reach the final stage. England qualified automatically as hosts of the event. This was the first European Championship to introduce the current format of 16 countries competing in the final tournament. UEFA had made the decision to expand the tournament as in the late 1980s and early 1990s it was far easier for European nations to qualify for the World Cup than their own continental championship; 14 of the 24 teams at the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cups had been European, whereas the European Championship finals still involved only eight teams.
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 five. 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 following teams participated in the final tournament:
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* Since the break-up of Czechoslovakia. ** Since the break-up of the USSR.
Venues
| London | Manchester | Liverpool | Birmingham |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wembley Stadium Capacity: 78,000 |
Old Trafford Capacity: 55,000 |
Anfield Capacity: 41,000 |
Villa Park Capacity: 40,000 |
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| Leeds | Sheffield | Newcastle | Nottingham |
| Elland Road Capacity: 40,000 |
Hillsborough Stadium Capacity: 39,000 |
St James' Park Capacity: 37,000 |
City Ground Capacity: 30,000 |
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Match officials
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Squads
For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 1996 UEFA European Football Championship squads.
Summary
First round
The hosts, England, got off to a slightly disappointing start in their opening match, drawing 1-1 with the Swiss when Alan Shearer’s 23rd minute goal was equaled by a late penalty kick. However, England defeated rival Scotland 2-0 in their next game and then produced one of their finest performances ever with a 4-1 win over the Netherlands. Patrick Kluivert’s late goal for Holland secured his team second-place in the group and ensured that Scotland would exit another major competition on goal difference.
Groups C and D saw some surprising results as the Czech Republic and Croatia, whose national teams had only come into existence within the past several years, qualified for the knockout stages. The Czechs lost to Germany, the eventual group winners, in their opener but then defeated Italy and drew with Russia. Italy’s defeat meant they had to beat Germany in their final game to progress but the World Cup finalists could only manage a 0-0 draw and were eliminated. In Group D, Croatia qualified for the quarter-finals with wins over Turkey (1-0) and Denmark (3-0). The loss to the Croats ultimately sent the Danes, the surprise champions of 1992, home earlier than expected.
The other three quarter-finalist were Portugal (whose Golden Generation was competing at its first major tournament), Spain, and a France team featuring a young Zinedine Zidane.
Quarter-finals and the Semi-finals
The knockout stages were earmarked by negative, defensive play and as result only 9 goals were scored in the seven games and four of the matches were decided on penalties. The first quarter-final between the hosts and Spain ended goalless, although England had several major calls go their way as the Spanish had two goals disallowed and two valid claims for a penalty denied [2]. The English progressed 4-2 on spot kicks. The shootout is still remembered for the emphatic reaction of Stuart Pearce after he scored England’s third penalty, erasing the memory of his miss in the 1990 World Cup semi-final. France and Holland also played out a drab 0-0 draw with France winning the penalty shootout 5-4. Jurgen Klinsmann opened the scoring for Germany in their match against Croatia. A great goal from Davor Šuker evened the score after 51 minutes before Matthias Sammer of Germany scored eight minutes later and the game ended 2-1 to Germany. The Czech Republic progressed after beating Portugal 1-0.
The first semi-final, featuring France and the Czech Republic, resulted in yet another 0-0 draw and penalties were required again. Reynald Pedros was the lone player to miss in the shootout as the Czech Republic won 6-5. The other semi-final was a repeat of the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Germany and England. Alan Shearer headed in after 3 minutes to give his side the lead but Stefan Kuntz evened the score less than 15 minutes later and the score remained 1-1 after 90 minutes. In extra-time, Paul Gascoigne came very close to scoring a Golden Goal but missed a cross from Shearer by mere inches and Kuntz had a goal disallowed for pushing. Neither team was able to find a second goal and another knockout game in this competition required penalties. Both sides scored their first five kicks but in the sixth round, Gareth Southgate had his penalty saved, allowing Andreas Moller to score the winning the goal.
Final
The final saw the upstart Czech Republic hoping to repeat the dramatics of Euro 76 when Czechoslovakia defeated West Germany; the Germans were aiming to secure their third European Championship. A repeat of 1976 looked possible when Patrick Berger scored from a penalty in 59th minute to put the Czech ahead. However, German substitute Oliver Bierhoff scored to make it 1-1, sending the game to extra-time. Five minutes into the extra frame, Bierhoff’s shot was mishandled by Czech goalkeeper Kouba and the ball ended up in the back of the net for the first Golden Goal in the history of the competition. Germany were European champions once again.
Results
First round
Note: All times local (BST/UTC+1).
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7 |
 Netherlands |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
 Scotland |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
 Switzerland |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
| 8 June 1996 15:00 |
England |
1 – 1 | Switzerland |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 76,567 Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain) |
Shearer  23' |
(Report) | Türkyilmaz 84' (pen.) |
| 10 June 1996 16:30 |
Netherlands |
0 – 0 | Scotland |
Villa Park, Birmingham Attendance: 34,363 Referee: Leif Sundell (Sweden) |
| (Report) |
| 13 June 1996 19:30 |
Switzerland |
0 – 2 | Netherlands |
Villa Park, Birmingham Attendance: 36,800 Referee: Atanas Uzunov (Bulgaria) |
| (Report) | Cruyff 66' Bergkamp 79' |
| 15 June 1996 15:00 |
Scotland |
0 – 2 | England |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 76,864 Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy) |
| (Report) | Shearer 53' Gascoigne 79' |
| 18 June 1996 19:30 |
Scotland |
1 – 0 | Switzerland |
Villa Park, Birmingham Attendance: 34,946 Referee: Václav Krondl (Czech Republic) |
| McCoist 36' |
(Report) |
| 18 June 1996 19:30 |
Netherlands |
1 – 4 | England |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 76,798 Referee: Gerd Grabher (Austria) |
| Kluivert 78' |
(Report) | Shearer 23' (pen.) 57' Sheringham 51' 62' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 France |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 |
 Spain |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 |
 Bulgaria |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
 Romania |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
| 9 June 1996 14:30 |
Spain |
1 – 1 | Bulgaria |
Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 24,006 Referee: Piero Ceccarini (Italy) |
| Alfonso 74' |
(Report) | Stoichkov 65' (pen.) |
| 10 June 1996 19:30 |
Romania |
0 – 1 | France |
St James' Park, Newcastle Attendance: 26,323 Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany) |
| (Report) | Dugarry 25' |
| 13 June 1996 16:30 |
Bulgaria |
1 – 0 | Romania |
St James' Park, Newcastle Attendance: 19,107 Referee: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) |
| Stoichkov 3' |
(Report) |
| 15 June 1996 18:00 |
France |
1 – 1 | Spain |
Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 35,626 Referee: Vadim Zhuk (Belarus) |
| Djorkaeff 49' |
(Report) | Caminero 86' |
| 18 June 1996 16:30 |
France |
3 – 1 | Bulgaria |
St James' Park, Newcastle Attendance: 26,976 Referee: Dermot Gallagher (England) |
| Blanc 21' Penev 63' (o.g.)Loko 90' |
(Report) | Stoichkov 69' |
| 18 June 1996 16:30 |
Romania |
1 – 2 | Spain |
Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 32,719 Referee: Ahmet Çakar (Turkey) |
| Răducioiu 29' |
(Report) | Manjarín 11' Amor 84' |
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 7 |
| Czech Republic |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
 Italy |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
 Russia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 1 |
| 9 June 1996 17:00 |
Germany |
2 – 0 | Czech Republic |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 37,300 Referee: David Elleray (England) |
| Ziege 26' Möller 32' |
(Report) |
| 11 June 1996 16:30 |
Italy |
2 – 1 | Russia |
Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 35,120 Referee: Leslie Mottram (Scotland) |
| Casiraghi 5' 52' |
(Report) | Tsymbalar 21' |
| 14 June 1996 19:30 |
Czech Republic |
2 – 1 | Italy |
Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 37,320 Referee: Antonio López Nieto (Spain) |
| Nedvěd 4' Bejbl 35' |
(Report) | Chiesa 18' |
| 16 June 1996 15:00 |
Russia |
0 – 3 | Germany |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 50,760 Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) |
| (Report) | Sammer 56' Klinsmann 77' 90' |
| 19 June 1996 19:30 |
Russia |
3 – 3 | Czech Republic |
Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 21,128 Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden) |
| Mostovoi 49' Tetradze 54'Beschastnykh 85' |
(Report) | Suchopárek 5' Kuka 19'Šmicer 88' |
| 19 June 1996 19:30 |
Italy |
0 – 0 | Germany |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 53,740 Referee: Guy Goethals (Belgium) |
| (Report) |
Group D
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portugal |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 |
 Croatia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 |
 Denmark |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
 Turkey |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
| 9 June 1996 19:30 |
Denmark |
1 – 1 | Portugal |
Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield Attendance: 34,993 Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) |
| B. Laudrup 22' |
(Report) | Sá Pinto 53' |
| 11 June 1996 19:30 |
Turkey |
0 – 1 | Croatia |
City Ground, Nottingham Attendance: 22,406 Referee: Serge Muhmenthaler (Switzerland) |
| (Report) | Vlaović 86' |
| 14 June 1996 16:30 |
Portugal |
1 – 0 | Turkey |
City Ground, Nottingham Attendance: 22,670 Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary) |
| Couto 66' |
(Report) |
| 16 June 1996 18:00 |
Croatia |
3 – 0 | Denmark |
Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield Attendance: 33,671 Referee: Marc Batta (France) |
| Šuker 53' (pen.) 90' Boban 81' |
(Report) |
| 19 June 1996 16:30 |
Croatia |
0 – 3 | Portugal |
City Ground, Nottingham Attendance: 20,484 Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany) |
| (Report) | Figo 4' Pinto 33'Domingos 82' |
| 19 June 1996 16:30 |
Turkey |
0 – 3 | Denmark |
Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield Attendance: 28,951 Referee: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia) |
| (Report) | B. Laudrup 50' 84' Nielsen 69' |
Knockout stages
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 23 June – Manchester | ||||||||||
| Germany |
2 | |||||||||
| 26 June – London | ||||||||||
| Croatia |
1 | |||||||||
| Germany (pen.) |
1 (6) | |||||||||
| 22 June – London | ||||||||||
| England |
1 (5) | |||||||||
| Spain |
0 (2) | |||||||||
| 30 June – London | ||||||||||
| England (pen.) |
0 (4) | |||||||||
| Germany (a.e.t.) |
2 | |||||||||
| 23 June – Birmingham | ||||||||||
| Czech Republic |
1 | |||||||||
| Czech Republic |
1 | |||||||||
| 26 June – Manchester | ||||||||||
| Portugal |
0 | |||||||||
| Czech Republic (pen.) |
0 (6) | |||||||||
| 22 June – Liverpool | ||||||||||
| France |
0 (5) | |||||||||
| France (pen.) |
0 (5) | |||||||||
| Netherlands |
0 (4) | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| 22 June 1996 15:00 |
Spain |
0 – 0 (a.e.t.) | England |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 75,440 Referee: Marc Batta (France) |
| (Report) |
| Penalties | |||
Hierro  Amor Belsúe Nadal |
2 – 4 | Shearer Platt Pearce Gascoigne |
| 22 June 1996 18:30 |
France |
0 – 0 (a.e.t.) | Netherlands |
Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 37,465 Referee: Antonio López Nieto (Spain) |
| (Report) |
| Penalties | |||
| Zidane Djorkaeff Lizarazu Guérin Blanc |
5 – 4 | de Kock R. de Boer Kluivert Seedorf Blind |
| 23 June 1996 15:00 |
Germany |
2 – 1 | Croatia |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 43,412 Referee: Leif Sundell (Sweden) |
| Klinsmann 20' (pen.) Sammer 59' |
(Report) | Šuker 51' |
| 23 June 1996 18:30 |
Czech Republic |
1 – 0 | Portugal |
Villa Park, Birmingham Attendance: 26,832 Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany) |
| Poborský 53' |
(Report) |
Semi-finals
| 26 June 1996 16:00 |
France |
0 – 0 (a.e.t.) | Czech Republic |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 43,877 Referee: Leslie Mottram (Scotland) |
| (Report) |
| Penalties | |||
| Zidane Djorkaeff Lizarazu Guérin Blanc Pedros |
5 – 6 | Kubík Nedvěd Berger Poborský Rada Kadlec |
| 26 June 1996 19:30 |
Germany |
1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | England |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 75,862 Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary) |
| Kuntz 16' |
(Report) | Shearer 3' |
| Penalties | |||
| Häßler Strunz Reuter Ziege Kuntz Möller |
6 – 5 | Shearer Platt Pearce Gascoigne Sheringham Southgate |
Final
| 30 June 1996 19:00 |
Germany |
2 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Czech Republic |
Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 73,611 Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy) |
Bierhoff 73'  95' |
(Report) | Berger 59' (pen.) |
| Euro 1996 Champions |
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Germany Third title |
Statistics
Goalscorers
5 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Oliver Bierhoff
- Matthias Sammer
- Teddy Sheringham
- Pierluigi Casiraghi
UEFA Team of the Tournament
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
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UEFA Tournament Golden Boot Award
UEFA Player of the Tournament
- Matthias Sammer[1]
Fastest goal
3 minutes : Alan Shearer (England vs Germany); Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria vs Romania)
Average goals
2.06 goals per game
References
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UEFA Euro 1996 stages
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| UEFA Euro 1996 general information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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UEFA Euro 1996 finalists
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International football
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