UEFA Euro 1984

1984 UEFA European Football Championship
UEFA Championnat Européen de Football
France 1984

UEFA Euro 1984 official logo
Tournament details
Host country  France
Dates 12 June – 27 June
Teams 8
Venue(s) (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)
Attendance 597,639 (39,843 per match)
Top scorer(s) Michel Platini (9 goals)
1980
1988

The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France. West Germany also bid for the hosting of this event.[1] It was the seventh European Football Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place from 12 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:

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.

Organisation

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. Stade de Gerland in Lyon, the venue for the other semi-final and some group matches as well, was thoroughly renovated and expanded to 40,000. Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne and Stade Félix-Bollaert in Lens 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): Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes (53,000) was built on an entirely new site while Stade de la Meinau in Strasbourg 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 organisers reverted to conventional schedules in which teams played in one or two cities only.

Paris Marseille Lyon Saint-Étienne
Parc des Princes Stade Vélodrome Stade de Gerland Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
Capacity: 48,000 Capacity: 55,000 Capacity: 40,000 Capacity: 53,000
Lens Nantes Strasbourg
Stade Félix-Bollaert Stade de la Beaujoire Stade de la Meinau
Capacity: 49,000 Capacity: 53,000 Capacity: 40,000

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 organisation was flawless, a feat that established France's credentials as a host nation and eventually helped it win the right to stage the 1998 FIFA 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

Austria
  • Heinz Fahnler
Belgium
Czechoslovakia
East Germany
England
France
Italy
Netherlands
Scotland
Spain
Soviet Union
  • Romualdas Yushka
Switzerland
West Germany

Squads

Group A

Group B

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 equalised 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

First round

All Time are CEST/UTC+2

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: 41,774
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: Robert Valentine (Scotland)
Platini  4'  74' (pen.)  89'
Giresse  33'
Fernández  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: 44,566
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) Coraş  46'

17 June 1984
20:30
Portugal  1 – 1  Spain Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 24,364
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 (aet) 3  
  Portugal 2  
 
27 June – Paris (Parc des Princes)
      France 2
    Spain 0
24 June – Lyon (Stade Gerland)
  Spain (p) 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 Brylle
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)

Statistics

Goalscorers

41 goals were scored in 15 games for an average of 2.73 goals per game.

9 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

References

  1. ^ Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling: Die Geschichte der Fußball-Europameisterschaft, Verlag Die Werkstatt, ISBN 978-3-89533-553-2