UEFA Euro 1996 in England - "Football Comes Home"

1996 UEFA European Football Championship ( Euro 96 ) was the tenth European Football Championship and endorsed by UEFA. The slogan of the tournament was "Football Comes Home". UEFA 1966 took place in England, the mother country of football, with an enlarged competition and altered regulations. Euro 96 saw England host their first major tournament since the World Cup in 1966. The tournament's final stages took place between 8 June and 30 June 1996. 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. Sixteen nations were divided into four groups of four, with the top two going into the quarter-finals. The position of teams level on points would be decided not by goal difference but the result of the match between the two. And the knockout stages would see the introduction of the golden goal for the first time in any senior international competition. Fifteen teams had to go through a qualifying round to reach the final stage. England qualified automatically as hosts of the event. The other teams were:

1996 UEFA European Football Championship itself could hardly have hoped for a better venue, with England's renovated stadia and heightened public enthusiasm creating the perfect backdrop. England now boasted enough all-seater stadia of sufficient capacity to hold an expanded tournament:

• 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

At Wembley the host nation made a stuttering start as they were held by Switzerland before Paul Gascoigne produced one of the goals of the year to help England beat old foe Scotland to set up a meting with the Dutch. Terry Venables' Christmas Tree formation won the with England sweeping to an incredible 4-1 victory, while the mighty Oranje edged into the next phase amid rumours of internal strife within the squad. Only a late goal from Patrick Kluivert in that final match kept Netherlands in the event as they went through at the expense of the Scottish on goals scored.

In the first round the only major shock saw the fancied Italians bow out behind Germany and the Czech Republic as the Azzurri only earned a single point from a goalless draw against the Germans. The toughest group was won by France, with Spain coming second while Bulgaria and Romania both failed to build on their strong performances at the World Cup Finals year earlier. Portugal and Croatia topped Group D with holders Denmark going home along with Turkey.

The highlight of the finals was the host country. England in the previous tournaments could not achieve satisfactory results, but this time Terry Venables' squad fought bravely cheered by their home fans. Led by Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne with a good performance from youngsters Darren Anderton and Steve McManaman, they qualified as group winners. England won the match against Spain after a scoreless draw and a penalty shoot-out.

Many had hoped that England and Germany would be kept apart in the semi finals, but it was not to be and the neutrals' dream final was to be played out a round earlier. The Czech Republic nullified and eliminated on penalties a French side that was about to be rebuilt to go on and win both the European Championships and the World Cup in the following four years. But at Wembley the agonising drama of an all-grey England side was played out and once again the Three Lions proved all too fallable from the penalty spot.

In the semi-final Britain played against Germany. An early goal from Alan Shearer was quickly cancelled out by German veteran Stefan Kuntz. This fateful match also turned out to be decided by a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw, but the winners were the Germans. The first ten penalties were all converted before England's Gareth Southgate saw his low shot saved by Kopke in the German goal. It was then down to German number 7 Andreas Moller who coolly converted his spot kick to book Germany's place in the final.

The other finalists Czech Republic had talents such as Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved and put up a brave fight. They defeated Portugal in the quarter-final. Czech Republic won a match against France on penalties after a 0-0 draw. In such a way they reached the final. France only conceded two goals in the whole tournament although it was in front of goal where their problems lay.

The final of the tournament was between Germany and the surprise of the tournament – the Czech Republic. After a 1-1 draw, the extra time seemed to end without a goal. 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. Bierhoff who scored the Golden Goal (after a mistake from the Czech goalkeeper, and the first Golden Goal in the history of international football) propelled his team to the third European Championship.

Czech Republic: Kouba, Suchopárek, Nedved, Kadlec, Nemec, Poborsky (Smicer 88), Kuka, Bejbl, Berger, Hornák, Rada

Germany: Köpke, Helmer, Sammer, Scholl (Bierhoff 69), Hässler, Kuntz, Babbel, Ziege, Klinsmann, Strunz, Eilts (Bode 46).

Goals: 1- 0 Patrick Berger (pen) 59; 1-1 Oliver Bierhoff 73; 1-2 Oliver Bierhoff 100.