Euro 1996 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 equalled 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 the Netherlands 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. Turkey became the first team since the introduction of a Group Stage to be eliminated without gaining a point or scoring a goal.

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 semi-finals

The knockout stages were characterised 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. 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 the Netherlands also played out a drab 0–0 draw with France winning the penalty shootout 5–4. Jürgen 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, Darren Anderton hit the post 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 Möller to score the winning 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, the first time as a unified country.