UEFA Euro 1996

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UEFA Euro 96
England '96
160px
UEFA Euro 1996 official logo
Football Comes Home
Tournament details
Host country England
Dates 8 June – 30 June
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 1,275,857 (41,157 per match)
Top scorer(s) England Alan Shearer (5 goals)
Best player Germany Matthias Sammer
← 1992
2000 →

The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations. It took place in England from 8 to 30 June 1996.

It was the first European Championship to feature 16 finalists, following UEFA's decision to expand the tournament from eight teams. Games were staged in eight cities and, although not all games were sold out, the tournament holds the European Championship's second-highest aggregate attendance (1,276,000) and average per game (41,158) for the 16-team format,[1] surpassed only in 2012.[2]

Germany won the tournament, beating the Czech Republic 2–1 in the final with a golden goal during extra time; this was the first major competition to be decided using this method. This was Germany's first major title won as a unified nation.

Bid process

At the time of the bid process, the event was still not confirmed to include sixteen teams. Instead, the bids were largely prepared as if hosting an eight-team tournament, meaning only four venues were due to be required.[3] All candidates had to submit their plans by 10 December 1991.[4]

The hosting of the event was contested by five bids: Austria, England, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal. The English bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Lisbon on 5 May 1992.[5] In the year preceding the decision, the English FA had dropped out of their plans to also bid for the 1998 World Cup in order to gain the support of other UEFA members who were to bid for that event.[5]

Summary

First round

The hosts, England, drew 1–1 with Switzerland in the opening match of Group A when Alan Shearer's 23rd-minute goal was equalled by a late Kubilay Türkyilmaz penalty kick.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

Group A game Scotland v Netherlands at Villa Park

Group B had Western European France and Spain, along with Balkan World Cup participants Romania and Bulgaria. France and Spain dominated the group,[9][10] with France avenging Bulgaria for the 1994 qualification debacle,[11] and World Cup quarter-finalists Romania going home,[12] with no points and only one goal scored.

Groups C and D saw the Czech Republic and Croatia, whose national teams had only recently come into existence, qualify for the knockout stages. The Czechs lost to Germany, the eventual group winners, in their opener, but then defeated Italy and drew with Russia.[13][14] 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.[15] In Group D, Croatia qualified for the quarter-finals, with wins over Turkey (1–0) and Denmark (3–0).[16] The loss to the Croats ultimately sent the Danes, the surprise champions of 1992, home. 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-finalists 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; as a result, only nine 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, after Spain had two goals disallowed and two claims for a penalty denied.[17] The English progressed 4–2 on spot kicks.[18] France and Netherlands also played out a 0–0 draw, with France winning the penalty shootout 5–4.[19] Jürgen Klinsmann opened the scoring for Germany in their match against Croatia. A 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.[20] Czech Republic progressed after beating Portugal 1–0.[21][22]

View of Wembley Stadium from Wembley Way before the Germany v England semi-final

The first semi-final, featuring France and Czech Republic, resulted in another 0–0 draw and penalties. Reynald Pedros was the one player to miss in the shootout, as Czech Republic won the penalty shoot-out 6–5.[23] The other semi-final was a repeat of the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Germany and England. Alan Shearer headed in, after three 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 fractionally missed a cross from Shearer in front of the empty goal, Darren Anderton hit the post, and Kuntz had a goal disallowed for pushing. Neither team was able to find a second goal. In 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.[24]

Final

The final saw the Czech Republic hoping to repeat Euro 1976 when Czechoslovakia defeated West Germany; the Germans were aiming to win their third European Championship. Patrik Berger scored from a penalty in 59th minute to put the Czechs ahead. German substitute Oliver Bierhoff then scored to make it 1–1. Five minutes into extra time, Bierhoff's shot was mishandled by Czech goalkeeper Kouba[25] 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 again, the first time as a unified country.

Qualification

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying

On 30 November 1992, UEFA formally decided to expand the tournament to sixteen teams.[26] UEFA cited the increased number of international teams following the recent break up of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia – rising from 33 UEFA members in 1988 to 48 by 1994 – as a driving factor behind the expansion.[27] Forty-seven teams ultimately entered to compete for the fifteen remaining places in the finals, alongside hosts England.[28]

The draw for the qualifying competition took place in Manchester on 22 January 1994.[29] The teams were divided into eight groups, each containing either six or five teams. The qualifying process began in April 1994 and concluded in December 1995. At the conclusion of the qualifying group stage in November 1994, the eight group winners qualified automatically, along with the six highest ranked second placed teams. The remaining two second placed teams – The Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland – contested a one-off play-off match in England to decide the final qualifier.

Qualified teams

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See also: UEFA Euro 1996 squads

The following sixteen teams qualified for the finals:

Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament1, 2
 England 00Hosts 5 May 1992 4 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1992)
 Romania 10Group 1 winner 15 November 1995 1 (1984)
 France 05Group 1 runners-up 15 November 1995 3 (1960, 1984, 1992)
 Spain 13Group 2 winner 15 November 1995 4 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988)
 Denmark 04Group 2 runners-up 15 November 1995 4 (1964, 1984, 1988, 1992)
  Switzerland 14Group 3 winner 11 October 1995 0 (debut)
 Turkey 15Group 3 runners-up 15 November 1995 0 (debut)
 Croatia 02Group 4 winner 15 November 1995 0 (debut)
 Italy 07Group 4 runners-up 15 November 1995 3 (1968, 1980, 1988)
 Czech Republic3 03Group 5 winner 15 November 1995 3 (1960, 1976, 1980)
 Portugal 09Group 6 winner 15 November 1995 1 (1984)
 Germany4 06Group 7 winner 15 November 1995 6 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992)
 Bulgaria 01Group 7 runners-up 15 November 1995 0 (debut)
 Russia5 11Group 8 winner 15 November 1995 6 (1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992)
 Scotland 12Group 8 runners-up 15 November 1995 1 (1992)
 Netherlands 08Play-off winner 13 December 1995 4 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host for that year
3 from 1960 to 1992, Czech Republic competed in the European Championship final tournament as Czechoslovakia
4 from 1972 to 1988, Germany competed in the European Championship final tournament as West Germany
5 from 1960 to 1988, Russia competed in the European Championship final tournament as the Soviet Union and in 1992 as the Commonwealth of Independent States

With the extended format, three teams were able to qualify for their first European Championship: Bulgaria, Switzerland and Turkey. Croatia and Russia competed for the first time in their own right since the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union (though the Russian team is considered by FIFA to be the direct descendant of the Soviet Union and CIS teams that had appeared in six past tournaments). Seven of the eight participants at the previous tournament in 1992 were again present, with only Sweden – despite also having finished third in the World Cup two years earlier – missing out.

Final draw

The draw for the final tournament took place on 17 December 1995 at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.[30] Only four teams were seeded: England (as hosts), Denmark (as holders), Spain and Germany. The remaining twelve teams were all unseeded and could be drawn in any group.[30]

In the draw procedure, the unseeded teams were drawn one-by-one into each of the four groups before finally the four seeds were then drawn out. While it was decreed in advance that England's group would be Group A, the remaining three groups were then drawn out a letter to decide the name of their group, and therefore determine what venues they would play at.[30] The balls were drawn by UEFA figures Gerhard Aigner and Lennart Johansson.[30]

Venues

Since the implementation of the Taylor Report in 1990, following the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, England now had enough all-seater stadia of sufficient capacity to hold an expanded tournament due to the necessary stadium refurbishment by its leading clubs. The stadium capacities listed in the table are for the time of the tournament.

Flag map of England.svg

London
Soccer ball.svg
Manchester
Soccer ball.svg
Liverpool
Soccer ball.svg
Birmingham
Soccer ball.svg
Leeds
Soccer ball.svg
Sheffield
Soccer ball.svg
Newcastle
Soccer ball.svg
Nottingham
Soccer ball.svg
London Manchester
Wembley Stadium
Capacity: 76,567		 Old Trafford
Capacity: 55,000
The Charity Shield of 1974 at Wembley - geograph.org.uk - 620498.jpg Old Trafford march 1992.JPG
Liverpool Birmingham
Anfield
Capacity: 42,730		 Villa Park
Capacity: 40,310
View of inside Anfield Stadium from Anfield Road Stand.jpg Villa Park.jpg
Leeds Sheffield Nottingham Newcastle
Elland Road
Planned capacity: 40,204		 Hillsborough
Capacity: 39,859		 City Ground
Capacity: 30,539		 St James' Park
Capacity: 36,649
Ellandrd.jpg Sheffield Wednesday FC.jpg City Ground, Nottingham - geograph.org.uk - 83567.jpg Bulgaria Romania Euro 96 A.jpg

Match ball

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Main article: Adidas Questra

A custom version of the Adidas Questra, the Questra Europa, was the official match ball of the championships. The design of the ball included a reworking of the England badge, and was the first coloured ball in a major football tournament.[31]

Match officials

Country Referee Assistants Matches refereed
Austria Austria Gerd Grabher Egon Bereuter Manfred Zeiszer Netherlands 1–4 England
Belarus Belarus Vadim Zhuk Yury Dupanau Aleh Chykun France 1–1 Spain
Belgium Belgium Guy Goethals Marc Van Den Broeck Stany Op De Beeck Italy 0–0 Germany
Bulgaria Bulgaria Atanas Uzunov Ivan Borissov Lekov Iordan Yordanov Switzerland 0–0 Netherlands
Czech Republic Czech Republic Václav Krondl Milan Brabec Otakar Drastik Scotland 1–0 Switzerland
Denmark Denmark Peter Mikkelsen
Kim Milton Nielsen		 Jens Larsen
Carl-Johan Christensen Meyer		 Henning Knudsen
Torben Siersen		 Bulgaria 1–0 Romania
Russia 0–3 Germany
England England David Elleray
Dermot Gallagher		 Anthony Bates
Philip Joslin		 Peter Walton
Mark Warren		 Germany 2–0 Czech Republic
France 3–1 Bulgaria
France France Marc Batta Pierre Ufrasi Jacques Mas Croatia 3–0 Denmark
Spain 0–0 England (Quarter-final)
Germany Germany Hellmut Krug
Bernd Heynemann		 Klaus Plettenberg
Hans Wolf		 Egbert Engler
Harald Sather		 Romania 0–1 France
Czech Republic 1–0 Portugal
Croatia 0–3 Portugal
Hungary Hungary Sándor Puhl Laszlo Hamar Imre Bozóky Portugal 1–0 Turkey
England 1–1 Germany (Semi-final)
Italy Italy Pierluigi Pairetto
Piero Ceccarini		 Donato Nicoletti
Enrico Preziosi		 Tullio Manfredini
Fabrizio Zanforlin		 Spain 1–1 Bulgaria
Czech Republic 1–2 Germany (Final)
Scotland 0–2 England
Netherlands Netherlands Mario van der Ende Jan Dolstra Berend Talens Denmark 1–1 Portugal
Portugal Portugal José Rosa dos Santos Valdemar Aguiar Pinto Lopes Antonio Guedes Gomes De Carvalho Sweden 2–1 England
Russia Russia Nikolai Levnikov Serguei Foursa Sergei Frantsuzov Turkey 0–3 Denmark
Scotland Scotland Leslie Mottram Robert Orr John Fleming Italy 2–1 Russia
France 0–0 Czech Republic (Semi-final)
Spain Spain Manuel Díaz Vega
Antonio López Nieto		 Joaquin Olmos Gonzalez
Victoriano Giraldez Carrasco		 Paolo Calcagno
Manuel Lopez Fernandez		 England 1–1 Switzerland
Czech Republic 2–1 Italy
France 0–0 Netherlands (Quarter-final)
Sweden Sweden Anders Frisk
Leif Sundell		 Mikael Nilsson
Kenneth Petersson		 Sten Samuelsson
Mikael Hansson		 Russia 3–3 Czech Republic
Netherlands 0–0 Scotland
Germany 2–1 Croatia (Quarter-final)
Switzerland Switzerland Serge Muhmenthaler Ernst Felder Martin Freiburghaus Turkey 0–1 Croatia
Turkey Turkey Ahmet Çakar Akif Ugurdur Turgay Güdü Romania 1–2 Spain
Fourth officials
Country Fourth officials
Austria Austria Günter Benkö
Belgium Belgium Michel Piraux
Bulgaria Bulgaria Stefan Ormandjiev
Belarus Belarus Kazimir Znaydinsky
Czech Republic Czech Republic Jiři Ulrich
Denmark Denmark Knud Erik Fisker
Lars Gerner
England England Paul Durkin
Stephen Lodge
France France Alain Sars
Germany Germany Hermann Albrecht
Hartmut Strampe
Hungary Hungary Sándor Piller
Italy Italy Marcello Nicchi
Alfredo Trentalange
Netherlands Netherlands René Temmink
Portugal Portugal Jorge Emanuel Monteiro Coroado
Russia Russia Serguei Khussainov
Scotland Scotland Hugh Dallas
Spain Spain José María García-Aranda
Juan Ansuategui Roca
Sweden Sweden Karl-Erik Nilsson
Morgan Norman
Switzerland Switzerland Urs Meier
Turkey Turkey Oğuz Sarvan

Results

Finishing positions of the participating teams

Group stage

The teams finishing in the top two positions in each of the four groups progress to the quarter-finals, while the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated from the tournament.

For the first time at a European Championship three points were awarded for a win, with one for a draw and a none for a defeat. If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied to determine the rankings:

  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3 to more than two teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine the final rankings of the two teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply in the order given;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Position using UEFA's national team coefficient ranking system calculated using average points per game from: the Euro 1992 qualifying stage and final tournament, the 1994 World Cup qualifying stage and final tournament and the Euro 1996 qualifying stage.
  8. Fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament);
  9. Drawing of lots.
Key to colours in group tables
Team progressed to the quarter-finals

Group A

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 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
England  1–1   Switzerland
10 June 1996
Netherlands  0–0  Scotland
13 June 1996
Switzerland   0–2  Netherlands
15 June 1996
Scotland  0–2  England
18 June 1996
Scotland  1–0   Switzerland
Netherlands  1–4  England

Group B

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 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
Spain  1–1  Bulgaria
10 June 1996
Romania  0–1  France
13 June 1996
Bulgaria  1–0  Romania
15 June 1996
France  1–1  Spain
18 June 1996
France  3–1  Bulgaria
Romania  1–2  Spain

Group C

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 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
Germany  2–0  Czech Republic
11 June 1996
Italy  2–1  Russia
14 June 1996
Czech Republic  2–1  Italy
16 June 1996
Russia  0–3  Germany
19 June 1996
Russia  3–3  Czech Republic
Italy  0–0  Germany

Group D

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 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
Denmark  1–1  Portugal
11 June 1996
Turkey  0–1  Croatia
14 June 1996
Portugal  1–0  Turkey
16 June 1996
Croatia  3–0  Denmark
19 June 1996
Croatia  0–3  Portugal
Turkey  0–3  Denmark

Knockout stage

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 knockout stage

The knockout stage was a single-elimination tournament involving the eight teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament. There were three rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round, culminating in the final to decide the champions.

Any game in the knockout stage that was undecided by the end of the regular 90 minutes, was followed by up to thirty minutes of extra time (two 15-minute halves). For the first time in a major football competition, the golden goal system was applied, whereby the match would immediately end upon either team scoring during the extra time period with the goalscoring team becoming the winner. If scores were still level after 30 minutes extra time, there would be a penalty shoot-out (at least five penalties each, and more if necessary) to determine the winner.

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
22 June – Liverpool        
  France (p)  0 (5)
26 June – Manchester
  Netherlands  0 (4)  
  France  0 (5)
23 June – Birmingham
      Czech Republic (p)  0 (6)  
  Czech Republic  1
30 June – London
  Portugal  0  
  Czech Republic  1
23 June – Manchester    
    Germany (aet)  2
  Germany  2
26 June – London
  Croatia  1  
  Germany (p)  1 (6)
22 June – London
      England  1 (5)  
  Spain  0 (2)
  England (p)  0 (4)  
 

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Quarter-finals

22 June 1996
16:00
Spain  0–0 (a.e.t.)  England
Report
  Penalties  
Hierro Penalty missed
Amor Penalty scored
Belsué Penalty scored
Nadal Penalty missed		 2–4 Penalty scored Shearer
Penalty scored Platt
Penalty scored Pearce
Penalty scored Gascoigne
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 75,440
Referee: Marc Batta (France)

22 June 1996
19:30
France  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Netherlands
Report
  Penalties  
Zidane Penalty scored
Djorkaeff Penalty scored
Lizarazu Penalty scored
Guérin Penalty scored
Blanc Penalty scored		 5–4 Penalty scored de Kock
Penalty scored R. de Boer
Penalty scored Kluivert
Penalty missed Seedorf
Penalty scored Blind
Anfield, Liverpool
Attendance: 37,465
Referee: Antonio López Nieto (Spain)

23 June 1996
16:00
Germany  2–1  Croatia
Klinsmann Goal 20' (pen.)
Sammer Goal 59'		 Report Šuker Goal 51'
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 43,412
Referee: Leif Sundell (Sweden)

23 June 1996
19:30
Czech Republic  1–0  Portugal
Poborský Goal 53' Report
Villa Park, Birmingham
Attendance: 26,832
Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany)

Semi-finals

26 June 1996
17:00
France  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Czech Republic
Report
  Penalties  
Zidane Penalty scored
Djorkaeff Penalty scored
Lizarazu Penalty scored
Guérin Penalty scored
Blanc Penalty scored
Pedros Penalty missed		 5–6 Penalty scored Kubík
Penalty scored Nedvěd
Penalty scored Berger
Penalty scored Poborský
Penalty scored Rada
Penalty scored Kadlec
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 43,877
Referee: Leslie Mottram (Scotland)

26 June 1996
20:30
Germany  1–1 (a.e.t.)  England
Kuntz Goal 16' Report Shearer Goal 3'
  Penalties  
Häßler Penalty scored
Strunz Penalty scored
Reuter Penalty scored
Ziege Penalty scored
Kuntz Penalty scored
Möller Penalty scored		 6–5 Penalty scored Shearer
Penalty scored Platt
Penalty scored Pearce
Penalty scored Gascoigne
Penalty scored Sheringham
Penalty missed Southgate
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 75,862
Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary)

Final

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Main article: UEFA Euro 1996 Final

30 June 1996
20:00
Czech Republic  1–2 (a.e.t.)  Germany
Berger Goal 59' (pen.) Report Bierhoff Goal 73' Golden goal 95'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 73,611
Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)

Statistics

Goalscorers

Alan Shearer received the Golden Boot award for scoring five goals. In total, 64 goals were scored by 48 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal.

5 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goal

Awards

Team of the Tournament[32]
Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards
England David Seaman
Germany Andreas Köpke		 Czech Republic Radoslav Látal
France Laurent Blanc
France Marcel Desailly
Germany Matthias Sammer
Italy Paolo Maldini		 Czech Republic Karel Poborský
England Steve McManaman
England Paul Gascoigne
France Didier Deschamps
Germany Dieter Eilts
Portugal Rui Costa		 Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov
Croatia Davor Šuker
Czech Republic Pavel Kuka
England Alan Shearer
France Youri Djorkaeff
Golden Boot

Alan Shearer was awarded the Golden Boot award, after scoring five goals in the group stage and in the semi-finals against Germany.

UEFA Player of the Tournament

Fastest goal

2 minutes and 14 seconds: Alan Shearer (England vs Germany)

Average goals

2.06 goals per game

Marketing

Slogan and theme songs

File:Three-lions-original-1996.jpg
Three Lions single

The competition slogan was Football Comes Home reflecting that the sport's rules were first standardised in the United Kingdom. UEFA President Lennart Johansson had said that the organisation had felt it time to bring the event "back to the motherland of football".[29] The slogan was incorporated into the competition's most popular song: "Three Lions" recorded by comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel with the Lightning Seeds. Skinner and Baddiel were then strongly connected with football owing to their BBC show Fantasy Football League.[34] Released as a single, the song topped the UK Singles Chart for a total of three weeks.[35] It was promoted by a video featuring the England squad.[34]

The song was prominently sung by England fans during all their games, and was also chanted by the German team upon parading the trophy in Berlin after the tournament. It was even referenced by future Prime Minister Tony Blair in an address at the 1996 Labour Party Conference with the line: "Seventeen years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming, Labour's coming home".[36]

Despite Three Lions being the song most strongly connected with the tournament, its official song was instead "We're in This Together" by Simply Red. The song was performed at the tournament's opening ceremony.[37]

Merchandise and mascots

The British Royal Mint issued a commemorative £2 coin in 1996, which featured a representation of a football, "1996" in the centre, and 16 small rings representing the 16 competing teams. Further special coins were only issued in the Isle of Man and Gibraltar.[38]

The official mascot, 'Goaliath', was designed in a similar fashion to the original World Cup mascot from the 1966 World Cup. Goaliath comprised a lion, the image on the English team crest, dressed in an England football strip and football boots whilst holding a football under his right arm.[39]

Sponsorship

Global sponsors Event sponsors

Controversies

Terrorist attack

A terrorist attack took place in Manchester on 15 June, one day before the group stage match between Germany and Russia was due to take place in the same city.[42] The detonation of a van bomb in the city centre injured 212 people and caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage. Four days after the blast, the far-left terrorist organization, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, issued a statement in which it claimed responsibility, but regretted causing injury to civilians.[43]

The Manchester bombing was the first and so far only major terrorist attack in the host city of an ongoing UEFA European Championship. The scheduled match at Old Trafford on the day following the bombing went ahead as planned after the stadium had been heavily guarded overnight and carefully searched; the game, in which Germany defeated Russia 3–0, was watched by a near capacity crowd of 50,700.

Disorder

After England's defeat to Germany in the semi-finals, a large-scale riot took place in Trafalgar Square and the surrounding area. Further outbreaks of trouble occurred in the streets of several other towns. The police, German-made cars were targeted, with damage also caused to various other properties.[44] A Russian student was stabbed in Brighton after attackers mistook him for being German.[45]

Despite this outbreak, the tournament overall was free of hooliganism, helping rehabilitate England's reputation after their fans' conduct during the previous decades.[44] UEFA's awarding of the tournament to England was in itself a further step in bringing back the country back fully into the international fold, coming soon after their decision in 1990 to re-admit English clubs back into UEFA competitions after the indefinite ban issued to them following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985.[46][47]

See also

References

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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ 40.00 40.01 40.02 40.03 40.04 40.05 40.06 40.07 40.08 40.09 40.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ 41.00 41.01 41.02 41.03 41.04 41.05 41.06 41.07 41.08 41.09 41.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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