In 1996, football returned home to England, and the 10th European Championship was expanded to sixteen teams for the first time, and the drama began.
Sixteen teams were divided into four groups, respectively
Group A: England, Scotland, Switzerland, Netherlands.
Group B: France, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania.
Group C: Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Russia.
Group D: Portugal, Croatia, Denmark, Turkey.
1996 European Championship fixtures
Group A: England and the Netherlands have joined hands without suspense
England and the Netherlands are strong and have joined hands to qualify
England beat Scotland to win 'England Derby'
Group B: France and Spain defeated two Eastern European teams to reach the quarterfinals
France and Spain occupy an absolute position
Spain vs. Bulgaria
France rode to the top of the group stage
Group C: The "death group" of the European Championship, the German qualified early, the Czech Republic knocked out Italy, and Italy, which did not take Baggio, sadly left the European Championship.
Klinsmann and Maldini exchanged greetings before the start of the match
There is no Baggio's Army in Blue
The Czech republic caused a lot of trouble for germany in the group stage
Group D: Portugal Croatia is strong, Denmark and Turkey pose far from enough.
Portugal Croatia, the stars shine
The young Figo led Portugal along the way
Davao Suk provoked Croatia's offensive responsibilities
The group stage ends with a brutal quarter-final – the legend continues:
Hosts England eliminated Spain on penalties after 120 minutes of play and advanced to the final four with their heads held high.
After eliminating Spain, Gascoin put on the matador's jersey
Young Louis Enrique
England defender Pierce, who scored the winning penalty, was roaring
The Germans met Croatia and defeated the Tartans 2:1 after a bitter battle.
German captain Klinsmann
Players on both sides scrambled on the field
Davao Souk did his best
France and the Netherlands met in a narrow way, and in the end it was the French brave man who laughed to the end, eliminating the Netherlands 5:4 on penalties.
The young Zidane competed with the Dutch players in the match
The golden generation of Portugal encountered stubborn resistance from the Czech team, and in the end, the Czech team was on top of the game and continued their upset path.
Rui Costa broke through the Czech defenses
Czech midfielder Bobowski scored the classic goal at Euro 1996
Popowski became famous in World War I
At this point, the European Championship has ushered in the semi-finals, and the four teams will fight each other to compete for the final ticket to Wembley Stadium.
Host England team to meet the old enemy Germany, 120 minutes to play a difficult point, another penalty shootout, but this time fate did not favor England, tenacious Germany team persevered to the end, they eliminated England to reach the final.
England and Germany lined up before the game
England started
Shearer opened the scoring for England
England and Germany play instantly
German defender Summerle is defending the England players
The night was destined not to belong to Gascoin
The hero of the German team's victory is goalkeeper Copke
Post-match news coverage
Another semi-final, just when people thought that the powerful French team would advance to the final without suspense, the Czech team stood up again, they fought with the Stars of France until the end of overtime, the score was still 0:0, the cruel penalty shootout, the Czech team sent France home 5:4, and broke the biggest cold goal of this European Championship.
Djokov competed with Czech players
French goalkeeper Rama and Czech goalkeeper Kuba
Young Zidane
Post-match news
The 1996 European Championship finally ushered in the exciting final, the German chariot ushered in the emerging Czech team, wembley Stadium 70,000 spectators were fortunate to witness a classic game, in the 58th minute Czech midfielder Berg scored a penalty to help the team lead, the injured German seemed helpless at this time, but do not underestimate the tenacity of the German chariot, 69 minutes forward Bierkhov came on as a substitute, the good play began to play ☞ only three minutes later, Bierkhov equalized for Germany, At the end of the 90-minute match neither team scored.
Just when people thought that the final would be played out again, it was Bierhoff who stood up again, and in the 95th minute Bierhoff got the ball on his back in the penalty area, then turned and pumped, the ball was saved by the goalkeeper and slowly rolled into the goal, Bierhoff scored the golden ball.
Germany won euro 1996 2-1 in the Czech Republic!
Germany started in the 1996 Euro 1996 final
Bierhoff scored the first golden goal in the history of the European Cup
Czech midfielder Berg
Young Nedved
Berg scored a penalty
Czech started in the 1996 Euro 1996 final
German captain Klinsmann lifted the European Championship
Bierhoff and his teammates lifted the European Championship
1996 Euro 1996 Golden Boot – Shearer
Euro 1996 MVP – Summer
1996 European Championship winner Germany