UEFA Euro 1996 facts for kids
| 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) |  Alan Shearer (5 goals) |
| Best player | Matthias Sammer |
The UEFA Euro 1996 was a super exciting football tournament! It was the 10th time the UEFA European Football Championship was held. This big event took place in England from June 8 to June 30, 1996.
Many European football teams wanted to compete. Only 16 teams made it to the final part of the tournament. Denmark was the champion from the last Euro tournament. But in 1996, Germany won the championship! They beat the Czech Republic in a thrilling final match.
Contents
Getting Ready: Qualification
Teams had to play special games to qualify for Euro 1996. These games happened between September 1994 and December 1995. It was like a big try-out to see who was good enough!
Here are the teams that qualified for the main tournament:
| Country | How they qualified |
|---|---|
| England |
Hosts (they got in automatically because they were holding the event) |
 Romania |
Group 1 winner |
 France |
Group 1 runners-up |
 Spain |
Group 2 winner |
 Denmark |
Group 2 runners-up |
 Switzerland |
Group 3 winner |
 Turkey |
Group 3 runners-up |
 Croatia |
Group 4 winner |
 Italy |
Group 4 runners-up |
| Czech Republic |
Group 5 winner |
 Portugal |
Group 6 winner |
| Germany |
Group 7 winner |
 Bulgaria |
Group 7 runners-up |
 Russia |
Group 8 winner |
 Scotland |
Group 8 runners-up |
 Netherlands |
Play-off winner (they won a special extra game) |
Group Stage: The First Round
In the group stage, the 16 qualified teams were split into four groups. Each team played every other team in their group once. Teams earned points for wins and draws. The top two teams from each group moved on to the next round, called the knockout stage.
| Key to colours in group tables |
|---|
| This team moved on to the quarter-finals (the next round) |
Group A Matches
Here's how the teams did in Group A. The "Pld" means games played, "W" is wins, "D" is draws, and "L" is losses. "GF" is goals scored, "GA" is goals against, and "GD" is goal difference. "Pts" means total points.
| 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 |
Group B Matches
Group B also had some exciting games!
| 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 |
Group C Matches
In Group C, the Czech Republic and Italy both had 4 points. But the Czech Republic moved on because they won their game against Italy!
| 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 |
Group D Matches
Group D saw Portugal and Croatia move forward in the tournament.
| 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 |
Knockout Stage: The Finals Begin!
After the group stage, the tournament became a knockout competition. This means if a team lost, they were out! Teams played quarter-finals, then semi-finals, and finally the big championship game.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 22 June | ||||||||||
| France |
0 (5) | |||||||||
| 26 June | ||||||||||
| Netherlands |
0 (4) | |||||||||
| France |
0 (5) | |||||||||
| 23 June | ||||||||||
| Czech Republic |
0 (6) | |||||||||
| Czech Republic |
1 | |||||||||
| 30 June | ||||||||||
| Portugal |
0 | |||||||||
| Czech Republic |
1 | |||||||||
| 23 June | ||||||||||
| Germany |
2 | |||||||||
| Germany |
2 | |||||||||
| 26 June | ||||||||||
| Croatia |
1 | |||||||||
| Germany |
1 (6) | |||||||||
| 22 June | ||||||||||
| England |
1 (5)
|
|||||||||
| Spain |
0 (2) | |||||||||
| England |
0 (4)
|
|||||||||
| UEFA Euro 1996 Winners |
|---|
 Germany 3rd title |
Images for kids
-
A Group A game between Scotland and the Netherlands at Villa Park
-
The view of Wembley Stadium from Wembley Way before the semi-final between Germany and England
-
Finishing positions of the participating teams
See also
In Spanish: Eurocopa 1996 para niños
