1996 UEFA European Championship

Lore & Background

England drew 1–1 with Switzerland in the opening match, then defeated Scotland 2–0 and the Netherlands 4–1. They reached the semi-finals after a 0–0 draw with Spain in the quarter-finals, winning 4–2 on penalties. In the semi-final, England drew 1–1 with Germany after extra time (Alan Shearer scoring for England), then lost on penalties. England scored 8 goals in 5 matches.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at Wembley buzzed with a particular frequency that night, the kind that made the old concrete bowl feel both enormous and intimate. You could smell the wet grass through the turnstiles, that metallic summer-rain smell that meant the pitch had been watered an hour before kick-off. In the away end, the German fans were steady, almost clinical in their chanting. In the home end, the noise was a living thing — a tide that rose and fell with every touch, every challenge. You stood with your back against the advertising boards, arms crossed, watching Platt line up the penalty. The ball sat on the spot, white and perfect under the lights. The crowd held its breath in a single, collective inhalation. Then the kick, the thud of boot on leather, the net rippling. For ninety seconds, Wembley was the loudest place on earth. Then the whistle. Then the silence that is worse than any booing — the silence of a nation that had been so close it could taste the silver, and now had to swallow it back down.

Reader's Guide

The tournament featured 16 teams for the first time. Matches were staged in eight cities. Three points were awarded for a win in the group stage. The knockout stage was characterised by defensive play; four of seven matches were decided on penalties. Germany's golden goal in the final was the first in a major competition.

Did You Know?

• 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, surpassed only in 2012.
• This was Germany's first major title won as a unified nation, adding to two European Championship titles won by West Germany.
• Turkey became the first team since the introduction of a group stage to be eliminated without gaining a point or scoring a goal.