The 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1994–96), had 44 entrants. After the quarter-finals stage, Spain were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total. Italy U-21s won the competition for the third consecutive time.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Spain |
| Dates | 12 March – 31 May |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Italy (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Spain |
| Third place | France |
| Fourth place | Scotland |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 28 (2.33 per match) |
| Attendance | 197,229 (16,436 per match) |
| Top scorer | Raúl (3 goals) |
| Best player | Fabio Cannavaro |
← 1994 1998 → | |
Format
No fewer than 13 newly independent nations competed for the first time – due mainly to the fall of Socialist rule in Europe in the early 1990s.
Russia, who competed in 1994 were joined by nine further former Soviet Union states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine.
The exclusion (for political reasons) of the team from Serbia and Montenegro, then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia continued. Croatia, Slovenia and the Republic of Macedonia were three former states of Yugoslavia who did compete though.
Czechoslovakia became two separate nations – teams from the Czech Republic and Slovakia complete the list of new entrants.
The 44 national teams were divided into eight groups (four groups of 5 + four groups of 6). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis to determine the final four, one of whom would host the last four matches. The top five nations qualify for the Atlanta '96 Olympics.
Qualification
List of qualified teams
| Country | Qualified as | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|
| France | Group 1 winner | 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1994) |
| Spain | Group 2 winner | 5 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990) |
| Hungary | Group 3 winner | 3 (1978, 1980, 1986) |
| Italy | Group 4 winner | 9 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994) |
| Czech Republic | Group 5 winner | 6 (19782, 19802, 19882, 19902, 19922, 19942) |
| Portugal | Group 6 winner | 1 (1994) |
| Germany | Group 7 winner | 3 (19823, 19903, 1992) |
| Scotland | Group 8 winner | 4 (1980, 1982, 1984, 1988) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year
- 2 As Czechoslovakia
- 3 As West Germany
Squads
Results
Quarter-finals
First leg
| Spain | 2–1 | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Dani 28' Roberto 41' | Report | Šmicer 50' |
Second leg
| Czech Republic | 1–2 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Vágner 54' | Report | Raúl 71', 89' |
Semi-finals
Third-place play-off
Final
Goalscorers
- 3 goals
- Raúl
- 2 goals
- Francesco Totti
- Florian Maurice
- Robert Pires
- 1 goal
- Vladimír Šmicer
- Robert Vágner
- Patrick Moreau
- Christian Nerlinger
- Gábor Egressy
- Károly Szanyó
- Gábor Zavadszky
- Christian Vieri
- Hugo Porfírio
- Dani
- Óscar
- Iván de la Peña
- Roberto Fresnedoso
- Christian Dailly
- Simon Donnelly
- Stephen Glass
- Jim Hamilton
- Scott Marshall
- Own goal
- Emílio Peixe (playing against Italy)
- Iñigo Idiakez (playing against Italy)
Medal table and Olympic qualifiers
- France, Italy and Spain qualify for Olympic Games finals.
- Best losing quarter-finalists Hungary and Portugal also qualify.
- Scotland do not compete in the Olympic Football Tournament (See Great Britain Olympic football team).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 | Gold medal | |
| Spain (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 7 | Silver medal | |
| France | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | Bronze medal | |
| 4 | Scotland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 2 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Hungary | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | Portugal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 | |
| 7 | Germany | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | |
| 8 | Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 |
(H) Hosts
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