1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Tournament details
Host country Spain
Dates12 March – 31 May
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Italy (3rd title)
Runners-up Spain
Third place France
Fourth place Scotland
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored28 (2.33 per match)
Attendance197,229 (16,436 per match)
Top scorer(s)Spain Raúl (3 goals)
Best player(s)Italy Fabio Cannavaro
← 1994
1998 →

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.

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

Main article: 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 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

Squads

Main article: 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Results

Quarter-finals

First leg

Hungary 2–1 Scotland
Szanyó 14'
Zavadszky 79'		 Report Glass 34'
Üllői út, Budapest, Hungary
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Ryszard Wójcik (Poland)
Germany 0–0 France
Report
Stadion an der Bremer Brücke, Osnabrück, Germany
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)
Portugal 1–0 Italy
Porfírio 18' Report
Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
Attendance: 29,774
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
Spain 2–1 Czech Republic
Dani 28'
Roberto 41'		 Report Šmicer 50'
Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain
Attendance: 17,000
Referee: Michel Piraux (Belgium)

Second leg

Scotland 3–1 Hungary
Dailly 42'
Hamilton 84'
Donnelly 86'		 Report Egressy 30'
Easter Road, Edinburgh
Attendance: 9,143
Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)
France 4–1 Germany
Pires 28', 32'
Maurice 41', 70'		 Report Nerlinger 76' (pen.)
Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz, France
Attendance: 24,077
Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)
Italy 2–0 Portugal
Vieri 41'
Peixe 55' (o.g.)		 Report
La Favorita, Palermo, Italy
Attendance: 16,543
Referee: David Elleray (England)
Czech Republic 1–2 Spain
Vágner 54' Report Raúl 71', 89'
Velký strahovský stadion, Prague, Czech Republic
Attendance: 12,092
Referee: Alain Sars (France)

Semi-finals

Italy 1–0 France
Totti 49' Report
Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)
Spain 2–1 Scotland
Óscar 26'
De la Peña 35'		 Report Marshall 28'
Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
Attendance: 15,500
Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)

Third-place play-off

France 1–0 Scotland
Moreau 50' Report
Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Karol Ihring (Slovakia)

Final

Italy 1–1 (a.e.t.) Spain
Totti 11' Report Raúl 42'
Penalties
Panucci soccer ball with red X
Pistone soccer ball with check mark
Fresi soccer ball with check mark
Nesta soccer ball with check mark
Morfeo soccer ball with check mark		 4–2 soccer ball with red X De la Peña
soccer ball with check mark De Pedro
soccer ball with check mark Aranzábal
soccer ball with red X Raúl
Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
Attendance: 34,600
Referee: Günter Benkö (Austria)

Goalscorers

3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goal

Medal table and Olympic qualifiers

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Italy 4 2 1 1 4 2 +2 5 Gold medal
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Spain (H) 4 3 1 0 7 4 +3 7 Silver medal
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  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
Source: [ ]
(H) Hosts

External links

National under-21 men's football teams of Europe (UEFA)
UEFA European U-21 and U-23 Championship
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