UEFA Euro 1996 Group C

The match between the Czech Republic and Germany, commemorated on an Azerbaijani postage stamp

Group C of UEFA Euro 1996 was one of four groups in the final tournament's initial group stage. It began on 9 June and was completed on 19 June. The group consisted of Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Russia.

Using FIFA World Rankings as a measure of the strength of the teams, The Guardian calculated in 2007 that the strongest "Group of Death" of all time was the Euro 1996 Group C. The teams (and world rankings) were Germany (2), Russia (3), Italy (7) and the Czech Republic (10). This record was surpassed by the May 2012 rankings for Euro 2012 Group B, with Germany (2), the Netherlands (4), Portugal (5) and Denmark (10), but not the June rankings immediately before the tournament (3, 4, 10 and 9 respectively).

Germany won the group and advanced to the quarter-finals, along with the Czech Republic. Italy and Russia failed to advance.

Teams

Draw position Team Method of
qualification 		Date of
qualification 		Finals
appearance 		Last
appearance 		Previous best
performance 		FIFA Rankings
May 1996
C1 (seed)  Germany Group 7 winner 15 November 1995 7th 1992 Winners (1972, 1980) 2
C2  Czech Republic Group 5 winner 15 November 1995 4th 1980 Winners (1976) 10
C3  Italy Group 4 runner-up (1st best runner-up) 15 November 1995 4th 1988 Winners (1968) 7
C4  Russia Group 8 winner 15 November 1995 7th 1992 Winners (1960) 3

Notes

  1. ^ From 1972 to 1988, Germany competed as West Germany.
  2. ^ From 1960 to 1980, the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.
  3. ^ From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as CIS.

Standings

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Czech Republic 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 4
3  Italy 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
4  Russia 3 0 1 2 4 8 −4 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head result: Czech Republic 2–1 Italy.

In the quarter-finals,

  • The winner of Group C, Germany, advanced to play the runner-up of Group D, Croatia.
  • The runner-up of Group C, Czech Republic, advanced to play the winner of Group D, Portugal.

Matches

All times British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Germany vs Czech Republic

Germany 2–0 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 37,300
Germany
Czech Republic
GK 1 Andreas Köpke
SW 6 Matthias Sammer
CB 5 Thomas Helmer
CB 15 Jürgen Kohler (c)  14'
RWB 2 Stefan Reuter  69'
LWB 17 Christian Ziege  28'
CM 21 Dieter Eilts
CM 10 Thomas Häßler  77'
AM 7 Andreas Möller  58'
CF 9 Fredi Bobic  65'
CF 11 Stefan Kuntz  52'  83'
Substitutions:
DF 14 Markus Babbel  59'  14'
MF 19 Thomas Strunz  65'
FW 20 Oliver Bierhoff  83'
Manager:
Berti Vogts
GK 1 Petr Kouba
RB 15 Michal Horňák
CB 5 Miroslav Kadlec (c)  67'
LB 3 Jan Suchopárek
RM 2 Radoslav Látal
CM 7 Jiří Němec
CM 13 Radek Bejbl  19'
LM 4 Pavel Nedvěd  45'
AM 11 Martin Frýdek  46'
CF 8 Karel Poborský  46'
CF 9 Pavel Kuka
Substitutions:
MF 14 Patrik Berger  46'
FW 10 Radek Drulák  67'  46'
Manager:
Dušan Uhrin

Man of the Match:
Matthias Sammer (Germany)

Assistant referees:
Anthony Bates (England)
Peter Walton (England)
Fourth official:
Stephen Lodge (England)

Italy vs Russia

Italy 2–1 Russia
 Report
Attendance: 35,120
Italy
Russia
GK 1 Angelo Peruzzi
RB 8 Roberto Mussi
CB 5 Alessandro Costacurta
CB 2 Luigi Apolloni
LB 3 Paolo Maldini (c)
RM 15 Angelo Di Livio  62'
CM 16 Roberto Di Matteo
CM 10 Demetrio Albertini  14'
LM 14 Alessandro Del Piero  46'
CF 21 Gianfranco Zola
CF 18 Pierluigi Casiraghi  80'
Substitutions:
MF 7 Roberto Donadoni  83'  46'
MF 17 Diego Fuser  62'
FW 20 Fabrizio Ravanelli  80'
Manager:
Arrigo Sacchi
GK 12 Stanislav Cherchesov
RB 2 Omari Tetradze
CB 7 Viktor Onopko (c)  8'
CB 5 Yuri Kovtun  82'
LB 13 Yevgeni Bushmanov  46'
RM 8 Andrei Kanchelskis
CM 6 Valery Karpin  63'
CM 19 Vladislav Radimov
LM 4 Ilya Tsymbalar  71'
SS 10 Aleksandr Mostovoi
CF 9 Igor Kolyvanov  31'
Substitutions:
DF 18 Igor Yanovsky  46'
FW 11 Sergei Kiriakov  63'
MF 14 Igor Dobrovolski  71'
Manager:
Oleg Romantsev

Man of the Match:
Pierluigi Casiraghi (Italy)

Assistant referees:
Robert Orr (Scotland)
John Fleming (Scotland)
Fourth official:
Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

Czech Republic vs Italy

Czech Republic 2–1 Italy
 Report
Attendance: 37,320
Czech Republic
Italy
GK 1 Petr Kouba
RB 3 Jan Suchopárek  20'
CB 5 Miroslav Kadlec (c)  90'
LB 15 Michal Horňák
RM 2 Radoslav Látal  50'  88'
CM 13 Radek Bejbl
CM 7 Jiří Němec
LM 4 Pavel Nedvěd
AM 8 Karel Poborský
AM 14 Patrik Berger  64'
CF 9 Pavel Kuka  59'
Substitutions:
MF 17 Vladimír Šmicer  64'
MF 6 Václav Němeček  88'
Manager:
Dušan Uhrin
GK 1 Angelo Peruzzi
RB 8 Roberto Mussi
CB 5 Alessandro Costacurta
CB 2 Luigi Apolloni  29'
LB 3 Paolo Maldini (c)
RM 7 Roberto Donadoni
CM 10 Demetrio Albertini
CM 11 Dino Baggio  39'
LM 17 Diego Fuser  90'
CF 19 Enrico Chiesa  78'
CF 20 Fabrizio Ravanelli  58'
Substitutions:
MF 4 Amedeo Carboni  39'
FW 18 Pierluigi Casiraghi  58'
FW 21 Gianfranco Zola  78'
Manager:
Arrigo Sacchi

Man of the Match:
Radek Bejbl (Czech Republic)

Assistant referees:
Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco (Spain)
Manuel López Fernández (Spain)
Fourth official:
Juan Ansuátegui Roca (Spain)

Russia vs Germany

Russia 0–3 Germany
Report
Attendance: 50,760
Russia
Germany
GK 1 Dmitri Kharine
RB 2 Omari Tetradze
CB 7 Viktor Onopko (c)  30'
CB 3 Yuri Nikiforov
LB 5 Yuri Kovtun  70'
RM 8 Andrei Kanchelskis  13'
CM 19 Vladislav Radimov  46'
CM 21 Dmitri Khokhlov  66'
LM 4 Ilya Tsymbalar
SS 10 Aleksandr Mostovoi
CF 9 Igor Kolyvanov
Substitutions:
MF 6 Valeri Karpin  46'
MF 16 Igor Simutenkov  66'
Manager:
Oleg Romantsev
GK 1 Andreas Köpke
SW 6 Matthias Sammer
CB 14 Markus Babbel  16'
CB 5 Thomas Helmer
RWB 2 Stefan Reuter
LWB 17 Christian Ziege
CM 10 Thomas Häßler  67'
CM 21 Dieter Eilts
AM 7 Andreas Möller  87'
CF 18 Jürgen Klinsmann (c)
CF 20 Oliver Bierhoff  31'  85'
Substitutions:
MF 4 Steffen Freund  67'
FW 11 Stefan Kuntz  85'
MF 19 Thomas Strunz  87'
Manager:
Berti Vogts

Man of the Match:
Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany)

Assistant referees:
Carl-Johan Christensen Meyer (Denmark)
Torben Siersen (Denmark)
Fourth official:
Lars Gerner (Denmark)

Russia vs Czech Republic

Russia 3–3 Czech Republic
 Report
Attendance: 21,128
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
Russia
Czech Republic
GK 12 Stanislav Cherchesov
RB 2 Omari Tetradze
CB 3 Yuri Nikiforov  5'
CB 20 Sergei Gorlukovich
LB 18 Igor Yanovski  61'
CM 6 Valeri Karpin (c)
CM 21 Dmitri Khokhlov
RW 19 Vladislav Radimov  26'
LW 4 Ilya Tsymbalar  28'  67'
CF 9 Igor Kolyvanov  46'
CF 16 Igor Simutenkov  46'
Substitutions:
FW 10 Aleksandr Mostovoi  46'
FW 17 Vladimir Beschastnykh  46'
MF 15 Igor Shalimov  67'
Manager:
Oleg Romantsev
GK 1 Petr Kouba
RB 15 Michal Horňák
CB 12 Luboš Kubík (c)
LB 3 Jan Suchopárek
RM 2 Radoslav Látal
CM 13 Radek Bejbl
CM 7 Jiří Němec  77'
LM 4 Pavel Nedvěd  60'
AM 8 Karel Poborský
AM 14 Patrik Berger  90'
CF 9 Pavel Kuka  69'
Substitutions:
FW 17 Vladimír Šmicer  69'
MF 6 Václav Němeček  90'
Manager:
Dušan Uhrin

Man of the Match:
Karel Poborský (Czech Republic)

Assistant referees:
Mikael Nilsson (Sweden)
Sten Samuelsson (Sweden)
Fourth official:
Morgan Norman (Sweden)

Italy vs Germany

See also: Germany–Italy football rivalry
Italy 0–0 Germany
Report
Attendance: 53,740
Italy
Germany
GK 1 Angelo Peruzzi
RB 8 Roberto Mussi
CB 5 Alessandro Costacurta
CB 3 Paolo Maldini (c)
LB 4 Amedeo Carboni  76'
RM 17 Diego Fuser  81'
CM 10 Demetrio Albertini
CM 16 Roberto Di Matteo  67'
LM 7 Roberto Donadoni
CF 21 Gianfranco Zola
CF 18 Pierluigi Casiraghi  18'
Substitutions:
FW 19 Enrico Chiesa  67'
DF 9 Moreno Torricelli  76'
MF 15 Angelo Di Livio  81'
Manager:
Arrigo Sacchi
GK 1 Andreas Köpke
SW 6 Matthias Sammer
RB 19 Thomas Strunz  59'
CB 5 Thomas Helmer
CB 4 Steffen Freund
LB 17 Christian Ziege
CM 10 Thomas Häßler
CM 21 Dieter Eilts
CM 7 Andreas Möller  89'
CF 18 Jürgen Klinsmann (c)
CF 9 Fredi Bobic
Substitutions:
MF 3 Marco Bode  89'
Manager:
Berti Vogts

Man of the Match:
Andreas Köpke (Germany)

Assistant referees:
Marc Van den Broeck (Belgium)
Stany Op de Beeck (Belgium)
Fourth official:
Michel Piraux (Belgium)

See also

References

  1. ^ "European Championship 1996". RSSSF. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 18 January 2000. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Full Statistical Info on Euro '96". RSSSF. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 3 July 1996. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  3. ^ Ashdown, John; Gardner, Alan; Dart, James (12 December 2007). "The Knowledge: the deadliest group of death ever". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  4. ^ Lacey, David (7 June 2004). "Dial D for death: Three previous winners in one group is a sign of the times". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Wilson, Paul (11 December 2005). "An easy group? Draw your own conclusions". The Observer. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  6. ^ Steinberg, Jacob (6 June 2012). "The Knowledge: Euro 2012 special, part one". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Spain still No. 1 in FIFA rankings". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 6 June 2012. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Euro 2012 Group B: Bosses react to 'Group of Death' - Yahoo! Eurosport UK". Uk.eurosport.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Man of the Match". UEFA Euro 96 England – Technical Report (PDF). Nyon: UEFA. 1996. p. 48. Retrieved 7 January 2023.