UEFA Euro 1996 Group C

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.^[1][2]

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

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).^[3][4][5] 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),^[6] but not the June rankings immediately before the tournament (3, 4, 10 and 9 respectively).^[7][8]

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[nb 1]	Group 7 winner	15 November 1995	7th	1992	Winners (1972, 1980)	2
C2	Czech Republic[nb 2]	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[nb 3]	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 v t e	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[a]
3	Italy	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4[a]
4	Russia	3	0	1	2	4	8	−4	1

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

1. 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

9 June 1996 (1996-06-09)

17:00

Germany	2–0	Czech Republic
Ziege 26' Möller 32'	Report

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 37,300

Referee: David Elleray (England)

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

Italy vs Russia

11 June 1996 (1996-06-11)

16:30

Italy	2–1	Russia
Casiraghi 5', 52'	Report	Tsymbalar 21'

Anfield, Liverpool

Attendance: 35,120

Referee: Leslie Mottram (Scotland)

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 10 Demetrio Albertini  14' LM 16 Roberto Di Matteo AM 14 Alessandro Del Piero  46' RF 18 Pierluigi Casiraghi  80' LF 21 Gianfranco Zola Substitutions: LM 7 Roberto Donadoni  83'  46' RM 17 Diego Fuser  62' RF 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)[9] Assistant referees: Robert Orr (Scotland) John Fleming (Scotland) Fourth official: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

Czech Republic vs Italy

14 June 1996 (1996-06-14)

19:30

Czech Republic	2–1	Italy
Nedvěd 5' Bejbl 35'	Report	Chiesa 18'

Anfield, Liverpool

Attendance: 37,320

Referee: Antonio López Nieto (Spain)

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 17 Diego Fuser  90' CM 10 Demetrio Albertini CM 11 Dino Baggio  39' LM 7 Roberto Donadoni RF 20 Fabrizio Ravanelli  58' LF 19 Enrico Chiesa  78' Substitutions: LB 4 Amedeo Carboni  39' RF 18 Pierluigi Casiraghi  58' LF 21 Gianfranco Zola  78' Manager: Arrigo Sacchi

Man of the Match: Radek Bejbl (Czech Republic)[9] Assistant referees: Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco (Spain) Manuel López Fernández (Spain) Fourth official: Juan Ansuátegui Roca (Spain)

Russia vs Germany

16 June 1996 (1996-06-16)

15:00

Russia	0–3	Germany
	Report	Sammer 56' Klinsmann 77', 90'

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 50,760

Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

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

Russia vs Czech Republic

19 June 1996 (1996-06-19)

19:30

Russia	3–3	Czech Republic
Mostovoi 49' Tetradze 54' Beschastnykh 85'	Report	Suchopárek 5' Kuka 19' Šmicer 88'

Anfield, Liverpool

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

Italy vs Germany

See also: Germany–Italy football rivalry

19 June 1996 (1996-06-19)

19:30

Italy	0–0	Germany
	Report

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 53,740

Referee: Guy Goethals (Belgium)

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 RF 18 Pierluigi Casiraghi  18' LF 21 Gianfranco Zola 7' Substitutions: RF 19 Enrico Chiesa  67' RB 9 Moreno Torricelli  76' RM 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)[9] Assistant referees: Marc Van den Broeck (Belgium) Stany Op de Beeck (Belgium) Fourth official: Michel Piraux (Belgium)

See also

• Czech Republic at the UEFA European Championship
• Germany at the UEFA European Championship
• Italy at the UEFA European Championship
• Russia at the UEFA European Championship