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]

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.

More information Draw position, Team ...

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

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Notes

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

More information Pos, Pld ...

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^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Advance to knockout stage
3	Italy	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4^{[lower-alpha 1]}
4	Russia	3	0	1	2	4	8	−4	1

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

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.

Germany vs Czech Republic

More information Germany, 2–0 ...

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

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9 June 1996

17:00

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

More information Italy, 2–1 ...

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

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11 June 1996

16:30

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	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)^[9]

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

Czech Republic vs Italy

More information Czech Republic, 2–1 ...

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

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14 June 1996

19:30

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	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)^[9]

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

Russia vs Germany

More information Russia, 0–3 ...

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

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16 June 1996

15:00

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

More information Russia, 3–3 ...

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

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19 June 1996

19:30

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

More information Italy, 0–0 ...

Italy	0–0	Germany
	Report

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19 June 1996

19:30

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
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)^[9]

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

[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]
"Man of the Match". UEFA Euro 96 England – Technical Report (PDF). Nyon: UEFA. 1996. p. 48. Retrieved 7 January 2023.