World Cup Corner

As the 1980s approached big changes occurred. This time the format was changed to include eight finalists. Of these eight four groups were formed. The winner of each group then went on to the finals until an overall winner was obvious. West Germany showed up again to show the world they were serious footballers and they managed to dominate the European tournament once again by beating Belgium in the final game.

In 1984 a change occurred that included the group stage sending the two best sides to the semi finals where the winners of these would play in the final game. France hosted the tournament and the trophy didn’t have to travel this year because Span lost to France 2-0 in the final game in Paris.

In the 1988 tournament the format remained the same, much to the surprise of many. However, West Germany, the hosts of the tournament, was not as strong this year as in year’s past. The final game was a playoff between the Soviet Union and the Dutch and the players on the Dutch team, Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, and Frank Rijkaard, were strong enough to lead the Dutch to victory.

In 1992 the championship was held in Sweden and although Yugoslavia qualified for the tournament they were not allowed in the tournament. Denmark took their place and went on to surprise the entire world. Germany was recently reunited and the Soviet Union had become the Commonwealth of Independent States. Germany was the world champions going into the tournament but that didn’t stop Denmark from showing them they were worthy of the title. Denmark beat Germany 2-0 in that final game.

More changes were to be seen in the 1996 European Championships held in England. Thanks to the independence of many of the countries once part of the Soviet Union a new format was required in order to include the many new members of the UEFA. This year there were 16 qualifiers and they made up four different groups of four teams. The winners and runners up of each of these groups going on to the quarter finals, the semi finals, and ultimately the final game. In a tough game the Czech Republic fell to Germany. Alan Shearer, who was soon to make his historic 15 million pound move to his beloved Newcastle claimed the golden boot.

In 2000 the tournament was held jointly by the Netherlands and Belgium and France really showed off and they beat Italy with a Golden Goal by David Trezeguet. The Euro 2004 was also a shocker when Greece, who had 100/1 odds before the tournament, managed to take the European Championship home. The 2008 European championships will be in Switzerland and Austria and qualification is already underway.