Hosted jointly by Belgium and The Netherlands,
Euro Cup 2000 was the 11th edition of the European Championship. After a closely fought qualifying round that was participated by 49 European countries, only 16 of them qualified to play for the finals in Belgium – Netherlands.
Apart from the host countries and defending champion Germany, other teams that took part in the final phase of Euro 2000 are:
Portugal
England
Germany
Romania
Sweden
Turkey
Italy
Belgium
Spain
Yugoslavia
Slovenia
- Norway
- Denmark
- Czech Republic
- France
- The Netherlands
The 16 teams were divided into 4 groups of four teams. The 2 topmost teams from each group played the quarterfinals. Portugal, The Netherlands, Italy and France won their respective quarter-finals to qualify for the semi-finals.
For the first time in the history of European Championships, the final was decided via the golden goal. France's David Trezeguet scored the all important goal after Sylvan Wiltord drew level for his side. Marco Delvecchio had given Italy the lead earlier.
Although Netherlands lost in the semifinals, their star striker Patrick Kluivert, along with Yugoslavia's Milosovic, became the highest scorers of the tournament with 5 goals each. Among the 16 qualified teams, Norway and Slovenia made their first ever appearance.
To read more about the Euro Cup 2000, please click the following links:
