The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The final tournament was hosted for the first time in Portugal, from 12 June to 4 July 2004. A total of 31 matches were played in ten venues across eight cities – Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon, and Porto.
As in 1996 and 2000, the final tournament was contested by 16 teams: the hosts plus the 15 teams that came through the qualifying tournament, which began in September 2002. Latvia secured their first participation in a major tournament after overcoming Turkey in the play-offs, while Greece returned to the European Championship after 24 years.
The tournament was rich in surprises and upsets: Traditional powerhouses Germany, Spain, and Italy were eliminated in the group stage, while defending champions France were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Greece. Portugal recovered from an opening defeat against Greece to reach the final, eliminating England and the Netherlands along the way. For the first time in a major European football tournament, the last match featured the same teams as the opening match. Portugal were again defeated by Greece with a goal from Angelos Charisteas. Greece's triumph was unexpected, considering that they had only qualified for two other major tournaments, the UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they failed to win a single match. As winners, Greece earned the right to represent Europe at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
During the opening ceremony, one of the tableaux depicted a ship – symbolising the voyages of the Portuguese explorers – sailing through a sea that transformed into the flags of all competing countries. In the closing ceremony, Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado performed her single and official tournament theme song, "Força".
Venues[]
| Stadiums | Location | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Estádio da Luz | Lisbon | 65,647 |
| Estádio José Alvalade | 50,095 | |
| Estádio Municipal de Aveiro | Aveiro | 32,830 |
| Estádio do Dragão | Porto | 50,033 |
| Estádio do Bessa | 28,263 | |
| Estádio Algarve | Faro/Loulé | 30,305 |
| Estádio Municipal de Braga | Braga | 30,286 |
| Estádio D. Alfonso Henriques | Guimarães | 30,000 |
| Estádio Cidade de Coimbra | Coimbra | 29,622 |
| Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa | Leiria | 28,642 |
Participating teams[]
| Qualifier group | Team | Qualified as |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | Portugal | host country |
| Group 1 | France | winner (title holders) |
| Group 2 | Denmark | winner |
| Group 3 | Czech Republic | winner |
| Group 4 | Sweden | winner |
| Group 5 | Germany | winner |
| Group 6 | Greece | winner |
| Group 7 | England | winner |
| Group 8 | Bulgaria | winner |
| Group 9 | Italy | winner |
| Group 10 | Switzerland | winner |
| Play-offs | Latvia | winner |
| Netherlands | winner | |
| Croatia | winner | |
| Russia | winner | |
| Spain | winner |
List of games[]
Group stage[]
| Date | Venue | Winner | Score | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group A | ||||
| 12 June 2004 | Estádio do Dragão, Porto | Greece | 2–1 | Portugal |
| Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé | Spain | 1–0 | Russia | |
| 16 June 2004 | Estádio do Bessa, Porto | Greece | 1–1 (draw) |
Spain |
| Estádio da Luz, Lisbon | Portugal | 2–0 | Russia | |
| 20 June 2004 | Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon | Portugal | 1–0 | Spain |
| Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé | Russia | 2–1 | Greece | |
| Group B | ||||
| 13 June 2004 | Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria | Switzerland | 0–0 (draw) |
Croatia |
| Estádio da Luz, Lisbon | France | 2–1 | England | |
| 17 June 2004 | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra | England | 3–0 | Switzerland |
| Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria | Croatia | 2–2 (draw) |
France | |
| 21 June 2004 | Estádio da Luz, Lisbon | England | 4–2 | Croatia |
| Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra | France | 3–1 | Switzerland | |
| Group C | ||||
| 14 June 2004 | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães | Denmark | 0–0 (draw) |
Italy |
| Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon | Sweden | 5–0 | Bulgaria | |
| 18 June 2004 | Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga | Denmark | 2–0 | Bulgaria |
| Estádio do Dragão, Porto | Italy | 1–1 (draw) |
Sweden | |
| 22 June 2004 | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães | Italy | 2–1 | Bulgaria |
| Estádio do Bessa, Porto | Denmark | 2–2 (draw) |
Sweden | |
| Group D | ||||
| 15 June 2004 | Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, Aveiro | Czech Republic | 2–1 | Latvia |
| Estádio do Dragão, Porto | Germany | 1–1 (draw) |
Netherlands | |
| 19 June 2004 | Estádio do Bessa, Porto | Latvia | 0–0 (draw) |
Germany |
| Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, Aveiro | Czech Republic | 3–2 | Netherlands | |
| 23 June 2004 | Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga | Netherlands | 3–0 | Latvia |
| Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon | Czech Republic | 2–1 | Germany | |
Knockout stage[]
| Date | Venue | Winner | Score | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter-finals | ||||
| 24 June 2004 | Estádio da Luz, Lisbon | Portugal | 2–2 (a.e.t.) 6–5 (penalties) |
England |
| 25 June 2004 | Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon | Greece | 1–0 | France |
| 26 June 2004 | Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé | Netherlands | 0–0 (a.e.t.) 5–4 (penalties) |
Sweden |
| 27 June 2004 | Estádio do Dragão, Porto | Czech Republic | 3–0 | Denmark |
| Semi-finals | ||||
| 30 June 2004 | Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon | Portugal | 2–1 | Netherlands |
| 1 July 2004 | Estádio do Dragão, Porto | Greece | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |
Czech Republic |
| Final | ||||
| 4 July 2004 | Estádio da Luz, Lisbon | Greece | 1–0 | Portugal |
Broadcasters[]
UEFA member nations[]
| Country | Broadcasters |
|---|---|
| Albania | RTSH |
| Armenia | ARMTV |
| Austria | ORF |
| Azerbaijan | Lider TV |
| Belarus | BTRC |
| Belgium | RTBF, VRT |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | PBSBiH |
| Bulgaria | BNT |
| Croatia | HRT |
| Cyprus | CyBC |
| Czech Republic | ČT |
| Denmark | DR, TV 2 |
| Estonia | ETV |
| Finland | Yle |
| France | TF1, France Télévisions, Eurosport France |
| Georgia | GPB |
| Germany | ARD, ZDF |
| Greece | ERT |
| Hungary | MTV |
| Iceland | RÚV |
| Ireland | RTÉ |
| Israel | IBA |
| Italy | RAI |
| Latvia | LTV |
| Lithuania | LRT |
| Macedonia | MRT |
| Moldova | TRM |
| Netherlands | NOS |
| Norway | TV 2 |
| Poland | TVP |
| Portugal | RTP, SIC, TVI, SportTV |
| Romania | TVR |
| Russia | Channel One, VGTRK |
| Serbia and Montenegro | RTS, RTCG |
| Slovakia | STV |
| Slovenia | RTVSLO |
| Spain | TVE |
| Sweden | SVT, TV4 |
| Switzerland | SRG SSR |
| Turkey | TRT |
| Ukraine | NTU |
| United Kingdom | BBC, ITV, British Eurosport |
Rest of the world[]
| Country | Broadcasters |
|---|---|
| Africa | SuperSport |
| South Asia | ESPN Star Sports |
| Algeria | ENTV |
| Brazil | SporTV |
| China | CCTV |
| Egypt | ERTU |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Cable Television |
| Indonesia | RCTI |
| Japan | TBS, WOWOW |
| Jordan | JRTV |
| Lebanon | Télé Liban |
| Kosovo | RTK |
| Malaysia | Media Prima |
| Maldives | TVM, VTV |
| Mexico | Galavisión |
| Morocco | RTM |
| Singapore | StarHub TV, MediaCorp |
| South Africa | e.tv |
| Thailand | Channel 3, Channel 7 |
| Tunisia | ERTT |
| United States | INHD, Setanta Sports, DirecTV, Fox Sports en Español |
| Vietnam | HTV, VTV |