SOCCER - EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
EURO 2024 - GERMANY
2023
Qualifier - England (2) @ (1) Italy - England opened their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a first away victory against Italy since 1961. The game was played in Naples. England took a 2-0 lead in at the half but Italy fought back with an early goal in the 2nd half. England tightened up though and saw out the rest of the game to take the win. The England goals came from Declan Rice and Harry Kane. With his goal, Kane became England's all-time record goalscorer. The Italy goal came from Mateo Retegui (9, 2 Discs, Channel 4 - Bower/Dublin, PAL)
Qualifier - Ukraine (0) @ (2) England - At Wembley Stadium, England kept their unbeaten start to the Qualifying campaign with an easy win. 1st half goals from Harry Kane and man-of-the-match Bukayo Saka did the damage and England coasted home to victory in the 2nd Half. England gave a first start to James Maddison and a debut off the bench to Brentford striker Ivan Toney (9, 2 Discs, Channel 4 - Bower/Green, PAL)
Qualifier - England (4) @ (0) Malta - At the Ta'Qali National Stadium, England moved to 3-0 in their qualifying campaign with an easy win over Malta. England experimented with Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold in central midfield, and he responded with a goal. England were 3-0 up at the break and sealed the win with a penalty 7 minutes from time. The England goals came from Alexander-Arnold, Harry Kane, Callum Wilson and an own-goal (9, 2 Discs, Channel 4 - Bower/Townsend, PAL)
Qualifier - North Macedonia (0) @ (7) England - In front of a raucous crowd at Old Trafford, England consolidated their place at the top of the Qualifying group with a runaway win against North Macedonia. Led by man-of-the-match Bukayo Saka, England scored 3 goals in the 1st half and 4 goals in the 2nd half to take the win. The goals came from Saka (3), Harry Kane (2), Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips (9, 2 Discs, Channel 4 - Bower/Townsend, PAL)
Qualifier - Italy (1) @ (3) England - England secured the point they needed to qualify for the European Championship Finals, beating Italy at Wembley for the first time since 1977. After conceding the first goal, England fought back to score 3 unanswered goals and cruised to the win. The England goals came from Harry Kane (2) and Marcus Rashford. England also featured Jude Bellingham. The Italy goal came from Gianluca Scamacca (9, 2 Discs, Channel 4 - Bower/Dublin, PAL)
2024 - Finals
Group A - Germany (5) v (1) Scotland - Germany opened their home tournament with a big win over Scotland at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The hosts were never in trouble, building on a 3-0 lead at the half with 2 more goals in the 2nd half. Germany dominated the stats too : 72% possession + 20 shots on goal to 1 for Scotland. The Germany goal scorers were Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Niclas Fullkrug and Emre Can. The Scotland goal came from an own goal by Antonio Rudiger (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/McCoist, PAL)
Group B - Croatia (2) v (2) Albania - In the 1st ever meeting between the near-neighbours, Albania secured a well-earned draw at a raucous Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. After taking the lead in the 11th minute, Albania held on for 60 minutes before Croatia turned the game around with 2 goals in 2 minutes. The game seemed to be lost for Albania but in the 5th minute of injury time they sensationally scored to rescue a draw. The Croatia goals came from Andrej Kramaric and Luka Sucic. The Albania goals came from Qazim Laci and Klaus Gjasula (9, No Pre-Game, 2 Discs, ITV - Hutchinson/Townsend, PAL)
Group C - England (1) v (0) Serbia - England opened their Group with a tight win over Serbia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen. A 13th-minute goal from Jude Bellingham gave England the lead but they failed to press their advantage and held on for the win (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Mowbray/Shearer, PAL)
Group C - England (1) v (1) Denmark - At the Waldstadion in Frankfurt, England and Denmark played out a dull draw that kept both teams in the hunt for the net round. England started the better and too the lead with a goal from Harry Kane after 18 minutes, but then decided to sit back and defend the lead. Denmark took the initiative and made England pay with an equalising goal from Morten Hjulmand after 34 minutes. Neither team could find another goal and the game tamely ended in a draw (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Mowbray/Shearer, PAL)
Group C - England (0) v (0) Slovenia - England booked their place in the Last 16 with a nervy draw against Slovenia at the RheinEnergieSTADION in Cologne. England dominated the stats (72% possession + 12 shots to 4 on goal) but lacked energy and desire and saw out the game professionally to earn the draw that made them finish top of the group (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
Last 16 - Austria (1) v (2) Turkey - In front of a raucous and passionate crowd at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Turkey upset Austria to book a place in the Quarter Finals. 2 goals from Merih Demiral gave Turkey a 2-0 lead in the 2nd half but Austria fought back, pulled a goal back from Michael Gregoritsch and in the final seconds they thought they had forced extra-time. But a goal-bound shot from Christoph Baumgartner was sensationally saved by Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok, in a save reminiscent of Gordon Banks, and Turkey held on for the win (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
Last 16 - Germany (2) v (0) Denmark - In an eventful game at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany overcame Denmark to reach the Quarter Finals. The game was suspended for 20 minutes in the 1st half due to a fierce storm, and Germany were also the beneficiaries of 2 VAR decisions that determined the outcome of the game. Firstly, Denmark had an equaliser ruled out for off-side then moments later, Germany were awarded a soft penalty that saw them double their lead and effectively end the game. The Germany goals came from Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz. The game was also ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley's last game as commentator before retirement (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Tyldesley/McCoist, PAL)
Last 16 - England (2) v (1) Slovakia - England came back from the brink of elimination to beat Slovakia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen and book their place in the Quarter Final. Slovakia were leading 1-0 as the game entered the 5th minute of injury time at the end of the game, when Jude Bellingham scored a superb overhead kick goal to force extra-time. And in the 1st minute of extra-time, Harry Kane scored to put England ahead and they saw out the game to win. The Slovakia goal came from Ivan Schranz (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
Last 16 - Spain (4) v (1) Georgia - Spain finally overcame a feisty Georgia team at the RheinEnergieStadionm in Cologne to book their place in the Quarter Final. After Georgia took a shock 1-0 lead on their first attack of the game, Spain scored 4 unanswered goals to break their hearts and win the game. The Spain goals came from Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo. The Georgia goal came from an own goal. Georgia also featured Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who almost scored the goal of the tournament, but a chip from the halfway line fell just wide (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Hutchinson/Townsend, PAL)
Quarter Final - England (1) v (1) Switzerland - England once again snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a penalty shootout win over Switzerland at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. After a scoreless 1st half, the Swiss opened the scoring in the 75th minute, but England equalised 5 minutes later with their first shot on target in the game. Neither team could find a 2nd goal so the game went to Penalties, where the Swiss missed their first kick while England scored all of theirs to win the game and book a place in the Semi-Final. The England goal came from Bukayo Saka. The Switzerland goal came from Breel Embolo (9, 3 Discs, BBC - Mowbray/Shearer, PAL)
Semi-Final - England (2) v (1) Netherlands - In a sensational game at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, England booked a place in their 2nd straight European Championship final with a late winner. The Dutch started fast, scoring after 7 minutes with a thunderbolt from Xavi Simons. England got back in the game after 18 minutes when they were awarded a dubious penalty, converted by Harry Kane. England then controlled the 1st half with Phil Foden in great form. The 2nd half belonged to the Netherlands as they pushed for a game-winner, but the chance fell to England in the final minute, and substitute Ollie Watkins made no mistake, smashing home the goal that sent England to the final . Also includes BBC News pre-game + BBC and ITV News post game reports (2 versions : 9, 2 Discs, BBC - Mowbray/Murphy, PAL / 9, Same day re-broadcast missing Pre-Game and Half-Time, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/Dixon/McCoist, PAL)
Final - England (1) v (2) Spain - At the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Spain won their 4th European Championship by holding off a strong England comeback in the final minutes. After a scoreless 1st half, Spain opened the 2nd half with goal from Nico Williams in the 47th minute. But England fought back and equalised with a goal from Cole Palmer in the 73rd minute and pressed for the game-winner. Spain weathered the storm and in the 86th minute, Mikel Oyarzabal was in the right place to turn in a Marc Cucurella cross and score the goal that proved to be the winner. England pushed hard for an equaliser but when a last minute goal-bound shot was cleared off the line, the chance was lost and Spain held on for the win. 2 days after the final, England coach Gareth Southgate resigned (9, 3 Discs, BBC - Mowbray/Shearer, PAL)