UEFA Euro 2004 final
The UEFA Euro 2004 final was the final match of UEFA Euro 2004, the twelfth European Championship, a football competition organised by UEFA for the senior men's national teams of its member associations. The match was played at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, on 4 July 2004, and was contested by Portugal, the tournament's hosts, and Greece, in a rematch of the tournament's opening game.
The 16-team tournament consisted of a group stage, from which eight teams qualified for the knockout stage. Both finalists were drawn in Group A of the tournament, and played each other in the opening game, with Greece winning 2–1 in what BBC Sport labelled a "shock defeat" for the hosts. Portugal won their other two group matches, against Russia and Spain; Greece drew with Spain and lost to Russia, leaving Portugal top of the group and Greece second. In the knockout stage, Portugal beat England on penalties in the quarter-finals, and the Netherlands in the semi-finals. Greece, meanwhile, beat defending champions France in the quarter-finals, and the Czech Republic in the semi-finals via a silver goal.
The final took place in front of 62,865 supporters, and was refereed by Markus Merk from Germany. Greece scored the only goal in the match in the 57th minute, when Angelos Basinas' corner was met by Angelos Charisteas, who sent a powerful header past goalkeeper Ricardo. Greece held on to complete a shock 1–0 victory, winning their first title in just their second ever tournament appearance.
Several pundits labelled Greece's tournament win the greatest upset in the history of the European Championship; among these was BBC Sport John May, who cited Greece's record of never having previously won a match at a major event and their pre-tournament bookmaker odds of 150–1. Otto Rehhagel, Greece's manager, said after the game that "it was an unusual achievement for Greek football and especially for European football", while Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari expressed pain at the result, saying that Greece were the better team and lamenting that Portugal had been beaten by "one piece of sloppy defending". As winners, Greece qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany as UEFA's representatives. However, they subsequently failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Background
was the 12th UEFA European Championship, a football competition organised by UEFA for the senior men's national teams of its member associations. The tournament was played in Portugal from 12 June to 4 July 2004. Qualifying matches were played between September 2002 and November 2003, in which fifty teams were divided into ten groups of five, playing each other on a home-and-away round-robin tournament basis. Portugal qualified automatically as hosts, along with the top team in each qualifying group. The remaining five teams were determined by a series of two-legged play-offs between the ten group runners-up. For the finals tournament, the teams were divided into four groups of four, and each team played the others in their group once. The top two teams from each group advanced to a knockout phase.Neither Greece nor Portugal had appeared in a European Championship final before 2004. Greece's only prior appearance in a European Championship was in 1980, when they were eliminated in the group phase. Their only other major tournament appearance was at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, in which they also failed to qualify for the knockouts, losing all of their group games. Portugal had qualified three times previously: in 1984, when they lost 3–2 in the semi-final to France, a loss to the Czech Republic in the quarter-final in 1996, and another semi-final defeat to France in 2000, 2–1 on a golden goal. The two teams' last meeting before Euro 2004 was a 1–1 draw in a friendly in November 2003, and their last competitive fixture was a Euro 1992 qualifier in 1991, which Portugal won 1–0.
The final was played on 4 July 2004 at the 65,000-capacity Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. Opened in 2003, the stadium was built to replace the former home stadium of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. Prior to the final, the Estádio da Luz hosted four matches at Euro 2004: three group matches from Groups A and B, and the quarter-final between Portugal and England.
Route to the final
Portugal
As the tournament hosts, Portugal were drawn in Group A, in which they were joined by Greece, Russia and Spain. Their match against eventual finalists Greece was the tournament's opening fixture, played on 12 June 2004 at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto. In what BBC Sport described as a "shock defeat", Portugal lost the match 2–1. Greece took the lead in the 7th minute through Giorgos Karagounis, who scored from after Portugal's Paulo Ferreira had lost possession. They doubled their lead in the second half when Cristiano Ronaldo, a substitute for Portugal, fouled Greek player Giourkas Seitaridis and Angelos Basinas scored with the resulting penalty. Ronaldo scored for Portugal late in the game, but Greece held on for a victory which marked the first time in European Championship history that a host nation had lost in the opening match. Portugal's second group game was against Russia at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on 16 June. They took an early lead in the 7th minute, when Deco sent the ball into the area and it was met by Maniche, who scored into the bottom corner of the Russian goal. Russia's goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov was then given a red card shortly before half-time for handling the ball outside of his penalty area. Luís Figo had an opportunity for Portugal midway through the second half, which was pushed on to the goalpost by substitute goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev, before Rui Costa scored a second on 89 minutes from a close-range shot with the toe of his boot, after a Ronaldo cross, to seal a 2–0 Portugal win. Their final group game was against Spain at Lisbon's Estádio José Alvalade on 20 June. Needing a win to guarantee progress, Portugal scored the game's only goal through substitute Nuno Gomes on 57 minutes. The 1–0 win saw Portugal qualify for the next round as group winners.Portugal's quarter-final match was against England, on 24 June at the Estádio da Luz. England took the lead through Michael Owen on 3 minutes, which they held until the 83rd minute, when Hélder Postiga headed into the goal following a cross from Simão Sabrosa. The match went to extra time, and Rui Costa gave Portugal the lead on 110 minutes with a powerful shot from out. Frank Lampard equalised for England five minutes later, and with the match finishing 2–2 it was decided by a penalty shoot-out. David Beckham missed England's first penalty, but Rui Costa then missed with Portugal's third, both players shooting over the crossbar. With all other penalties scored, the shoot-out went to sudden death at 4–4. Taking England's seventh penalty, Darius Vassell had his shot saved by goalkeeper Ricardo, who then took Portugal's next penalty himself, to seal a 6–5 shoot-out win. The hosts returned to the Estádio José Alvalade for the semi-final on 30 June, in which they played the Netherlands. Ronaldo scored after 26 minutes with a header, following what BBC Sport described as "slack Dutch marking". Maniche then scored Portugal's second on 58 minutes, with a curving shot from the edge of the penalty area from a Ronaldo pass. Jorge Andrade scored an own goal five minutes later, under pressure from the Netherlands' Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Portugal held on for a 2–1 win and a place in the final.
Greece
After defeating Portugal in the opening game, Greece's second Group A fixture was against Spain at Porto's Estádio do Bessa. Spain took the lead shortly before the half-hour mark through a low shot by Fernando Morientes, after Raúl had taken the ball from Greece's Michalis Kapsis on the edge of the penalty area. Raúl had a chance to make it 2–0 with a header in the second half, but it was Greece who scored the next goal, when Angelos Charisteas intercepted a long pass from Vasilios Tsiartas for the equaliser. The match finished 1–1, leaving Greece on 4 points and needing only a draw from their final group game to guarantee progress to the next round. That match took place on 20 June 2004, against already-eliminated Russia at the Estádio Algarve in Faro. Greece suffered an early setback, when Dmitri Kirichenko opened the scoring for Russia after 67 seconds, which until Euro 2024 was the fastest goal in the history of the European Championship. Greece went further behind on 17 minutes, through a Dmitri Bulykin header following a Russian corner kick. Shortly before half-time, Zisis Vryzas scored a goal for Greece to reduce the deficit, but they could not find an equaliser and the game finished 2–1 to Russia. Spain's defeat to Portugal meant that Greece and Spain were level on points but Greece progressed as they had scored more goals than Spain.In the quarter-finals, Greece faced France on 25 June at the Estádio José Alvalade. France were the defending champions, having won the Euro 2000 final, but Greece won the game 1–0 with a performance described by Kevin McCarra of The Guardian as "undaunted and controlled". The winning goal was scored by Charisteas in the 65th minute with a header, after Theodoros Zagorakis had run with the ball down the right and crossed to him. Thierry Henry had a late chance to equalise for France, but his header went wide. Greece's semi-final opponents were the Czech Republic, whom they faced on 1 July at the Estádio do Dragão. The Czech Republic had two early chances – a powerful volley by Tomáš Rosický which struck the crossbar and a shot by Marek Jankulovski, which Greek goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis saved. The remainder of the match was described by Mark Chaplin for UEFA as a "tight contest between the Czechs' superior technique and Greece's industry and commitment", and despite chances for both sides, it remained 0–0 after 90 minutes. The game went to extra time, and in injury time of the first period, Traianos Dellas headed Greece into the lead from a corner. Euro 2004 made use of the silver goal rule, in which the game would end if any team were leading at half-time in extra time. Greece thus won the match 1–0, without the second period of extra time being played. It was the only major international game decided by a silver goal before the rule was abolished.