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The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, football's governing body in Europe.
The finals of Euro 2000 were co-hosted (the first time this happened) by Belgium and the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2000. The final tournament was contested by 16 nations. With the exception of the national teams of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands, the finalists had to go through a qualifying round to reach the final stage. France won the tournament, by defeating Italy 2-1 in the final, via a golden goal.
Overview
Belgium had a surprise exit in the group stage, winning the tournament's first game against Sweden but losing to Turkey and Italy. Italy also eliminated co-host and favorites Netherlands in the semi-finals, despite going down to ten men and facing two penalty kicks. Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo made two saves in the penalty shootout (in addition to his penalty save in regulation time) to carry the Italians to the final.
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was Portugal, winning their group with three wins, including a 3-0 win against Germany. They reached the semi-finals, when they lost in extra-time to France after Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty kick. Several Portuguese players challenged the awarding of the penalty for a handball and were given lengthy suspensions for shoving the referee.[1]
The Euro 2000 winner was France, who defeated Italy 2-1 in the final after a golden goal by France's David Trézéguet.
In Britain, Match of the Day named Stefano Fiore's goal against Belgium the Goal of the Tournament, ahead of Patrick Kluivert's against France and Zinedine Zidane's against Spain.[2]
Qualification
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Qualification for the tournament took place throughout 1998 and 1999. Forty-nine teams were divided into nine groups and each played the others in their group, on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified automatically for the final tournament. The eight other runners-up played an additional set of playoff matches to determine the last four qualifiers. Belgium and the Netherlands automatically qualified for the tournament as co-hosts.
The following 16 teams participated in the tournament:
Mascot
The official mascot of this EuroCup was Benelucky, a lion-devil with its hair color being a combination of the flag colors of both host nations.
Stadiums
Netherlands
Belgium
Match officials
 Austria
 Denmark
 Egypt
 England
 France
 Germany
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 Italy
 Netherlands
 Portugal
 Scotland
 Spain
 Sweden
 Switzerland
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Squads
- For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see UEFA Euro 2000 squads.
Results
First round
All times local (CEST/UTC+2)
Group A
Group B
| Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
| Italy |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
+4 |
9 |
 Turkey |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
+1 |
4 |
 Belgium |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
−3 |
3 |
| Sweden |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
−2 |
1 |
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
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