
UEFA Euro 2004 was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship. Greece won the title for the first time in history by defeating Portugal in the final.
As in the 1996 and 2000 tournaments, the final tournament was contested by 16 teams: the hosts and 15 teams that advanced through the qualifying tournament, which began in September 2002. Latvia secured their first participation in a major tournament by overcoming Turkey in the play-offs, while Greece returned to the European Championship after a 24-year absence.
Champions: Greece (1st title)
Runners-up: Portugal
UEFA Player of the Tournament: Theodoros Zagorakis
Golden Boot: Milan Baroš, 5 goal
UEFA Euro 2004 Group stage
Group A
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. (Qualified) Portugal (Host)
3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
2. (Qualified) Greece
3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
3 Spain
3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
4 Russia
3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
Note: Tied on head-to-head result (Greece 1–1 Spain) and overall goal difference (0). Overall goals for was used as the tiebreaker.
Group B
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. (Qualified) France
3 2 1 0 7 4 +3 7
2. (Qualified) England
3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3 Croatia
3 0 2 1 4 6 −2 2
4 Switzerland
3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
Group C
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. (Qualified) Sweden
3 1 2 0 8 3 +5 5
2. (Qualified) Denmark
3 1 2 0 4 2 +2 5
3 Italy
3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
4 Bulgaria
3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
Group D
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1. (Qualified) Czech Republic
3 3 0 0 7 4 +3 9
2. (Qualified) Netherlands
3 1 1 1 6 4 +2 4
3 Germany
3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
4 Latvia
3 0 1 2 1 5 −4 1
UEFA Euro 2004 Quarter finals
Date Team A Result Team B Stadium
24 June 2004 Portugal
2–2 (a.e.t.)
6–5 (penalties) England
Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
25 June 2004 France
0–1 Greece
Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon
26 June 2004 Sweden
0–0 (a.e.t.)
4–5 (penalties) Netherlands
Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé
27 June 2004 Czech Republic
3–0 Denmark
Estádio do Dragão, Porto
UEFA Euro 2004 Semi finals
30 June 2004 19:45, Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon
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2 – 1 | ![]() |
C. Ronaldo ![]() Maniche ![]() |
Andrade ![]() |
1 July 2004 19:45, Estádio do Dragão, Porto
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1 – 0 (a.e.t.) | ![]() |
T. Dellas ![]() |
UEFA Euro 2004 final match
4 July 2004 19:45, Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
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0 – 1 | ![]() |
A. Charisteas ![]() |
UEFA Euro 2004 top goal scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Milan Baroš
Czech Republic 5
2 Wayne Rooney
England 4
3 Ruud van Nistelrooy
Netherlands 4
4 Jon Dahl Tomasson
Denmark 3
5 Frank Lampard
England 3
6 Zinedine Zidane
France 3
7 Angelos Charisteas
Greece 3
8 Henrik Larsson
Sweden 3
Most assist provider list
Rank Player Team Assist
1 Karel Poborský
Czech Republic 4
2 Arjen Robben
Netherlands 3
3 Cristiano Ronaldo
Portugal 2
4 Deco
Portugal 2
5 Vasilios Tsiartas
Greece 2
UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament
Goalkeeper Defender Midfielder Forward
Petr Čech
Sol Campbell
Pavel Nedvěd
Milan Baroš
Antonios Nikopolidis
Ashley Cole
Frank Lampard
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Traianos Dellas
Zinedine Zidane
Wayne Rooney
Giourkas Seitaridis
Michael Ballack
Angelos Charisteas
Gianluca Zambrotta
Theodoros Zagorakis
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Ricardo Carvalho
Luís Figo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Olof Mellberg
Maniche
Henrik Larsson
Qualification
The draw for the qualifying round was held on January 25, 2002, at the Europarque Congress Centre in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal. Fifty teams were divided into ten groups of five, with each team playing two matches against all its opponents on a home-and-away basis. Qualification matches took place from September 2002 to November 2003. The first-placed teams from each group qualified automatically for the final tournament, while the ten runners-up participated in a two-legged play-off to determine the remaining five teams that would join the host nation in the final tournament.
Summary
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 was again defeated by Greece, with a goal from Angelos Charisteas. Greece’s triumph was unexpected, considering they had only qualified for two other major tournaments: UEFA Euro 1980, where they managed just one point, and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they lost all three matches. 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—symbolizing the voyages of 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 the official tournament theme song, “Força.”
UEFA Euro 2004 Venues
Stadium Capacity City
Estádio da Luz 64,642 Lisbon
Estádio José Alvalade 50,095 Lisbon
Estádio do Dragão 50,033 Porto
Estádio Municipal de Aveiro 32,830 Aveiro
Estádio Algarve 30,305 Faro/Loulé
Estádio Municipal de Braga 30,286 Braga
Estádio D. Afonso Henriques 30,000 Guimarães
Estádio Cidade de Coimbra 29,622 Coimbra
Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa 28,642 Leiria
Estádio do Bessa 28,263 Porto