The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2004 or Euro 2004, was the 12th UEFA European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for men's national teams in Europe. It was held in Portugal for the first time, after their bid was selected by UEFA on 12 October 1999, over bids from Spain and Austria/Hungary. The tournament took place between 12 June and 4 July 2004, with matches being played in ten venues across eight cities: Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon and Porto.
As in the previous editions in 1996 and 2000, 16 teams contested the final tournament after going through a qualification round, which began in late 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: Germany, Spain and Italy were knocked out during the group stage, France, the defending champions, were eliminated in the quarter-finals by underdogs Greece, and the Portuguese team recovered from an opening defeat to reach the final, eliminating England and the Netherlands along the way. For the first time in a major football tournament, the final featured the same teams as the opening match, and like in their previous encounter, Portugal were beaten by Greece, with the winning goal scored by Angelos Charisteas. Greece's triumph was unexpected, considering that they had only qualified for two other major tournaments – Euro 1980 and the 1994 World Cup – and their victory in the opening match was their first in a major tournament.
During the opening ceremony, one of the tableaux depicted a ship, symbolising the voyages of the Portuguese explorers, sailing through a sea which gave way to the flags of all competing countries. In the closing ceremony, Portuguese-Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado, performed her single and official tournament theme song, "Força".
Read more about 2004 UEFA European Football Championship: Summary, Qualification, Venues, Match Ball, Squads, Match Officials, Results
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