The knockout stage of UEFA Euro 1992 was a single-elimination tournament involving the four teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament. There were two rounds of matches: a semi-final stage leading to the final to decide the champions. The knockout stage began with the semi-finals on 21 June and ended with the final on 26 June 1992 at the Ullevi in Gothenburg. Denmark won the tournament with a 2–0 victory over Germany.[1]
Any game in the knockout stage that was undecided by the end of the regular 90 minutes was followed by thirty minutes of extra time (two 15-minute halves). If scores were still level after 30 minutes of extra time, there would be a penalty shootout (at least five penalties each, and more if necessary) to determine who progressed to the next round. As with every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there was no third place play-off.
Qualified teams[]
The top two placed teams from each of the two groups qualified for the knockout stage.
Denmark's Schmeichel and Laudrup, along with Germany's Brehme, Kohler, Effenberg and Häßler, were all named in UEFA's team of the tournament.[3] Germany's managerBerti Vogts suggested that conceding the first goal had a detrimental effect on his side, "after going a goal behind, we fell into the headless chicken syndrome."[4] Schmeichel said "it really sank in when we were in Copenhagen in the town hall for the celebrations with the rest of Denmark. That was unbelievable, truly unbelievable."[5] Vilfort later said "We had fantastic spirit. The team wanted to win and that's a very good thing when you're at the highest level... We didn't have the best players, but we had the best team."[6]Jan Mølby, who was part of the Denmark squad during the tournament,[7] later said "In 1992, it was a big surprise for everybody... It shows what team spirit and confidence is able to do."[8] Reflecting at the time on Denmark's recent referendum where they decided against joining the European Union, the Danish foreign secretary Uffe Ellemann-Jensen joked "If you can't join them, beat them".[9]
Denmark's victory has been described as one of the biggest shocks in international football history, and is listed by UEFA as one of the most surprising results in the European Championship.[10][11][12] The BBC and The Guardian both called it a "fairy tale".[6][4]