UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
| Europees Voetbalkampioenschap België/Nederland 2000 (in Dutch) Championnat d'Europe de football Belgique/Pays-Bas 2000 (in French) Fußball-Europameisterschaft Belgien/Niederlande 2000 (in German) | |
|---|---|
Football without frontiers | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Belgium Netherlands |
| Dates | 10 June – 2 July |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 8 (in 8 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | France (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 85 (2.74 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,122,833 (36,220 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Savo Milošević Patrick Kluivert (5 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Zinedine Zidane |
The finals tournament was played between 10 June and 2 July 2000, and co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, the first time the tournament had been held in more than one nation. Spain and Austria also bid to host the event. The finals tournament was contested by 16 nations; with the exception of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands, the finalists had to go through a qualifying tournament to reach the final stage. France won the tournament by defeating Italy 2–1 in the final, via a golden goal.
The finals saw the first major UEFA competition contested in the King Baudouin Stadium (formerly the Heysel Stadium) since the events of the 1985 European Cup final and the Heysel Stadium disaster, with the opening game being played in the rebuilt stadium.
A high-scoring tournament with many exciting matches and a very high standard of play, Euro 2000 is often named by football writers as one of the greatest international tournaments ever.