UEFA Euro 2004 Group C explained

Group C of UEFA Euro 2004 was one of four groups in the final tournament's initial group stage. It began on 14 June and was completed on 22 June. The group consisted of Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Bulgaria.

Sweden won the group and advanced to the quarter-finals, along with Denmark. Italy and Bulgaria failed to advance.

Three teams – Italy, Denmark and Sweden – all finished with five points, with each team having defeated Bulgaria but drawn their two other games. As all results between the three teams in question were draws, both the points won in these games and the goal difference accrued in these games still left the teams undivided. The decisive tiebreaker was therefore the goals scored during the games between one another: Italy having scored the fewest goals of the three teams were therefore eliminated.

This became so with a 2–2 result between Denmark and Sweden in the last group game, a result that Italy knew would eliminate them and one that representatives of both teams denied would happen in advance of the game, Sweden co-coach Lars Lagerbäck quoted as saying in response to Italian questions on the likelihood of this score occurring: "I don't think it will end 2–2 — that is a very unusual result".^[1]

Teams

Draw position	Team	Pot	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	data-sort-type="number"	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	UEFA Rankings November 2003	FIFA Rankings June 2004
C1		1	Group 4 winner	10 September 2003	3rd		data-sort-value="3"	Semi-finals (1992)	3	18
C2		4	Group 8 winner	10 September 2003	2nd		data-sort-value="7"	Group stage (1996)	18	40
C3		3	Group 2 winner	11 October 2003	7th		data-sort-value="1"	Winners (1992)	14	15
C4		2	Group 9 winner	11 October 2003	6th		data-sort-value="1"	Winners (1968)	5	10

Notes

Standings

In the quarter-finals,

• The winner of Group C, Sweden, advanced to play the runner-up of Group D, Netherlands.
• The runner-up of Group C, Denmark, advanced to play the winner of Group D, Czech Republic.

Matches

Denmark vs Italy

GK 1 Thomas Sørensen RB 6 CB 4 Martin Laursen CB 3 René Henriksen (c) LB 5 Niclas Jensen CM 15 Daniel Jensen CM 17 RW 19 Dennis Rommedahl AM 9 LW 10 CF 11 Substitutions: MF 14 FW 20 DF 18 Manager: Morten Olsen

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon RB 2 Christian Panucci CB 13 Alessandro Nesta CB 5 Fabio Cannavaro (c) LB 19 Gianluca Zambrotta CM 4 CM 20 Simone Perrotta RW 16 AM 10 LW 7 CF 9 Christian Vieri Substitutions: MF 8 FW 18 MF 14 Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni

Man of the Match: Thomas Sørensen (Denmark)[2] Assistant referees: Rafael Guerrero Alonso (Spain) Oscar Martínez Samaniego (Spain) Fourth official: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

Sweden vs Bulgaria

GK 1 Andreas Isaksson RB 2 CB 3 Olof Mellberg (c) CB 15 Andreas Jakobsson LB 5 Erik Edman DM 6 RM 7 Mikael Nilsson CM 8 LM 9 Freddie Ljungberg CF 10 CF 11 Henrik Larsson Substitutions: MF 21 MF 16 FW 20 Managers: Lars Lagerbäck Tommy Söderberg

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Zdravko Zdravkov RB 2 CB 3 CB 18 Predrag Pažin LB 4 RM 13 Georgi Peev CM 19 Stiliyan Petrov (c) CM 15 Marian Hristov LM 17 CF 21 CF 9 Substitutions: MF 10 FW 16 FW 11 Manager: Plamen Markov

Man of the Match: Henrik Larsson (Sweden)[3] Assistant referees: Glenn Turner (England) Philip Sharp (England) Fourth official: Stuart Dougal (Scotland)

Bulgaria vs Denmark

GK 1 Zdravko Zdravkov RB 2 CB 3 CB 22 LB 4 RM 13 Georgi Peev CM 15 CM 19 Stiliyan Petrov (c) LM 17 SS 21 CF 9 Dimitar Berbatov Substitutions: DF 5 FW 11 MF 8 Manager: Plamen Markov

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Thomas Sørensen RB 6 Thomas Helveg CB 4 Martin Laursen CB 3 René Henriksen (c) LB 5 CM 15 Daniel Jensen CM 7 Thomas Gravesen AM 9 Jon Dahl Tomasson RW 19 LW 10 CF 11 Substitutions: MF 8 MF 14 Manager: Morten Olsen

Man of the Match: Thomas Gravesen (Denmark)[4] Assistant referees: Paulo Januário (Portugal) José Cardinal (Portugal) Fourth official: Gilles Veissière (France)

Italy vs Sweden

GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon RB 2 Christian Panucci CB 5 Fabio Cannavaro (c) CB 13 Alessandro Nesta LB 19 RM 8 CM 21 Andrea Pirlo LM 20 Simone Perrotta AM 18 CF 9 Christian Vieri CF 7 Substitutions: MF 14 DF 15 MF 16 Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Andreas Isaksson RB 7 Mikael Nilsson CB 3 Olof Mellberg (c) CB 15 Andreas Jakobsson LB 5 DM 6 RM 21 CM 8 LM 9 Freddie Ljungberg CF 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović CF 11 Henrik Larsson Substitutions: MF 16 FW 18 FW 20 Managers: Lars Lagerbäck Tommy Söderberg

Man of the Match: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)[5] Assistant referees: Rudolf Käppeli (Switzerland) Francesco Buragina (Switzerland) Fourth official: Markus Merk (Germany)

Italy vs Bulgaria

GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon RB 2 Christian Panucci CB 13 Alessandro Nesta CB 23 LB 19 Gianluca Zambrotta RM 20 CM 21 Andrea Pirlo LM 14 Stefano Fiore RF 18 Antonio Cassano CF 11 LF 7 Alessandro Del Piero (c) Substitutions: FW 9 DF 3 FW 17 Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Zdravko Zdravkov (c) RB 7 Daniel Borimirov CB 18 CB 5 Zlatomir Zagorčić LB 22 CM 15 CM 8 Milen Petkov RW 11 AM 21 LW 17 CF 9 Dimitar Berbatov Substitutions: FW 20 DF 6 MF 10 Manager: Plamen Markov

Man of the Match: Antonio Cassano (Italy)[6] Assistant referees: Yuri Dupanov (Belarus) Vladimir Eniutin (Russia) Fourth official: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)

Denmark vs Sweden

See also: Denmark–Sweden football rivalry.

GK 1 Thomas Sørensen RB 6 Thomas Helveg CB 4 Martin Laursen CB 3 René Henriksen (c) LB 5 CM 15 CM 7 Thomas Gravesen AM 9 Jon Dahl Tomasson RW 8 Jesper Grønkjær LW 10 CF 11 Ebbe Sand Substitutions: DF 2 MF 19 MF 17 Manager: Morten Olsen

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Andreas Isaksson RB 7 Mikael Nilsson CB 3 Olof Mellberg (c) CB 15 Andreas Jakobsson LB 5 DM 17 RM 18 Mattias Jonson CM 16 LM 9 Freddie Ljungberg CF 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović CF 11 Henrik Larsson Substitutions: MF 21 FW 20 Managers: Lars Lagerbäck Tommy Söderberg

Man of the Match: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark)[7] Assistant referees: Christian Schräer (Germany) Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany) Fourth official: Mike Riley (England)

See also

• Bulgaria at the UEFA European Championship
• Denmark at the UEFA European Championship
• Italy at the UEFA European Championship
• Sweden at the UEFA European Championship

External links

• UEFA Euro 2004 Group C

Notes and References

1. Web site: Christenson . Marcus . Euro 2004: Sweden v Denmark – they said it would not end 2-2 … but it did . 13 January 2023 . 18 June 2012. The Guardian.
2. News: Thomas Sørensen . Union of European Football Associations . 14 June 2004 . 15 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040624145541/http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Carlsberg/matchday=3/day=1/match=1059168/index.html . 24 June 2004 .
3. News: Henrik Larsson . Union of European Football Associations . 14 June 2004 . 15 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040624145541/http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Carlsberg/matchday=3/day=1/match=1059169/index.html . 24 June 2004 .
4. News: Thomas Gravesen . Union of European Football Associations . 18 June 2004 . 15 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040624145541/http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Carlsberg/matchday=7/day=1/match=1059176/index.html . 24 June 2004 .
5. News: Zlatan Ibrahimović . Union of European Football Associations . 18 June 2004 . 16 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040624164343/http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Carlsberg/matchday=7/day=1/match=1059177/index.html . 24 June 2004 .
6. News: Antonio Cassano . Union of European Football Associations . 22 June 2004 . 16 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040624133328/http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Carlsberg/matchday=11/day=1/match=1059184/index.html . 24 June 2004 .
7. News: Jon Dahl Tomasson . Union of European Football Associations . 22 June 2004 . 16 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040624135016/http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Carlsberg/matchday=11/day=1/match=1059185/index.html . 24 June 2004 .