1984 France

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France 1984

The 1984 European Football Championship, was held in France, and was the seventh competition since it started in 1960. The competition format was altered slightly again, from the previous tournament. Same as its Precedor, eight teams, two groups of four, each team will play once against its fellow group members. The teams occupying the top two places of their groups, will progress to the semi finals (which has been reintroduced, as it was dropped during Italy 1980). Third place playoff was regarded as pointless, so it was dropped. 15 games were played, one more than Euro 1980

All about France

France hosted a very successful tournament. Hooligan-related incidents were very low throughout the two weeks. The organisation was best described as flawless. This will eventually contribute to France's successful bid in hosting the World Cup in 1998. In addition, the high quality games throughout the competition, resulted in a very positive and enjoyable tournament for teams and fans.

There were a few notable players, including goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff, who hugely contributed to Belgiums successful Euro 1980 run. Denmark introduced Michael Laudrup, the first of the Laudrup brothers, West Germany had the inclusion of legends such as defensive midfielder Lothar Matthäus and striker Rudi Völler. Romania also had the inclusion of 19 year old Gheorghe Hagi, who will drive Romania to very successful campaigns in the Euro Championship and the World Cup in the near future.

Euro 1980 was the year of Michel Platini. Due to a lack of world class strikers in the French squad. Platini, switched from playmaker to center forward in a short period of time. The result saw Platini scoring in every match in the competition, a total of 9 goals in 5 games, including two "perfect" hat tricks (one with a header, and one with each foot) against Belgium (5-0) and Yugoslavia (3-2) and one in the final against Spain, to ensure the trophy stays in France.