2000 UEFA European Championship
| UEFA Europees Voetbalkampioenschap België/Nederland 2000 (Dutch) UEFA Championnat Européen du Football Belgique/Pays Bas 2000 (French) UEFA Fußball-Europameisterschaft Belgien/Niederlande 2000 (German) |
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UEFA Euro 2000 official logo
Football without frontiers |
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| 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)
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| 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) |
 Patrick Kluivert Savo Milošević(5 goals each) |
| Best player |
Zinedine Zidane
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The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organised by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe.
The finals of Euro 2000 were co-hosted (the first time this happened) by Belgium and the Netherlands, between 10 June and 2 July 2000. Spain and Austria also bid to host the event. The final tournament was contested by 16 nations. With the exception of the national teams of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands, the finalists had to go through a qualifying round 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.
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was Portugal, winning Group A with three wins, including a 3–0 win against Germany, with Sérgio Conceição scoring a hat-trick, and a 3–2 win over England, in which they came back from 2–0 down. Romania was the other qualifier from the group, beating England with a late penalty in their last group game.
Belgium had a surprise exit in the group stage, winning the tournament's first game against Sweden, but losing to Turkey and Italy. They finished third in Group B, behind Italy and Turkey. The other co-host and favourite, the Netherlands, progressed as expected from Group D, along with World Cup winners France. The Netherlands won the group, by beating France in their last group match. Also in Group D, Denmark's three losses with eight goals conceded and none scored set a new record for the worst team performance in the group stages of a Euros. Group C was memorable for the match between FR Yugoslavia and Spain. Spain needed a win to ensure progression, but found themselves trailing 3–2, after Slobodan Komljenović scored in the 75th minute. The Spanish side rescued their tournament by scoring twice in injury time to record a 4–3 victory. FR Yugoslavia managed to go through as well, despite losing because Norway and Slovenia played to a draw.
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