The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July 2004. The tournament took place in ten venues located in eight cities: Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Porto and Lisbon.

 

The tournament was rich in surprises: Germany and Italy were knocked out during the group stage; title-holders France were eliminated in the quarter-finals by underdogs Greece, and the Portuguese hosts recovered from their opening defeat to reach the final, eliminating Spain, England and Netherlands along the way. For the first time, the final featured the same teams as the opening match, with the hosts losing both of them, for the first time as well, as Portugal were beaten by Greece on both occasions. Greece's triumph was even more outstanding considering that they had only qualified for two other major tournaments – Euro 1980 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup