The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was the thirteenth European Championships and and was held in Austria and Switzerland between 7 June and 29 June 2008. The tournament was won by Spain who beat Germany 1-0 at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna.
- 1. Host selection
- 2. Qualifying
- 3. Wales and the 2008 European Championship
- 4. Wales players used during qualifying
Seven bids came to host the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship with joint bids from Austria and Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, Greece and Turkey, Scotland and Republic of Ireland as well as a Nordic bid from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and solo bids from Hungary and also from Russia.
UEFA’s National Teams Committee made a recommendation based on technical evaluation of the six candidates on 12 December 2002, and concluded that only four bids had the capability of organising the tournament with the bids ranked as follows:
1. Austria–Switzerland, 2. Hungary, 3. Greece–Turkey, 4. Nordic Countries (Denmark–Finland–Norway–Sweden)
The UEFA Executive Committee voted on the bids and chose Austria–Switzerland as the winning bid.
Fifty UEFA members entered the qualification tournament for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship with Kazakhstan taking part in a Euro qualifying tournament for the first time since joining UEFA in 2002.
Austria and Switzerland qualified automatically as hosts.
Wales were seeded in pot 5 and were drawn into Group D alongside Czechia, Germany, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and San Marino.
Uefa qualifying group D
| no. | date | score | scorers (Wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 540 | 02/09/2006 | Czechia 2-1 Wales | og | Na Stínadlech, Teplice | ECQ |
| 02/09/2006 | Slovakia 6-1 Cyprus | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | ECQ | ||
| 02/09/2006 | Germany 1-0 Republic of Ireland | Gottileb-Daimler Stadion, Stuttgart | ECQ | ||
| 06/09/2006 | Slovakia 0-3 Czechia | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | ECQ | ||
| 06/09/2006 | San Marino 0-13 Germany | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | ECQ | ||
| 542 | 07/10/2006 | Wales 1-5 Slovakia | Bale | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 07/10/2006 | Czechia 7-0 San Marino | U Nisy Stadion, Liberec | ECQ | ||
| 07/10/2006 | Cyprus 5-2 Republic of Ireland | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ECQ | ||
| 11/10/2006 | Republic of Ireland 1-1 Czechia | Lansdowne Road, Dublin | ECQ | ||
| 11/10/2006 | Slovakia 1-4 Germany | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | ECQ | ||
| 543 | 11/10/2006 | Wales 3-1 Cyprus | Koumas, Earnshaw, Bellamy | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 15/11/2006 | Cyprus 1-1 Germany | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ECQ | ||
| 15/11/2006 | Republic of Ireland 5-0 San Marino | Lansdowne Road, Dublin | ECQ | ||
| 07/02/2007 | San Marino 1-2 Republic of Ireland | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | ECQ | ||
| 546 | 24/03/2007 | Republic of Ireland 1-0 Wales | Croke Park, Dublin | ECQ | |
| 24/03/2007 | Cyprus 1-3 Slovakia | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ECQ | ||
| 24/03/2007 | Czechia 1-2 Germany | Toyota Arena, Prague | ECQ | ||
| 28/03/2007 | Czechia 1-0 Cyprus | U Nisy Stadion, Liberec | ECQ | ||
| 28/03/2007 | Republic of Ireland 1-0 Slovakia | Croke Park, Dublin | ECQ | ||
| 547 | 28/03/2007 | Wales 3-0 San Marino | Giggs, Bale, Koumas | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 02/06/2007 | Germany 6-0 San Marino | Frankenstadion, Nuremberg | ECQ | ||
| 06/06/2007 | Germany 2-1 Slovakia | AOL Arena, Hamburg | ECQ | ||
| 22/08/2007 | San Marino 0-1 Cyprus | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | ECQ | ||
| 08/09/2007 | San Marino 0-3 Czechia | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | ECQ | ||
| 08/09/2007 | Slovakia 2-2 Republic of Ireland | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | ECQ | ||
| 549 | 02/06/2007 | Wales 0-0 Czechia | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ | |
| 551 | 08/09/2007 | Wales 0-2 Germany | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ | |
| 12/09/2007 | Cyprus 3-0 San Marino | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ECQ | ||
| 12/09/2007 | Czechia 1-0 Republic of Ireland | AXA Arena, Prague | ECQ | ||
| 552 | 12/09/2007 | Slovakia 2-5 Wales | Eastwood, Bellamy (2), og, Davies | Anton Malatinského, Trnava | ECQ |
| 13/10/2007 | Slovakia 7-0 San Marino | Metský štadión, Dubnica nad Váhom | ECQ | ||
| 553 | 13/10/2007 | Cyprus 3-1 Wales | Collins | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ECQ |
| 13/10/2007 | Republic of Ireland 0-0 Germany | Croke Park, Dublin | ECQ | ||
| 554 | 17/10/2007 | San Marino 1-2 Wales | Earnshaw, Ledley | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | ECQ |
| 17/10/2007 | Republic of Ireland 1-1 Cyprus | Croke Park, Dublin | ECQ | ||
| 17/10/2007 | Germany 0-3 Czechia | Allianz Arena, Munich | ECQ | ||
| 555 | 17/11/2007 | Wales 2-2 Republic of Ireland | Koumas (2) | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 17/11/2007 | Germany 4-0 Cyprus | AWD-Arena, Hanover | ECQ | ||
| 17/11/2007 | Czechia 3-1 Slovakia | AXA Arena, Prague | ECQ | ||
| 21/11/2007 | Cyprus 0-2 Czechia | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ECQ | ||
| 556 | 21/11/2007 | Germany 0-0 Wales | Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt | ECQ | |
| 21/11/2007 | San Marino 0-5 Slovakia | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | ECQ |
Group standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Czech Republic | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 5 | 29 |
| 2. | Germany | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 7 | 27 |
| 3. | Ireland | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 14 | 17 |
| 4. | Slovakia | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 33 | 23 | 16 |
| 5. | Wales | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 19 | 15 |
| 6. | Cyprus | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 24 | 14 |
| 7. | San Marino | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 57 | 0 |
Wales and the 2008 European Championship
Wales were seeded in pot 5 and were drawn into Group D alongside Czechia, Germany, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and San Marino.
The first match of the campaign saw Wales travel to Czechia to take on the group's top seeds, but despite an 86th minute equaliser in Teplice, Wales lost 2-1 as the home side scored a last minute winner.
However, any optimism from the cruel defeat to the Czechs was wiped out with Wales suffering the heaviest home defeat since 1894 as Slovakia thrashed Wales 5-1.
The only glimmer of light on an evening which saw Paul Jones win his 50th and final cap in goal for Wales was that of Gareth Bale becoming Wales' youngest ever goalscorer.
Wales were the first ever visitors for a football international at Dublin's Páirc an Chrócaigh, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, but in a poor quality game, John Toshack's men could not build on their win over Cyprus in the previous match.
A routine win over San Marino was followed by Ryan Giggs' last ever Wales match as the Manchester United winger announced his retirement from international football.
Giggs could not inspire Wales to a win but a creditable 0-0 draw against the top seeds wasn't enough for Wales who saw hopes of qualification all but extinguished.
A defeat at home to Germany was followed by a 5-2 thumping of Slovakia in Trnava which went some way to ease the painful memories of the home defeat, however the next two Wales matches were amongst the worst perfomances of the Toshack era.
Despite them beating the Republic of Ireland and winning a point against Germany, Wales were expected to beat Cyprus in Nicosia, however a 3-1 defeat followed by a poor performance in a 2-1 win over 10-man San Marino saw Welsh fans turn on the team.
A last gasp equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw at home to the Republic of Ireland and a 0-0 draw away to already qualified Germany did little to appease the press or the fans as Wales finished the campaign in fifth place.
Players used during qualifying
Wales used 32 players during the campaign, incluyding four different goalkeepers. No player played every single minute of the campaign but Simon Davies played a part in every match.
Dave Edwards won his first cap in the home match against the Republic of Ireland. Mark Delaney won the last of his 36 caps in the opening defeat away to Czechia whilst Ryan Giggs won the last of his 64 caps in the home draw with Czechia.
| Player | CZE | SLO | CYP | IRL | SAN | CZE | GER | SLO | CYP | SAN | IRL | GER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gareth Bale | 90 | 90 | 74 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| Craig Bellamy | 90 | 90 | 89 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||
| Danny Collins | 16 | 44 | ||||||||||
| James Collins | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| David Cotterill | 12 | 2 | 45 | 9 | ||||||||
| Danny Coyne | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||||||
| Andrew Crofts | 11 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Simon Davies | 90 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 79 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Mark Delaney | 78 | |||||||||||
| Richard Duffy | 90 | 78 | ||||||||||
| Neal Eardley | 90 | 81 | ||||||||||
| Rob Earnshaw | 12 | 45 | 90 | 1 | 32 | 90 | 55 | |||||
| Jermaine Easter | 1 | 45 | 17 | 31 | 35 | |||||||
| Freddy Eastwood | 90 | 73 | 58 | 59 | ||||||||
| Dave Edwards | 53 | 89 | ||||||||||
| Rob Edwards | 58 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Steve Evans | 90 | 63 | ||||||||||
| Carl Fletcher | 45 | 45 | 90 | 23 | 17 | 90 | 90 | |||||
| Danny Gabbidon | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Ryan Giggs | 90 | 90 | 73 | 89 | ||||||||
| Chris Gunter | 90 | 90 | ||||||||||
| Wayne Hennessey | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||||
| Paul Jones | 90 | 90 | ||||||||||
| Jason Koumas | 90 | 45 | 90 | 90 | 67 | 90 | ||||||
| Joe Ledley | 45 | 32 | 45 | 45 | 90 | 90 | 85 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Craig Morgan | 90 | 90 | 46 | |||||||||
| Lewin Nyatanga | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 27 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Paul Parry | 45 | 1 | 17 | |||||||||
| Lewis Price | 90 | 90 | ||||||||||
| Sam Ricketts | 78 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 73 | 28 | 90 | |||
| Carl Robinson | 90 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 37 | ||
| David Vaughan | 5 | 62 |
