1988 UEFA European Football Championship

The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Federal Republic of Germany won the right to host the tournament with five votes ahead of a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who gained 1 vote, and a bid from England. It was the eighth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 10 and 25 June 1988.

At the time, only eight countries could compete in the final tournament. Seven countries had to qualify for the final stage. Germany qualified automatically as hosts of the event. The holders, France, failed to qualify. The tournament eventually crowned Netherlands as European champions for the first, and so far only time.

Euro 88 was a rare incidence of a major football tournament being completed without a single player being sent off, any knockout matches going into extra time or penalties and having at least one goal scored in every match.

Mascot
The official mascot of this European Championship was Berni. A cartoonised German Grey Rabbit with human shaped body. Berni wore an outfit in the colours of the German national flag with a black football jersey with UEFA across the front, red football shorts and yellow or golden socks additionally with white head and wristbands. Mostly depicted while jumping and controlling a football.

Teams
The following eight teams participated in the final tournament: Denmark, England, Italy, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland (first appearance), Spain, Soviet Union and West Germany (hosts).
As with the 1986 World Cup, there were some protests about England's involvement in the tournament, due to the role of English fans in the Heysel Stadium Disaster, which saw English clubs banned from UEFA competitions between 1985 and 1990.

Venues
1. Olympiastadion in Munich with 69,000 seats
2. Parkstadion in Gelsenkirchen with 62,000 seats
3. Volksparkstadion in Hamburg with 61,200 seats
4. Waldstadion in Frankfurt with 61,000 seats
5. Rheinstadion in Dusseldorf with 55,850 seats
6. Niedersachsenstadion in Hanover with 50,423 seats
7. Neckarstadion in Stuttgart with 50,000 seats
8. Mungersdorfer Stadion in Cologne with 47,000 seats