Group B of UEFA Euro 2008 was played from 8 to 16 June 2008. All six of the group's matches were played at venues in Austria, in Vienna and Klagenfurt. The group was made up of four central European nations; co-hosts Austria, as well as Croatia, Germany and Poland. Austria and Poland were appearing in a European Championship finals for the first time.
Croatia became the first team from the group to qualify for the quarter-finals after following up a 1–0 victory against Austria in their first match with a 2–1 win over Germany. This, in conjunction with Austria's 1–1 draw with Poland, meant that Croatia finish top of Group B. The second quarter-final berth was decided by the group's final matches, with Germany defeating Austria through a Michael Ballack free kick, making the result of the Poland vs. Croatia match irrelevant. Had Germany lost, Poland could still have qualified with a win over Croatia. However, a goal from Ivan Klasnić won the game for Croatia, making the Croatians the first team to gain maximum points in the group stage.
Draw position | Team | Pot | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | UEFA Rankings | FIFA Rankings June 2008 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 2007 [nb 1] | May 2008 [nb 2] | |||||||||
B1 | Austria | 1 | Co-host | 12 December 2002 | 1st | — | Debut | 27 | 29 | 92 |
B2 | Croatia | 2 | Group E winner | 17 November 2007 | 3rd | 2004 | Quarter-finals (1996) | 2 | 11 | 15 |
B3 | Germany [nb 3] | 3 | Group D runner-up | 13 October 2007 | 10th | 2004 | Winners (1972, 1980, 1996) | 7 | 4 | 5 |
B4 | Poland | 4 | Group A winner | 17 November 2007 | 1st | — | Debut | 12 | 13 | 28 |
Notes
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Croatia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout phase |
2 | Germany | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | |
3 | Austria (H) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 [lower-alpha 1] | |
4 | Poland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 [lower-alpha 1] |
In the quarter-finals,
Austria [2] | Croatia [2] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [2] [3] |
Germany [5] | Poland [5] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [5] [3] |
Croatia [7] | Germany [7] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [7] [3] |
Austria [9] | Poland [9] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [9] [3] |
Poland [11] | Croatia [11] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [11] [3] |
Austria [13] | Germany [13] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [13] [3] |
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