Group D of UEFA Euro 2008 was played from 10 to 18 June 2008. All six group matches were played at venues in Austria, in Innsbruck and Salzburg. The group was composed of UEFA Euro 2004 winners and reigning champions Greece, as well as Sweden, Spain and Russia. Greece, Spain and Russia had all been drawn together in the same group in the previous European Championship as well.
Following a 4–1 win over Russia in their first game, Spain qualified for the quarter-finals with a 2–1 victory against Sweden in their second. They clinched the top spot after Russia beat Greece later that day, condemning the title holders to last place in the group. The second quarter-final berth was to be decided by the Sweden-Russia match, with Sweden only needing to avoid defeat to go through. However, Russia scored a goal in each half to beat Sweden 2–0 and qualify for the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, despite going behind towards the end of the first half, Spain scored two second half goals, one coming three minutes before full time, to become the third team in the tournament to qualify for the quarter-finals with a 100% group stage record.
Greece who was the defending champion of UEFA Euro 2004, lost all 3 of its games and stayed in last place without scoring any points, also became the worst defending champion in the history of UEFA Euro.
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] | |||||||||
D1 | Greece | 1 | Group C winner | 17 October 2007 | 3rd | 2004 | Winners (2004) | 11 | 9 | 8 |
D2 | Sweden | 2 | Group F runner-up | 21 November 2007 | 4th | 2004 | Semi-finals (1992) | 5 | 10 | 30 |
D3 | Spain | 3 | Group F winner | 17 November 2007 | 8th | 2004 | Winners (1964) | 9 | 8 | 4 |
D4 | Russia [nb 3] | 4 | Group E runner-up | 21 November 2007 | 9th | 2004 | Winners (1960) | 15 | 15 | 24 |
Notes
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Spain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 9 | Advance to knockout phase |
2 | Russia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | |
3 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
4 | Greece | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
In the quarter-finals,
Spain | 4–1 | Russia |
---|---|---|
Report |
|
Spain [2] | Russia [2] |
|
|
Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [2] [3] |
Greece | 0–2 | Sweden |
---|---|---|
Report |
|
Greece [5] | Sweden [5] |
|
|
Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [5] [3] |
Sweden | 1–2 | Spain |
---|---|---|
| Report |
Sweden [7] | Spain [7] |
|
|
Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [7] [3] |
Greece [9] | Russia [9] |
|
|
Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [9] [3] |
Greece | 1–2 | Spain |
---|---|---|
| Report |
Greece [11] | Spain [11] |
|
|
Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [11] [3] |
Russia | 2–0 | Sweden |
---|---|---|
| Report |
Russia [13] | Sweden [13] |
|
|
Man of the Match: Assistant referees: [13] [3] |
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