Biggest shocks in EURO history

We look back at some of the most eyebrow-raising results in the competition's history and discover that the unbelievable comes true regularly at the UEFA European Championship finals.

1988 group stage: England 0-1 Republic of Ireland

"I don't think anybody in Ireland gave us a prayer," said Ray Houghton as he looked back on his nation's finals debut, which did not go by the form book. Houghton headed Jack Charlton's side into a sixth-minute lead, and they survived an England barrage thereafter thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Pat Bonner.

1992 group stage: Sweden 2-1 England

"That goal is always shown in Sweden and everywhere I go people ask me about it," said Thomas Brolin, reflecting on the strike that sent England home in 1992. England led after four minutes but the finals hosts kept believing, Brolin's 82nd-minute finish the coup de grace after Jan Eriksson had equalised.

1992 final: Germany 0-2 Denmark

Denmark did not qualify for EURO '92 and were drafted in just two weeks before it kicked off when Yugoslavia withdrew; a month later they were European champions, John Jensen and Kim Vilfort scoring in the final to complete their improbable journey. "We couldn't fail because there were no expectations," Vilfort said.

1996 group stage: Czechia 2-1 Italy

Defeated by Germany in their opener, the Czechs' fortunes turned in their second game. Enrico Chiesa cancelled out Pavel Nedvěd's early opener, but Luigi Apollini's dismissal and Radek Bejbl's finish set them on course for the final. "Many, many things happened, and I enjoyed them all," recalled Karel Poborskyý.

2004 group stage: Latvia 0-0 Germany

Latvia lost 2-1 to the Czechs on their EURO debut but rallied to hold Germany, and even came close to an astonishing victory when Māris Verpakovskis raced clear moments before half-time. Coach Aleksandrs Starkovs called it a "historic result", adding with pride: "We proved the strength of our team spirit."

2004 final: Portugal 0-1 Greece

"The opponent was technically better than us, but we took advantage of our chances," said Otto Rehhagel after his side had silenced the home crowd in Lisbon. Angelos Charisteas's header was enough to defeat the overwhelming favourites – who included a young Cristiano Ronaldo. "The Greeks made football history today," added 'Rehhakles'.

2016 round of 16: England 1-2 Iceland

It took Ragnar Sigurdsson fewer than 120 seconds to cancel out Wayne Rooney's fourth-minute penalty, Kolbeinn Sigthórsson's first-half finish and a measured second-half display earning the debutants a miraculous win. "They thought this would be a walk in the park," said goalscorer Sigurdsson. How wrong England were.

2020 round of 16: Netherlands 0-2 Czechia

"It couldn't have gone any better. Nobody expected us to make it so far," said Patrick Schick. The forward turned in Czechia's second goal following Tomáš Holeš powerful opening header, as Jaroslav Šilhavý's charges, who had reached the knockouts as one of the best third-placed teams, ended the Oranje's winning run in Budapest.