EURO opening games: First goals, results, scorers

1960: France 4-5 Yugoslavia

Vincent 12, Heutte 43 62, Wisniewski 53; Galić 11, Žanetić 55, Knez 75, Jerković 78 79
Parc des Princes, Paris

Opening goal: Milan Galić's early strike against hosts France in Paris set the 1960 competition alight. Yugoslavia's one-goal advantage, however, lasted less than 60 seconds as Les Bleus promptly equalised.

1964: Spain 2-1 Hungary, aet

Pereda 35, Amancio 112; Bene 84
Estádio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid

Opening goal: Jesús María Pereda scored for La Roja 35 minutes into the Madrid semi-final. The Spain midfielder praised his "on form" team-mates for "working well as a unit"; soon they would be champions.

1968: Italy 0-0 Soviet Union (Italy won on a coin toss)

Stadio San Paolo, Naples

Opening goal: The tournament's first goal came not in Naples but later on the opening day of action, in Florence – where Yugoslavia winger Dragan Džajić jabbed in a winner four minutes from time against England.

1972: Belgium 1-2 West Germany

Polleunis 83; Müller 24 71
Bosuilstadion, Antwerp

Opening goal: Picked out by Günter Netzer's chip into the danger zone, West Germany ace Gerd Müller topped off a darting run by glancing over the Belgium keeper, claiming the tournament's first goal.

1976: Czechoslovakia 3-1 Netherlands, aet

Ondruš 19, Nehoda 114, Veselý 118; Ondruš 73 og
Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb

Yugoslavia 2-4 West Germany, aet

Popivoda 19, Džajić 30; Flohe 64, Müller 82 115 119
Stadion Rajko Mitić, Belgrade

Opening goals: Both semi-finals kicked off at the same time and the first goal in each game was scored in the 19th minute: Anton Ondruš for Czechoslovakia and Danilo Popivoda for Yugoslavia.

1980: Czechoslovakia 0-1 West Germany

Rummenigge 57
Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Opening goal: West Germany's Karl-Heinze Rummenigge flung himself at Hansi Müller's lofted cross to nod in at the back post, ending the stalemate and sealing Die Mannschaft's opening victory.

1984: France 1-0 Denmark

Platini 78
Parc des Princes, Paris

Opening goal: France were rewarded for their persistence in trying to pierce the Denmark midfield when, with the Danes failing to clear, Michel Platini arrived on the edge of the box to spear in – via a deflection.

1988: West Germany 1-1 Italy

Brehme 55; Mancini 52
Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf

Opening goal: Roberto Mancini's first Azzurri goal in 14 appearances came against the host nation, as he rounded off an Italian attack from the right flank by striking on the turn at close range.

1992: Sweden 1-1 France

Eriksson 24; Papin 58
Råsunda Stadium, Solna

Opening goal: Jan Eriksson's powerful header broke the deadlock in 1992. Unmarked, the centre-half bombed into the penalty area to meet Anders Limpar's floated corner and give Sweden an early lead.

1996: England 1-1 Switzerland

Shearer 23; Türkyilmaz 83pen
Wembley Stadium, London

Opening goal: Alan Shearer latched onto Paul Ince's through ball to put England ahead. The frontman timed his run to perfection before flashing high into the net – ending a 21-month international goal drought.

2000: Belgium 2-1 Sweden

Goor 43, Mpenza 46; Mjällby 53
King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels

Opening goal: Bart Goor's one-man effort sent the Red Devils in front. Winning back his own misplaced pass, the winger made strides towards the Swedish penalty box, where he buried a low shot.

2004: Portugal 1-2 Greece

Ronaldo 90+3; Karagounis 7, Basinas 51pen
Estádio do Dragão, Porto

Opening goal: Giorgios Karagounis shocked hosts Portugal, rippling the net seven minutes into the tournament curtain-raiser. Sweeping up a untidy clearance, the midfielder rifled past Ricardo from 25 metres.

2008: Switzerland 0-1 Czechia

Svĕrkoš 71
St. Jakob-Park, Basel

Opening goal: A mighty upfield header landed perfectly for the breaking Václav Svĕrkoš – a second-half substitute – who kept his composure and dispatched a low effort into the Swiss bottom corner.

2012: Poland 1-1 Greece

Lewandowski 17; Salpingidis 51
Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw

Opening goal: Heading in from Jakub Błaszczykowski's searching cross, Robert Lewandowski described his "unimaginable" joy at snatching the finals' first goal in front of the home crowd.

2016: France 2-1 Romania

Giroud 57, Payet 89; Stancu 65pen
Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Opening goal: Centre-forward Olivier Giroud rose highest to beat the Romanian goalkeeper to Dimitri Payet's devilish in-swinging delivery and head home France's first of the campaign.

2020: Türkiye 0-3 Italy

Merih Demiral 53 og, Immobile 66, Insigne 79
Olimpico in Rome, Rome

Opening goal: Domenico Berardi drove into the area and thumped in a low cross of such venom that Merih Demiral could not get out of the way, instead inadvertently sending it into his own net.

2024: Germany 5-1 Scotland

Wirtz 10, Musiala 19, Havertz 45+1pen, Füllkrug 68, Can 90+3; Rüdiger 87 og
Munich Football Arena

Opening goal: Toni Kroos sprayed the ball out wide to Joshua Kimmich, who rolled a perfectly-weighted pass into the unmarked Florian Wirtz on the edge of the area and a firm finish found the bottom corner.