UEFA Women's EURO 1997 (champions - Germany)
Germany beat Italy 2-0 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo to retain the title - having first had to survive a play-off to reach the finals at all. They finished behind Norway in qualifying, losing 3-1 at home, and only got there by beating Iceland 7-0 on aggregate. It was the first edition with an eight-team final tournament.
Why this wins its question: UEFA's own headline for 1997 is "German reign goes on", which hides the edition's real story: the reigning champions did not qualify directly. They finished behind Norway, lost 3-1 at home to them, and needed a 7-0 aggregate play-off win over Iceland just to reach a tournament they then won. The same review carries the format change that made that play-off possible - the first eight-team finals, with 33 entrants split into two divisions - and the fact that Norway, world champions and semi-finalists in the five previous editions, went out in the group.
Claims
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Germany beat Italy 2-0 in the Women's EURO 1997 final at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Sandra Minnert scoring on 22 minutes and Birgit Prinz - then 19, and scoring in her second consecutive final - on 49. It was Germany's fourth final and they had won all of them.
The holders reached the finals only through a play-off. In qualifying Group 1 Germany finished below Norway, who opened with a competition-record 17-0 win against Slovakia and beat Germany 3-1 in Germany. Germany then went through the second-placed play-off round, beating Iceland 7-0 on aggregate.
1997 brought the competition's most radical change of format to that point: an eight-team final tournament, with the 33 entrants split into two divisions - the top 16 in four groups of four playing for qualification, and the other 17 competing for promotion. Only group winners were assured of progress, and the runners-up and third-placed teams played off for the four remaining places.
Sweden and Norway co-hosted the finals, one group in each country. Spain reached the semi-finals on goal difference after France, three points ahead of them before the last day, lost 3-0 to Sweden while Spain edged Russia 1-0. In the other group both Scandinavian sides went out: Italy beat world champions Norway 2-0 and Germany beat Denmark 2-0 on the same day.
In the semi-finals Germany won 1-0 at Sweden in Karlstad through Bettina Wiegmann's goal six minutes from time, and Italy beat Spain 2-0 in Lillestrom, leading by half-time through Silvia Florini and Carolina Morace, with Spain's reply coming in the 88th minute.
Norway, who had reached five straight semi-finals in the competition, were eliminated in the group stage of this one despite opening it with a 5-0 win over Denmark.