What was your favourite major tournament

Felexicon

Mine has to be Euro '96.

At the time it felt like football couldn't get any better.

England were on fire in the early games and I was young enough that I didn't understand that I was supposed to hate them.

The Czechs were the complete outsiders showing many of the "big" nations up. And thats without mentioning Karel Poborskys wonder scoop against Portugal.

Andreas Mollers celebration after the winning penalty against England.

All the stadiums were full and there was a great atmosphere about the tournament.

I don't really get that romantic feeling when looking back on any other championships.

Most will probably say Italia 90 but I was a bit young to be fully into that. Although as mascots go that's still my favourite.

Will I Amnt

2002 world cup was the most memorable for me.
The match times were crazy but that just led to epic beer sessions,good times with good mates.

8-10

Euro 2000.

Because of these 3 games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLluusBo7hM

What a comeback!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn7NWznv3PI

deBoer's freekick....sublime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdxnNmfzgBs

This game rivals Man City v QPR for last minute excitement...insane ending

and those are only group stage games......

invinciblePRSTV

taking off my green tinted specs, Euro 2000 was class. Guardian joy of 6 had a snippet on it today so that'll explain it better then I could, but my favourite moment of the tournament was the Dutch absolutely destroying a handy Yugoslavia side 6-1.

Favourite player was moody git extraordinare Zahovic for surprise team Slovenia.

Kylo Ren

World Cup 2002. I was 10 and was the first proper tournament I watched.

Liam O

World Cup 98, disliked Brazil so to see France overcome them was great. Fabian Barthez became my favourite player after that tournament too (I was a goalkeeper), shame about his ill fated time at United...

IvySlayer

Keno 92 wrote: »

World Cup 2002. I was 10 and was the first proper tournament I watched.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww

2002 for me too. Memories of everyone going mental at Keanes equalizer :pac:

rossie1977

mexico 86, no major international football tournament has come within an asses roar of it since

steelcityblues

usa 94

With the exception of the final, the tournament was played in a positive fashion and pretty much all of the big names lived up to their reputations. Plus, the surprise packages in Bulgaria, Romania, etc. Also, Ireland having one memorable result helped.

There has been a noticeable decline in the quality of World Cups since that year, IMHO.

Vurnon San Benito

IvySlayer wrote: »

Awwwwwwwwwwwww

2002 for me too. Memories of everyone going mental at Keanes equalizer :pac:

In school as well - will never ever forget that!

WallyGUFC

Turkey at Euro 2008 were unreal. Comebacks in every game! I'll never forget the ending to the Croatia game in the quarters.

steelcityblues

Keno 92 wrote: »

World Cup 2002. I was 10 and was the first proper tournament I watched.

Could not disagree more, possibly the worst WC ever

Reasons: Too many big names (teams and individuals) choking
S Korea's very dubious progress to the last 4
Limited Germany team in the final
Characterless modern stadiums with lots of empty seats
No Roy Keane (like him or not)
Ireland already in two previous ones, so not as 'special'
Awkward times ( not Asia's fault, but still annoying for a European)

Can you see I didn't like it?

cgpg5

First I remember is 98. So can only comment from then onwards.

Would have to say Euro 2000. Some incredible games. In the groups I remember Yugoslavia had some come back v Slovenia and that's not to mention France Holland. European football was a lot tougher back then. Weren't Portugal Germany England Romania in the one group as well as France Czech and Netherlands?

Also loved the semi between Italy Holland, intriguing to say the least some great football and what a performance by Toldo who only played cos of Buffon's injury.

Great drama in the final too.

Couldn't really enjoy 02 as much without being able to partake in celebrations Overall the amount of shocks in it was annoying in my view and had some very poor standard games. How Germany made the final is still (in my eyes) beyond belief

Enjoyed Euro 08 as well but it doesn't rate as highly as 00 in my opinion

cgpg5

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Turkey at Euro 2008 were unreal. Comebacks in every game! I'll never forget the ending to the Croatia game in the quarters.

I backed them before the tournament too. So close haha

Lawrence1895

EURO 2000 for me, it was close enough to Germany, plenty of support. But Germany were more than poor...at least, England didn't qualify for the knockout rounds either :P

briany

For Ireland - WC 2002. I think it was actually Ireland's best performance at a WC finals. They didn't get as far as '90 but it they scored more goals than any other appearance at a major finals and the Saipan fiasco lent huge controversy to the build up and turned the thing into a rollercoaster.

mike65

No outright favourite

1982 World Cup for West Germany vs France, a classic
1986 World Cup some great games in Mexico - Brazil Vs France, another classic
1996 Euro - Footballs coming home, the Czech Republic a "new country" (actually a very old one reborn) going to the final and England playing good big tournie football!
1998 World Cup for the crowning of France and super slo-mo replays

All been rubbish since then.

shrewdness

Probably France 98, it was the first tournament I was old enough to properly enjoy and was able to take it all in, I remember coming home from school in time to see the opening ceremony and opening game between Brazil and Scotland.

The iconic theme tune "Carnival de Paris" could be heard everywhere and there were some great moments.

A vivid memory is the epic between England and Argentina which turned David Beckham into a national hate figure after his red card, mad to think about that in hindsight.

Also memorable was the drama surrounding the final regarding Ronaldo and his fit, before France went on to dominate Brazil with Zidane giving a masterclass.

cgpg5

steelcityblues wrote: »

Could not disagree more, possibly the worst WC ever

Reasons: Too many big names (teams and individuals) choking
S Korea's very dubious progress to the last 4
Limited Germany team in the final
Characterless modern stadiums with lots of empty seats
No Roy Keane (like him or not)
Ireland already in two previous ones, so not as 'special'
Awkward times ( not Asia's fault, but still annoying for a European)

Can you see I didn't like it?

Agree completely! Had to be the worst team to ever make a WC final. Luck of the draw got them there. Played awful football and terrible tactics. I still can't get over how we failed to beat them.

Too many shocks in 02 for my liking. Portugal, france, argies all knocked out of group alone. Italy and Spain then beaten by Korea. It's nice to see the odd upset but too many is annoying imho

ceegee

96 for me, was probably the peak of my fanboyness - 3 lions, some great games, dutch team with so many class ajax players, england v scotland, good few shootouts, so much hype in Match and Shoot

cgpg5

Lars1916 wrote: »

EURO 2000 for me, it was close enough to Germany, plenty of support. But Germany were more than poor...at least, England didn't qualify for the knockout rounds either :P

Poor old Phil Neville gave away penalty at the death iirc

Ganymede Glow

Surprised nobody has mentioned Italia 90. I was only 4 so can't really remember it but it must have been epic

population

Euro 88 was just tremendous fun as it was our first and we were bloody hard done by to be put out by Wim Kieft's miles offside goal. Still though to lose out to what was one of the truly great Dutch teams was no great shame.

brianregan09

I thought France 98 was spectacular from england vs argentina to morroco completly smashing scotland!!
the emergance of Christian Vieri and the Marcelo Salas led Chile team

Croatia building on euro 96 and making there way to the semi final where 2 goals from Lillian Thuram of all people putting them out

France being a extremly good and jammy side along the way,

the whole Ronaldo debacle in the final and thats just scratching the surface

population

Ganymede Glow wrote: »

Surprised nobody has mentioned Italia 90. I was only 4 so can't really remember it but it must have been epic

The manner of the final really left a bad taste in people's mouths. It was up there with that Milan v Juve Champions League Final debacle. Ireland were great though:)

Jimmy Iovine

WC '98 would be up there. The only thing I can remember from it was Ronaldo.

WC '02 was my favourite. Getting up at 7 in the morning for the matches. The highlight being the Germany match. We were in school and my dad had the tele going. The whole place going mad as **** when Robbie scored.

Hopefully this tournament will be even more memorable.

Vurnon San Benito

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Turkey at Euro 2008 were unreal. Comebacks in every game! I'll never forget the ending to the Croatia game in the quarters.

Semih Senturk ♥

WallyGUFC

Doocey wrote: »

Semih Senturk ♥

Darragh Maloney's commentary SEMIIIIIIIIHH OOOOOHHHH. They almost did it against Germany too even though they only had half a team!

carlop

Euro 2000 was great from a footballing point of view.

I enjoyed 2006 a lot though, personally.

It was my first tournament of legal drinking-age and I had a an okay-paid part-time job that conveniently almost never clashed with the matches.

I basically remember it as a load of laughs with mates mixed in with some decent matches along the way (Italy-Germany was awesome, Netherlands - Portugal fascinatingly bizarre).

I'm half-Italian so was obviously delighted at the outcome too.

I finished the tournament lying face-down on a balcony vomiting after hitting the tequila too hard during penalties, but with a big smile on my face. I think that scene sums up that tournament perfectly for me.

I hope that in a month Euro 2012 will be the answer though.

Vurnon San Benito

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Darragh Maloney's commentary SEMIIIIIIIIHH OOOOOHHHH. They almost did it against Germany too even though they only had half a team!

Yeah, until Lahm showed up with a late one

kitakyushu

Euro 2004. Greece win. Czech's play some brilliant football. Zidane robs England with two injury time goals. Trapattoni learns what not to do so that he can get it right next time with Ireland.

thegreengoblin

Showing my age here slightly but Spain 82 had it all for me, just shading Mexico 86. It was the first tournament I really remember well but I'm not picking it for that alone.

It just seemed to be one of those iconic World Cups. Favourites Brazil with Zico, Socrates, Falcao, etc, bowing out to Italy in the second round in one of the greatest games ever. The Kuwaiti sheiks running onto the pitch against France in protest at a referee's decision. Northern Ireland shocking Spain on a hot sweaty night in Valencia. Germany beating France on penalties after that dramatic game where Schumacher nearly killed Batiston. And then there was Paolo Rossi finishing top scorer after being banned from the game for two years.

In a word....legendary!

p.s. while we're on the subject, Italia 90 was the worst football tournament I have ever seen.

steelcityblues

cgpg5 wrote: »

Agree completely! Had to be the worst team to ever make a WC final. Luck of the draw got them there. Played awful football and terrible tactics. I still can't get over how we failed to beat them.

Too many shocks in 02 for my liking. Portugal, france, argies all knocked out of group alone. Italy and Spain then beaten by Korea. It's nice to see the odd upset but too many is annoying imho

Me too. They were really poor against Paraguay and USA - neither of whom you would describe as heavyweights. Brazil were too superior by the time of the final.

At the very least we had Ronaldo in epic form, but that and Robbie's goal against the Germans, were the only two things from that WC I really enjoyed.

Kerrydude1981

Euro 88 is my favourite,Ireland getting to a whisker of a semi final,the performance against Russia must be up there as one of the best under Jacks time in charge,they were a good side and our lads took the game to them and should have won,Tony Galvin with the socks down around the ankles taking on the Russians,he didnt play too many times after that but he had some game that evening.

homerjay2005

Italy 90....i was only 8 but i remember parts of it and how the country was gripped. 94 was class and i remember more of it, but 90 was special.

kitakyushu

cgpg5 wrote: »

Agree completely! Had to be the worst team to ever make a WC final. Luck of the draw got them there. Played awful football and terrible tactics. I still can't get over how we failed to beat them.

Argentina were worse in 90 imho. Scored just five goals in seven games, multiple red-cards, negative play, taking playing for penos almost to an art-form. Actually managed to get two men sent off in a world cup final itself!

People talk about Maradona single-handedly winning the world cup in 86 (he didn't). However he did almost single-handedly drag that team into the 90 final.

Say Your Number

I'll go with the 2006 World Cup

Some absolutely ridiculous goals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta_la6vIaFc

England's dramatic exit in the shoot out vs Portugal

As mentioned before Germany Vs Italy was an incredible match

And Zidane playing brilliantly in the knock out rounds and almost being the hero with that header in extra time in the final and the headbutt on Materazzi being his last action as a professional footballer.

carlop

Say Your Number wrote: »

I'll go with the 2006 World Cup

Some absolutely ridiculous goals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta_la6vIaFc

England's dramatic exit in the shoot out vs Portugal

As mentioned before Germany Vs Italy was an incredible match

And Zidane playing brilliantly in the knock out rounds and almost being the hero with that header in extra time in the final and the headbutt on Materazzi being his last action as a professional footballer.

Some goals in that lot! Maxi's strike is just so perfect. I remember that being an absolute cracker of a game too.

HalloweenJack

First one I remember is 94. The Irish part aside, it was really interesting. Teams like Bulgaria, Nigeria, Sweden and Romania coming from nowhere to have a good run and toppling some of the bigger names on the way.

The ones that stand out for me are 96 and 04.

Even though I hated Greece's approach, it was a fairytale story. I was in Toronto at the time and to see the celebrations in Greektown was insane.

In 96, it just seemed like there were so many class teams and any one of them could've won it.

As much as I like the idea of the World Cup, unfortunately, there's just too much stuff crammed into a short space of time and there'll inevitably be some games between crap sides and some thumpings (more often than there are in the Euros).

Thanx 4 The Fish

Mexico 86, first time that I really paid attention to a major tournament and the first time that I played as a player form a competition. I was Rudi Voller back then, most of my mates were Brazilians, Careca and Socrates and the like but I always thought Voller was a bit special.

TaosHum

WC 98 was the best I've seen. The great football played by both Croatia and France. Spain going out early. Some fantastic games then also between England vs Argentina, Croatia vs France, Brazil vs Denmark to name a few. The controversy in the final with Ronaldo and Brazil getting over ran by France.

Some great memories of that tournament.

steelcityblues

TaosHum wrote: »

WC 98 was the best I've seen. The great football played by both Croatia and France. Spain going out early. Some fantastic games then also between England vs Argentina, Croatia vs France, Brazil vs Denmark to name a few. The controversy in the final with Ronaldo and Brazil getting over ran by France.

Some great memories of that tournament.

Argentina v England that year is the best WC match I have seen. It had everything - pure drama.

recylingbin

rossie1977 wrote: »

mexico 86, no major international football tournament has come within an asses roar of it since

word.
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Germany
England
Argentina
Burzil
France

Great teams and brilliant games.

noodler

2002 for obvious Robbie Keane-related reasons in the 93rd minute in Ibrachi.

2004 was some tournie though. The Czechs were a sight to behold. Their 3-2 comeback win against the Dutch stands out as a highlight for me.

Lawrence1895

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Italy 90....i was only 8 but i remember parts of it and how the country was gripped. 94 was class and i remember more of it, but 90 was special.

Nearly forgot about that one. Germany winning the title for the first time after 1974, beating England in the semis. And characters like Rene Higuita or Roger Milla :cool:

But that spitting incident between Rijkard and Voeller did not contribute to the relationship between Germany and the Netherlands at all

TimeToShine

Euro 2000 hands down for me.

jack presley

rossie1977 wrote: »

mexico 86, no major international football tournament has come within an asses roar of it since

Yeah, that's the one. Yosimar's goal, the Brazil v France game, Maradonna. It was brilliant.

Kidchameleon

sugarman wrote: »

Had we have went through we would have faced Korea, who we definately could have dealt with.:(

I think Korea were going through no matter what. There was blatant fixing going on for them.

Mr. Presentable

1970 World Cup, or 1986

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2006 World Cup, seeing Zidane at his brilliant best is something I'll never forget. The main reason I enjoyed it so much though was because I watched all the French games with a friend from France, and this guy is so passionate about football, he's an absolute gent as well. When Henry dived for the peno against Portugal he hung his head in shame and didn't really celebrate the goal, and when they lost the final on penos he was in tears. He was one of the (many) French persons that was outraged by the Henry handball, and well, it's refreshing to watch a tournament with such an honest and passionate person, which is why the WC 2006 was my favourite tournament to date.

Pro. F

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Turkey at Euro 2008 were unreal. Comebacks in every game! I'll never forget the ending to the Croatia game in the quarters.

That team were great and played some lovely football.

Do you remember their manager? He was great entertainment on the sidelines too. Here's what the Guardian said about him:

Guardian wrote:

Not just a tactical genius capable of playing Germany off the park with seven fit players, the coach driver, a one-legged left-winger and the cat from the team hotel, Turkey's coach was also responsible for the return of the genuinely macho manager. Constantly furious, shimmering with sweat, prone to Bruce Lee-style air karate, Terim biffed and scowled his way across Alpine central Europe and left a trail of perspiration, matted chest hair and distilled testosterone behind him. Give the man his own TV show.

...
My vote would go to Euro 2000. Lots of great games that have been mentioned already. Plus the final was cracking quality.