European Championship 1984
To their credit, UEFA learned the lessons from the previous disappointing tournament and revised the format. The eight finalists were again drawn in two groups but now the top two teams from each section went forward to the semi-finals with the winners meeting in the final. The third place play-off, long regarded as a waste of time, was dropped. Another welcome innovation was that the final group matches were played simultaneously.
France was chosen to host the competition so did not have to qualify. Group stage fixtures were rotated so that each team played in three different stadia. Attendances were extremely good, the teams played attractive, attacking football for the most part and the organisation was excellent, a factor taken into account when FIFA awarded France the right to host the 1998 World Cup.
