The UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying play-off was a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying match to decide the final participant for UEFA Euro 1996. It was played on 13 December 1995 at Anfield in Liverpool, England, a neutral venue, between the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands. The Netherlands won 2–0, therefore qualifying for the 1996 European Championship.

Background

The UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying group stage consisted of eight groups with five or six countries in each group. Each group winner would qualify for Euro 1996, and the eight group runners-up would be compared in a separate table. The top six countries would automatically qualify for Euro 1996, while the bottom two countries would face each other in a one-off match playoff to determine the sixteenth and last team that would participate in the next summer's European Championship.

Netherlands (Group 5)

After the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

the Netherlands started he qualifying campaign for Euro 1996 under coach Dick Advocaat. In December, Advocaat moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he succeeded Kees Rijvers as head coach. In January 1995 48-year-old

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

took charge of the national team. Under the new coach, the Netherlands finished second in Group 5, 1 point behind the Czech Republic, and tied at 20 points with Norway. The Netherlands had the better head-to-head against Norway, thus putting the Dutch in second place.

Republic of Ireland (Group 6)

The Republic of Ireland had a strong start to their group, when they won their opening three games, including a 4–0 win against Northern Ireland. The Republic's next game was also against Northern Ireland, although the result was a 1–1 draw. From that point onwards the Republic stuttered badly as injuries struck down key players such as

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

, Andy Townsend, John Sheridan and Steve Staunton. After beating the highly fancied Portugal, the Irish then endured an embarrassing 0–0 draw to Liechtenstein (this was Liechtenstein's only point in their ten matches), before losing twice to Austria, on both occasions by three goals to one. Although they defeated

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Ireland needed to beat Portugal in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

to qualify outright, but lost 3–0. The Republic of Ireland therefore finished second in Group 6, 6 points behind Portugal, and tied at 17 points with Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland had the better head-to-head against Northern Ireland, thus putting the Republic of Ireland in second place.

Ranking of second-placed teams

The runners-up of each of the eight groups were placed in a table to decide which seven of them would qualify. The best six runners-up would qualify automatically, while the two worst would play-off on a neutral ground to determine the final qualifier. To determine the two worst runners-up, a comparison was made between all of them. Only matches played against teams that finished first, third and fourth were regarded. The Netherlands finished seventh in the table, while the Republic of Ireland finished eighth and last, therefore qualifying both countries to the play-off.

Summary

Match

Summary

Dutch forward Patrick Kluivert opened the scoring with a low shot to the right corner after 29 minutes to put the Netherlands ahead. Kluivert then wrapped the match up with his second goal, lifting the ball over the advancing Alan Kelly with two minutes to go, giving the Netherlands a 2–0 win and sending them through to Euro 1996.

Details

Goalscorers

Aftermath

After failing to qualify for the European Championship, Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton resigned shortly after the game. Charlton bid Irish fans an emotional farewell after ten memorable years in charge which saw him help Ireland qualify for their first ever European Championship in

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and their first and second ever World Cups in

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and

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. The Netherlands advanced on to Euro 1996, where they finished second in Group A behind hosts England, thus qualifying them for the

knockout stage A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. In the quarter-finals, they drew 0–0 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

to France, before losing 4–5 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, as Clarence Seedorf missed his spot kick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Play-off UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying European Championship Netherlands at UEFA Euro 1996

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UEFA European Championship matches December 1995 sports events in the United Kingdom 1990s in Liverpool International sports competitions in Liverpool International association football competitions hosted by England