Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been invited as qualifiers runners-ups only after Yugoslavia was disqualified as a result of the breakup of the country and the ensuing warfare there.

On 16 December 1988, following a decision made by the UEFA Executive Committee, Sweden was chosen over Spain to host the event.

The CIS team represented the following former Soviet nations: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Tajikistan.

[6] After a draw with England and a loss to host nation Sweden, Denmark beat France in their final group match to qualify for the semi-finals, where they faced the reigning European champions, the Netherlands.

Denmark led 2–1 going into the last five minutes, but a Frank Rijkaard equaliser meant the game went to a penalty shoot-out; Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel saved Marco van Basten's kick, giving Denmark a 5–4 win on penalties and a place in the final against the reigning world champions, Germany.

[7] Denmark won the final 2–0 with goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort in either half to claim their first European title.

As of 2024, this was the last time that both the Czech Republic and Slovakia (until 2016) (then Czechoslovakia), Italy, Portugal, and Spain failed to qualify for the European Championship finals.

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking: In the knockout phase, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.