Germany won the tournament with a 2–1 victory over the Czech Republic achieved by a golden goal during extra time.
For the first time in a major football competition, the golden goal rule was applied, whereby the match would immediately end upon either team scoring during the extra time period and the goalscoring team being declared the winner.
If scores were still level after 30 minutes of extra time, there would be a penalty shoot-out to determine who progressed to the next round.
The top two placed teams from each of the four groups qualified for the knockout stage.
Man of the Match: David Seaman (England)[3] Assistant referees: Pierre Ufrasi (France) Jacques Mas (France) Fourth official: Alain Sars (France) Man of the Match: Bernard Lama (France)[3] Assistant referees: Victoriano Giráldez Carrasco (Spain) Manuel López Fernández (Spain) Fourth official: Juan Ansuátegui Roca (Spain) Man of the Match: Matthias Sammer (Germany)[3] Assistant referees: Kenneth Petersson (Sweden) Mikael Hansson (Sweden) Fourth official: Karl-Erik Nilsson (Sweden) Man of the Match: Karel Poborský (Czech Republic)[3] Assistant referees: Klaus Plettenberg (Germany) Egbert Engler (Germany) Fourth official: Hermann Albrecht (Germany) Man of the Match: Miroslav Kadlec (Czech Republic)[3] Assistant referees: Robert Orr (Scotland) John Fleming (Scotland) Fourth official: Hugh Dallas (Scotland) Man of the Match: Dieter Eilts (Germany)[3] Assistant referees: László Hamar (Hungary) Imre Bozóky (Hungary) Fourth official: Sándor Piller (Hungary) Man of the Match: Karel Poborský (Czech Republic)[3] Assistant referees:[9] Donato Nicoletti (Italy) Tullio Manfredini (Italy) Fourth official: Marcello Nicchi (Italy)