The group was made up of four central European nations; co-hosts Austria, as well as Croatia, Germany and Poland.
Croatia became the first team from the group to qualify for the quarter-finals after following up a 1–0 victory against Austria in their first match with a 2–1 win over Germany.
This, in conjunction with Austria's 1–1 draw with Poland, meant that Croatia finish top of Group B.
However, a goal from Ivan Klasnić won the game for Croatia, making the Croatians the first team to gain maximum points in the group stage.
In the quarter-finals, Man of the Match: Stipe Pletikosa (Croatia)[1] Assistant referees:[2][3] Adriaan Inia (Netherlands) Hans ten Hoove (Netherlands) Fourth official: Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland) Reserve assistant referee: Dimitrios Bozatzidis (Greece) Man of the Match: Lukas Podolski (Germany)[4] Assistant referees:[5][3] Geir Åge Holen (Norway) Jan Petter Randen (Norway) Fourth official: Craig Thomson (Scotland) Reserve assistant referee: Dimitrios Saraidaris (Greece) Man of the Match: Luka Modrić (Croatia)[6] Assistant referees:[7][3] Peter Hermans (Belgium) Alex Verstraeten (Belgium) Fourth official: Stéphane Lannoy (France) Reserve assistant referee: Matthias Arnet (Switzerland) Man of the Match: Roger Guerreiro (Poland)[8] Assistant referees:[9][3] Darren Cann (England) Mike Mullarkey (England) Fourth official: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) Reserve assistant referee: Stéphane Cuhat (Switzerland) Man of the Match: Ivan Klasnić (Croatia)[10] Assistant referees:[11][3] Dimitrios Bozatzidis (Greece) Dimitrios Saraidaris (Greece) Fourth official: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal) Reserve assistant referee: Alessandro Griselli (Italy) Man of the Match: Michael Ballack (Germany)[12] Assistant referees:[13][3] Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (Spain) Jesús Calvo Guadamuro (Spain) Fourth official: Damir Skomina (Slovenia) Reserve assistant referee: Paolo Calcagno (Italy)