final. In the previous international tournament, the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Denmark failed to qualify for the finals, finishing in second place in group 1, one point behind Romania. Germany had won the tournament, beating Argentina 1–0 in the final. The UEFA Euro 1992 Final was the 22nd meeting between the sides, with Denmark winning 6, Germany being victorious 13 times, the remaining matches ending in draws; the teams had played one another in UEFA Euro 1988, in the group stage, where Germany won 2–0. The UEFA Euro 1992 Final marked Germany's fourth final in six European Championships while Denmark were making their first appearance in the tournament decider. Route to the final Denmark Denmark were assigned to UEFA Euro 1992 Group 1 where their opponents were France, Sweden and England. The first group match saw Denmark face England at the Stadion in Malmö on 11 June 1992 in front of 26,385 spectators. England's starting eleven had been weakened through injuries to Paul Parker, Lee Dixon, Gary Stevens and Rob Jones, prompting Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel to remark to his teammates, "Hey guys, we have a shot here". David Platt's first-half shot was saved by Schmeichel who also pushed Alan Smith's shot round the goalpost. Paul Merson's strike was then off-target after he had dribbled past three Denmark defenders. The second half saw Denmark in the ascendancy and Bent Christensen passed to John Jensen whose shot struck the inside of the goalpost and bounced back into the hands of the England goalkeeper Chris Woods. Kim Vilfort missed a late cross from Kim Christofte and the match ended goalless. Denmark's second game, played three days later at the Råsunda Stadium in Solna, was against their rivals Sweden. Martin Dahlin struck a shot over the Denmark crossbar midway through the first half before Christofte's free kick was saved by Sweden goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli, and the game was 0–0 at the interval. In the 59th minute, Dahlin's cross was cleared by Lars Olsen but the ball fell to Tomas Brolin who struck it into the Denmark goal. He and Denmark's Torben Frank both missed late chances to score and the match ended 1–0 to Sweden. In the final group match, Denmark played France at the Stadion in Malmö on 17 June 1992. Vilfort, who had returned to Denmark to be with his terminally-ill daughter, was replaced by Henrik Larsen, who gave his side