Group B ofUEFA Euro 2008 was played from 8 to 16 June 2008. All six of the group's matches were played at venues inAustria, inVienna andKlagenfurt. The group was made up of fourcentral European nations; co-hostsAustria, as well asCroatia,Germany andPoland. Austria and Poland were appearing in a European Championship finals for the first time.
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. The second quarter-final berth was decided by the group's final matches, with Germany defeating Austria through aMichael Ballack free kick, making the result of the Poland vs. Croatia match irrelevant. Had Germany lost, Poland could still have qualified with a win over Croatia. However, a goal fromIvan Klasnić won the game for Croatia, making the Croatians the first team to gain maximum points in the group stage.
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | UEFA Rankings | FIFA Rankings June 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2007[nb 1] | May 2008[nb 2] | |||||||||
| B1 | 1 | Co-host | 12 December 2002 | 1st | — | Debut | 27 | 29 | 92 | |
| B2 | 2 | Group E winner | 17 November 2007 | 3rd | 2004 | Quarter-finals (1996) | 2 | 11 | 15 | |
| B3 | 3 | Group D runner-up | 13 October 2007 | 10th | 2004 | Winners (1972,1980,1996) | 7 | 4 | 5 | |
| B4 | 4 | Group A winner | 17 November 2007 | 1st | — | Debut | 12 | 13 | 28 | |
Notes
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage | |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1[a] | ||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1[a] |
In thequarter-finals,
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Austria[2] | ![]() Croatia[2] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[2][3] |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Germany[5] | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Poland[5] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[5][3] |
![]() Croatia[7] | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Germany[7] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[7][3] |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Austria[9] | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Poland[9] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[9][3] |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Poland[11] | ![]() Croatia[11] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[11][3] |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Austria[13] | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Germany[13] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[13][3] |