Original Nike football shirt Turkey EURO 2004

The UEFA European Football Championship 2004, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2004 or Euro 2004 for short, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a four-yearly football competition contested by the national teams of the UEFA member associations. The final tournament was organized for the first time in Portugal, from June 12 to July 4, 2004, after their bids were selected on October 12, 1999, over that of Spain and Austria / Hungary. In total, thirty-one games were played in ten locations in eight cities - Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro / Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon and Porto.

As in the 1996 and 2000 editions, the final tournament was contested by 16 teams - the hosts plus the 15 teams that successfully overcame the qualifying round, which started in September 2002, after the 2002 World Cup. Latvia secured their first entry to a major tournament after conquering Turkey in the playoffs, while Greece returned to the European Championship after 24 years.

The tournament was rich in surprises and turmoil: Germany, Spain and Italy were eliminated in the group stage, while France, the defending champion, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Greece. The Portuguese team recovered from an opening loss to Greece to reach the final, eliminating England and the Netherlands along the way. For the first time in a major European football tournament, there were the same teams in the last match as in the opening match. Portugal was defeated by Greece with a goal from Angelos Charisteas. Greece's victory was unexpected, as they had only qualified for two other major tournaments, the UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they did not win any games. As winners, Greece has earned the right to represent Europe at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

During the opening ceremony, one of the scenes depicted a ship - symbolizing the journeys of the Portuguese explorers - sailing through a sea transformed into the flags of all competing countries. During the closing ceremony, Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado performed her one and only official tournament theme song "Força".