Euro 2024: Get into Euros mode with classic games on BBC iPlayer – BBC Sport

Forget YouTube – BBC iPlayer has got everything you need to binge-watch European Championship highlights, to get you in the mood for this year’s tournament before it starts on Friday.

If you want to swot up before the tournament kicks off, introduce the kids to the star players of the past, or just relive some great moments of football nostalgia – all bases are covered.

BBC iPlayer’s Classic Euros channel has 28 separate highlights edits, ranging from five to 45 minutes, as well as a non-stop stream playing constant Euros archive on a loop.

Watch that iconic Paul Gascoigne goal with highlights of England v Scotland at Euro 96.

Jump back into Wales’ famous quarter-final win over Belgium at Euro 2016.

Replay classic finals like Netherlands v France at Euro 2008 or Spain v Italy at Euro 2012.

There are also a host of documentaries in the Euro Fever section of iPlayer to whet the appetite and build the hype before Friday’s opener between Germany and Scotland.

Euro 2004 was Wayne Rooney’s tournament.

The prodigious 18-year-old number nine was fearless against France in England’s opener, nutmegging the great Zinedine Zidane and swatting aside defender Lilian Thuram.

During the remainder of England’s group games, Rooney scored four goals and became the team’s talisman. He looked on course to potentially win the Golden Boot until he had to be brought off injured against Portugal in the quarter-finals, which England lost on penalties.

In Rooney 2004: World at His Feet, the former England and Manchester United striker, who is the Three Lions’ second-highest all-time scorer, looks back at the tournament 20 years on, and the key games that defined his breakthrough.

Despite having played in two World Cup finals – and winning one of those – French captain Kylian Mbappe failed to score in his maiden European Championship.

Three years after winning the World Cup, France were eliminated by Switzerland on penalties in the last 16. Mbappe also missed a penalty during the shootout to confirm Les Bleus’ exit.

In hour-long documentary Mbappe, the Real Madrid forward’s team-mates and national manager talk about the mental strength that it took for the now 25-year-old to step up and take the first penalty against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, just a year after his Euros disappointment.

With contributions from the likes of Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger, Didier Deschamps, Bernardo Silva and Mbappe’s childhood friends, the film tells the story of the superstar forward’s journey from poor Paris suburb to footballing great.

There are two twin images from Euro 96 that capture England at that tournament. The first is a picture of the team on a drunken night out after a friendly in Hong Kong, which was splashed across newspapers. It shows members of the squad sat in a dentist’s chair, downing spirits from a bottle.

The second is Paul Gascogine and team-mates recreating the pose with a water bottle at Wembley. Gascogine had just scored a sensational goal against Scotland – flicking the ball over defender Colin Hendry with his left foot, before volleying past keeper Andy Goram with his right. Both his footballing brilliance and customary cheek were on display in that moment.

Gascoigne was the most gifted England player of his generation, but he also had a tumultuous relationship with the press and a volatile private life. Director Sam Collins’ two-part series tells a candid story of Gazza’s trajectory from national hero to addiction, violence and scandal.

Scotland’s men have come through a qualifying group to reach a major finals for the first time since 1997 and face the tough task of playing their opening match at Euro 2024 against hosts Germany, before facing Switzerland on 19 June and Hungary on 23 June.

Manager Steve Clarke’s team made it to the competition in Germany with wins against Spain, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus, and fans can relive that journey by watching Scotland’s Road to the Euros on iPlayer.