Lighter side of Euro 2016: the funniest stories from France

1. The German team doctor was spotted wearing underwear from Cristiano Ronaldo’s official range.
2. Joe Ledley postponed his wedding because Wales reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016. The midfielder had never imagined his team could go so far in the tournament, which is why he had set the date for 9 July 2016. If Wales won the semi-final, Ledley would be needed for the most important game of his career.
3. Simone Zaza offered a lesson in how not to take a penalty. The forward performed a very odd little shuffle in his run-up and then sent the ball into the stands.
4. Germany head coach Joachim Löw seemed to forget about the thousands of cameras during matches. He put his hand down his trousers and then sniffed his fingers, apparently unaware that everyone was watching.
5. Thibaut Courtois complained that Belgium had been beaten by “carpenters” after the defeat to Wales, which raised the question of whether the goalkeeper deserved the same description after that game.
6. The shirts of the Swiss players ripped like newspaper during their matches at Euro 2016. One of the players joked that it was better if Puma never started making condoms.
7. Harry Kane took all of England’s set pieces, including the corners in the first match, which said a lot about coach Roy Hodgson’s choices. A compilation of Kane’s free kicks from the tournament makes for very amusing viewing.
8. Only about 650 of Iceland’s 332,000 people did not watch the match between Iceland and England, which means around 99.8% of Icelanders were either in the stadium or in front of a TV.
9. Will Grigg, who did not play in any of Northern Ireland’s matches at Euro 2016, had his own song. Fans sang “Will Grigg’s on fire”, which was a little strange given that the forward never spent a minute on the pitch. The striker admitted that not playing at Euro 2016 was a huge disappointment.

How Euro 2016 ended

Euro 2016 ran from 10 June to 10 July 2016 and was the first European Championship finals with 24 teams instead of 16, which meant 51 matches across France. It was won by Portugal, who beat the hosts 1-0 after extra time in the final at the Stade de France, with Eder scoring in the 109th minute. Antoine Griezmann won the Golden Boot with six goals and was named the best player of the tournament.

Several of the moments above had sporting sequels. Wales’s run ended in the semi-final on 6 July in Lyon, where Portugal won 2-0 with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani three minutes apart early in the second half, so Wales did not reach the final.

Simone Zaza’s penalty came in the quarter-final between Germany and Italy. Mesut Özil scored for Germany and Leonardo Bonucci equalised from the spot, and after a 1-1 draw the shoot-out became a marathon. Zaza, Graziano Pellè, Bonucci and Matteo Darmian all missed for Italy, while Thomas Müller, Özil and Bastian Schweinsteiger missed for Germany, who won it 6-5.

Iceland’s famous night came on 27 June at the Allianz Riviera in Nice. Wayne Rooney gave England a fourth-minute lead from the penalty spot, but Ragnar Sigurðsson equalised two minutes later and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson scored the winner in the 18th minute. Iceland’s adventure ended in the quarter-finals with a 5-2 defeat by France in Saint-Denis.

Where “Will Grigg’s on fire” came from

The chant began with Wigan Athletic supporter Sean Kennedy, who uploaded a video of himself singing it in May 2016. It reworked the tune of Gala’s “Freed from Desire” into a tribute to Grigg, who was Wigan’s striker, and Northern Ireland fans carried it to France. A dance version recorded by the London duo Blonde and credited to “DJ Kenno” was released as a charity single, with proceeds going to the Wigan charity Joseph’s Goal.