During Euro 96 Ince was a member of Terry Venables' England team as the midfield ball winner and got the label of "Gazza's minder", whose job was to create room for Paul Gascoigne to exploit with his natural ball skills. Though the first group game ended in a disappointing 1–1 draw at Wembley against Switzerland, England went on to defeat Scotland 2–0 and then met the Netherlands and put on a display subsequently heralded as "the greatest in generations" and "the high point of the tournament for England". Ince was fouled for a penalty which gave England the lead and helped them towards a 4–1 win; he also picked up a yellow card which rendered him unavailable for the quarter final against Spain, so David Platt replaced him in a match England won in a penalty shoot-out.