UEFA Euro 1968

Last updated

1968 UEFA European Football Championship
Campionato europeo di calcio
Italia 1968
UEFA Euro 1968 logo.svg
Tournament details
Host countryItaly
Dates5–10 June
Teams4
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsFlag of Italy.svg  Italy (1st title)
Runners-upFlag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia
Third placeFlag of England.svg  England
Fourth placeFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Tournament statistics
Matches played5
Goals scored7 (1.4 per match)
Attendance260,916 (52,183 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Dragan Džajić (2 goals)
1964
1972

The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968.

Contents

It was in this year that the tournament changed its name from the "European Nations' Cup" to the "European Championship". [1] There were also some changes in the tournament's qualifying structure, with the two-legged home-and-away knock-out stage being replaced by a group phase.

Four countries played in the final tournament, which consisted of the semi-finals, a third place play-off, and the final. The host nation for the finals was selected from the four qualified nations. [2]

Qualification

The qualification competition was played in two stages: a group stage (taking place from 1966 until 1968) and the quarter-finals (played in 1968). There were seven groups of four teams and one of three, with matches played in a home-and-away basis. The eight group winners qualified for the quarter-finals, which were played in two legs, home and away. The winners of the quarter-finals went through to the final tournament.

As of 2024, this is the last European Championship finals not to feature a Germany team (united or West), and the only World Cup or European Championship tournament where the team was eliminated in the qualifying stages.

Qualified teams

TeamQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament [upper-alpha 1]
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy (host) Quarter-final winner20 April 19680 (debut)
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia Quarter-final winner24 April 19681 (1960)
Flag of England.svg  England Quarter-final winner8 May 19680 (debut)
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union Quarter-final winner11 May 19682 ( 1960 , 1964)
  1. Bold indicates champion for that year.

Venues

Rome Naples Florence
Stadio Olimpico Stadio San Paolo Stadio Comunale
Capacity: 80,000Capacity: 82,000Capacity: 52,000
Stadio Olimpico 2008.JPG Stadio San Paolo Serie A.jpg Soccer in Florence, Italy, 2007.jpg

Squads

Match officials

CountryReferee
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland Gottfried Dienst
Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg Spain José María Ortiz de Mendíbil
Flag of Germany.svg West Germany Kurt Tschenscher
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary István Zsolt

Final tournament

1968 UEFA European Football Championship finalists Euro 1968.png
1968 UEFA European Football Championship finalists

In all matches but the final, extra time and a coin toss were used to decide the winner if necessary. If the final remained level after extra time, a replay would be used to determine the winner.

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).

Bracket

 
Semi-finals Final
 
        
 
5 June – Naples
 
 
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy (coin toss)0
 
8 and 10 June – Rome
 
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 0
 
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy (replay)12
 
5 June – Florence
 
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia 10
 
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia 1
 
 
Flag of England.svg  England 0
 
Third place play-off
 
 
8 June – Rome
 
 
Flag of England.svg  England 2
 
 
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 0

Semi-finals

UEFA Euro 1969 final tournament


UEFA Euro 1969 final tournament

Third place play-off

England  Flag of England.svg 2–0 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Report
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 68,817
Referee: István Zsolt (Hungary)

Final

Italy  Flag of Italy.svg 1–1 (a.e.t.)Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia
Report
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 68,817 [3]
Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)

Italy  Flag of Italy.svg 2–0 Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia
Report

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 7 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 1.4 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament [5]
GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Flag of Italy.svg Dino Zoff Flag of England.svg Bobby Moore
Flag of Italy.svg Giacinto Facchetti
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Albert Shesternyov
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Mirsad Fazlagić
Flag of Italy.svg Angelo Domenghini
Flag of Italy.svg Sandro Mazzola
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Ivica Osim
Flag of England.svg Geoff Hurst
Flag of Italy.svg Gigi Riva
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Dragan Džajić

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1934 FIFA World Cup</span> Association football tournament in Italy

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA European Championship</span> Association football tournament

The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contested by UEFA members' senior men's national teams, determining the continental champion of Europe. It is the second-most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup; the Euro 2016 final was watched by a global audience of around 600 million. The competition has been held every four years since 1960, except for 2020, when it was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, but kept the name Euro 2020. Scheduled to be in the even-numbered year between FIFA World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations' Cup before changing to its current name in 1968. Since 1996, the individual events have been branded as "UEFA Euro [year]".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 1980</span> 6th European association football championship

The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams in the finals, which took place between 11 and 22 June 1980. West Germany won the final 2–1 against Belgium for their second title. This was the last European Championship with a third place play-off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2008</span> 13th edition of the UEFA European Football Championship

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA. It took place in Austria and Switzerland from 7 to 29 June 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czechoslovakia national football team</span> National football team of Czechoslovakia from 1920 to 1992

The Czechoslovakia national football team represented Czechoslovakia in men's international football from 1919 to 1993. The team was controlled by the Czechoslovak Football Association, and the team qualified for eight World Cups and three European Championships. It had two runner-up finishes in World Cups, in 1934 and 1962, and won the European Championship in the 1976 tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 1980 final</span> Final game of the UEFA Euro 1980

The UEFA Euro 1980 final was the final match of UEFA Euro 1980, the sixth UEFA European Football Championship, UEFA's top football competition for national teams. The match was played at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on 22 June 1980 and was contested by Belgium and West Germany. En route to the final, Belgium finished top of UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying Group 2 before qualifying for the final as winners of UEFA Euro 1980 Group 2 which included Italy, England and Spain. West Germany, who had ended the previous European Championship as runners-up, won UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying Group 7 and went on to secure qualification for the final after finishing top of UEFA Euro 1980 Group 1 which included Greece, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 1968 final</span> European football tournament final match

The UEFA Euro 1968 final consisted of two football matches at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, on 8 and 10 June 1968, to determine the winner of the UEFA Euro 1968 tournament. It was the third UEFA European Championship final, UEFA's top football competition for national teams. The match was contested by Italy and Yugoslavia. En route to the final, Italy finished top of their qualifying group which included Romania, Cyprus and Switzerland. After beating Bulgaria over a two-legged tie in the quarter-finals, they progressed to the final, winning a coin toss which decided the outcome of the semi-final against the Soviet Union which ended goalless after extra time. Yugoslavia won their qualifying group which included Albania and West Germany, before beating France 6–2 on aggregate in the two-legged quarter-final and England 1–0 in the single-match semi-final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2020</span> 16th edition of the quadrennial football championship

The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship competition, UEFA president Michel Platini declared that the tournament would be hosted in several nations as a "romantic" one-off event, with 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries each providing venues for the tournament, making it the second senior international tournament in history after the 2007 AFC Asian Cup to have more than two nations co-hosting it.

The UEFA European Championship is one of the major competitive international football tournaments, first played in 1960. The finals stage of the tournament takes place every four years, with a qualifying competition beforehand. The sixteenth tournament was held across Europe in 2021.

The UEFA European Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form "Euro 2008" or whichever year is appropriate. Prior to entering the tournament, all teams other than the host nations compete in a qualifying process.

The UEFA European Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between FIFA World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations' Cup, changing to the current name in 1968.

Italy have participated in eleven UEFA European Championships, and reached the final on four occasions. They became champions as hosts in 1968, the first European Championship they qualified for, and finished as runners-up in 2000 and 2012, before winning their second continental championship at Euro 2020.

Ukraine have appeared in four UEFA European Championships, all consecutively: Euro 2012, Euro 2016, Euro 2020 and Euro 2024. Before 1996, some of its players played for the Soviet Union national team and CIS national team – Oleksiy Mykhailychenko, Hennadiy Lytovchenko, Oleh Luzhnyi, Ivan Hetsko and others.

After the completed dissolution of Yugoslavia in 2006, the Serbia national team did not qualify for the next four UEFA European Championships it played qualifiers for, before finally securing a spot at Euro 2024. Its official predecessor teams Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia/Serbia & Montenegro were more successful: the team representing "larger" Yugoslavia became European vice-champions twice while the union of Serbia and Montenegro reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship</span> 22nd UEFA European U-21 Championship

The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 national teams of Europe. The final tournament was hosted by Italy in mid-2019, after their bid was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee on 9 December 2016 in Nyon, Switzerland.

Group 5 of the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying tournament was one of the eight groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 1976 finals tournament. Group 5 consisted of four teams: Netherlands, Poland, Italy, and Finland, where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners were the Netherlands, who finished tied on points with Poland, but the Netherlands advanced with a better goal difference. Italy finished in third place despite conceding only 3 goals as a consequence of the abysmal 3 goals scored in the 6 games.

The Italy–Spain football rivalry sometimes referred to as the Mediterranean derby, is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Italy and Spain, the two countries have won five FIFA World Cups and five UEFA European Championship between them. Italy has won four FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships while Spain have won one FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. They have played against each other three times in the World Cup and seven times in the European Championship, including each of the five most recent Euros from 2008 to 2024. Most notably, the two met at the UEFA Euro 2012 final, which Spain won. They also met at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the UEFA Nations League semi-finals in both 2021 and 2023.

The knockout stage of UEFA Euro 1980 was a single-elimination tournament involving the four teams that qualified from the group stage of the tournament. There were two matches: a third place play-off contested by the group runners-up, and the final to decide the champions, contested by the group winners. The knockout stage began with the third place play-off on 21 June and ended with the final on 22 June at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. West Germany won the tournament with a 2–1 victory over Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 1968 final tournament</span>

The final tournament of UEFA Euro 1968 was a single-elimination tournament involving the four teams that qualified from the quarter-finals. There were two rounds of matches: a semi-final stage leading to the final to decide the champions. The final tournament began with the semi-finals on 5 June and ended with the final replay on 10 June at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Italy won the tournament with a 2–0 replay victory over Yugoslavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2020 Group A</span> Football tournament group stage

Group A of UEFA Euro 2020 took place from 11 to 20 June 2021 in Baku's Olympic Stadium and Rome's Stadio Olimpico. The group contained Turkey, host nation and eventual champions Italy, Wales and Switzerland.

References

  1. Brewin, John; Williamson, Martin (29 April 2012). "Euro 2012: European Nations Cup 1968". ESPN FC . ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  2. Sheringham, Sam (12 May 2012). "Euro 1968: Alan Mullery's moment of madness". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  3. "European Football Championship 1968 FINAL". Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. "European Football Championship 1968 FINAL Replay". Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 29 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  5. "1968 team of the tournament". Union of European Football Associations. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2020.