Group 8 of the UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying tournament was one of the eight groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 1968 finals tournament. Group 8 consisted of four teams: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. Group 8's results were formed by combining the results of the 1966–67 and 1967–68 editions of the British Home Championship. The group winners were England, who finished 1 point above Scotland.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 9 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 2–3 | 5–1 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | Scotland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 8 | 1–1 | — | 3–2 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Wales | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Northern Ireland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — |
| Northern Ireland | 0–2 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Hunt  40'Peters 60' |
| England | 5–1 | Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Hurst 30', 34' B. Charlton 43'Hennessey 65' (o.g.)J. Charlton 84' | Report | W. Davies 36' |
| Northern Ireland | 1–0 | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Clements 69' | Report |
| England | 2–0 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Hurst 43' B. Charlton 62' | Report |
| Wales | 2–0 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Rees 75' W. Davies 84' | Report |
There were 33 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.75 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Terry Hennessey (against England)The 1966–67 British Home Championship has remained famous in the memories of British Home Nations football fans ever since the dramatic climatic match at Wembley Stadium, where an unfancied Scottish team beat England on the same turf they had won the 1966 FIFA World Cup a year before. England had comfortably disposed of Wales and Ireland in the earlier matches, whilst Scotland had struggled, drawing with Wales and only just beating the Irish. In the final match however, the Scots outplayed their illustrious opponents who were effectively reduced to 10 men with Jack Charlton hobbling and no substitutes allowed claiming a 3–2 victory, thus becoming "World Champions" in the words of many enthusiastic Scottish supporters, who invaded and stole much of the pitch after the game. In contrast to later pitch invasions, this was non-violent and resulted in no significant police action. The "World Champions" idea has since taken more tangible form in the Unofficial Football World Championships.
The 1969–70 British Home Championship Home Nations international football tournament was a heavily contested series which contradicted the common view that it would be little more than a warm-up for the English team prior to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, at which they were to defend the title they had won on home soil four years earlier. They had won the two previous tournaments and were considered much stronger than the other three home nations, none of whom had qualified for the finals in Mexico. The English however struggled in their opening fixture, drawing with the Welsh away, and although they subsequently beat the Irish, were unable to overcome the Scots. Scotland had a good opening to the campaign, but drew their last two games, whilst Wales salvaged parity following a victory over Northern Ireland in their final fixture. Since goal difference was not at this time used to determine position, England, Wales and Scotland shared the trophy. Had modern scoring techniques been in place, England would have won, followed by the Welsh and the Scots.
The 1953–54 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1953–54 season. This season's tournament also doubled as UEFA – Group 3 for 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification. England dominated the Championship, winning all three games and taking first place. After defeating Ireland, Scotland struggled against Wales before losing to England. Meanwhile, Ireland defeated Wales in Wrexham to clinch third place. England, together with second-placed Scotland, subsequently qualified for the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
The 1967–68 British Home Championship football was the final stage of the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying for the Home Nations, and provided revenge for an England team smarting from a defeat on their home ground to the Scots just months after winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup which cost them the 1966–67 British Home Championship. The English victories against Wales and Ireland in the first two games meant that going into the final match they only required a draw, which they eventually achieved in a hard-fought match, winning the tournament and the place in the European Championship. The Scots started badly against the unfancied Irish, losing in Belfast, and never recovered, scraping a win against Wales and needing a win against a dominant England team. The Irish were unable to capitalise on an excellent start, losing to England and Wales and coming fourth, whilst the Welsh managed a win against Ireland in their final game to scrape into joint third place after a terrible start.
The 1968–69 British Home Championship was the third edition of the tournament to be held while England were World Champions following their victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was reverted to its pre-First World War format, being played at the end of the season in a short period of time, to relax the demands on the players during the competitive season. England re-emphasised their dominance over the British game with a second comfortable win in a row. The tournament began with the favourites England and Scotland securing comfortable wins over their weaker opponents, before England repeated the feat in a tougher game against Wales and Scotland were held to a draw by Ireland. Going into the final game needing a win, the Scots were thoroughly beaten by a strong English team, who took the trophy in a 4–1 victory.
The 1965–66 British Home Championship was a cause of great excitement as it supplied spectators and commentators a view of England prior to their contesting the 1966 FIFA World Cup on home soil at which they were one of the favourites. None of the other Home Nations had qualified for the World Cup and so were determined to spoil England's preparation, leading to some very dramatic and heavily contested matches, particularly England's final game in Glasgow.
The 1982–83 British Home Championship was the penultimate in the series of football tournaments between the British Home Nations which stretched back 99 years to 1884. In 1983 England and then Scotland announced their withdrawal from future competition after the 1984 competition with the arrangement of the Rous Cup between the two nations to eliminate Wales and Northern Ireland, who were seen as weaker opposition. The 1983 tournament was a tight contest, which England won with a final victory at home over Scotland following an opening victory over Wales and a draw in Belfast. The game at Wembley was played in midweek in an attempt to curb the large number of travelling Scottish supporters. The Scots came second with a win over Wales and a draw with Northern Ireland off-setting their final day defeat. The Welsh succumbed to goal difference as the points system then in use meant that the Irish, who had drawn twice and lost once without scoring themselves gained the same number of points for a smaller goal difference despite Wales' victory over them in their final game.
The 1970–71 British Home Championship was an international football competition between the British Home Nations. The tournament was low-scoring affair, reflecting trends in world football at the time, which relied on heavy defense. England won the tournament in their final match by beating Scotland following an earlier victory over Ireland and a draw with the Welsh. The England versus Scotland match saw more goals than the rest of the tournament put together, but Ireland did manage to gain a rare second-place position with 1–0 wins over disappointing Welsh and Scottish sides, whose own match for last place was a goalless draw.
The 1971–72 British Home Championship was the first such Home Nations football tournament, to suffer during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, when death threats from the Provisional Irish Republican Army were sent to the Scottish Football Association and Scottish players who were scheduled to play at Windsor Park. The surge in anti-British feeling which prompted these threats followed Bloody Sunday in January, and also resulted in the cancellation of the rugby union 1972 Five Nations Championship. As a result, Northern Ireland's home fixture was rescheduled to Hampden Park, effectively granting the Scottish team an extra home match. This was not the last time that The Troubles would interfere with the Home Championship; the 1981 British Home Championship would have to be abandoned following similar heightened tension after the death of Bobby Sands.
The 1978–79 British Home Championship was a British Home Nations competition, won by the English football side and notable for seeing marked increases in hooliganism and falling attendance which would result in its cancellation in 1984. The English started well, beating Northern Ireland to match the heavy Welsh victory over Scotland on the same day, which featured a hat trick by John Toshack. Scotland recovered by beating the Irish in their next match while England and Wales played out a goalless draw, leaving three sides theoretically capable of winning the Championship in the final round. Wales could only manage a draw with the Irish and so in the deciding match between England and Scotland, a 1–1 half time score gave the Scots some hope but a strong second half performance from England was rewarded with a deserved 3–1 win. This result gave England the Championship, with Wales in second place. The tournament also saw the introduction of goal difference to separate teams, although it had no effect on the eventual outcome.
The 1973–74 British Home Championship Home Nations football tournament was, like the two championships which preceded it, subject to rescheduled matches due to The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Scotland, who should have visited Belfast to play their match against Northern Ireland, instead hosted the game in Glasgow as the previous years solution of matches being played in Liverpool was not taken up. Bereft of home advantage, the Irish struggled to contain their opponents, although they did begin well with a narrow win over the Scots. In their first matches, England enjoyed their home advantage to claim victories over the Welsh and Irish while the Welsh crashed to defeat against England and Scotland. With the confusing schedule, by the final match England seemed to be favourites, only needing a draw with the Scots in Glasgow to claim the championship while a loss would still tie the series. The Northern Irish, who could still have sneaked the championship themselves, lost a close game to the Welsh, leaving England and Scotland to battle for the final placements, the Scots reaching parity in the competition thanks to a 2–0 victory.
The 1960–61 British Home Championship international football tournament saw a series of high scoring games, with 40 goals scored in just six matches - a ratio of 6.66 goals per game. England took the British title after a final match at Wembley in which they put nine goals past Scotland, who returned with three of their own. Teams in this period frequently fielded as many as five strikers, hoping to outscore opponents rather than rely on heavy defence. This tactic paid dividends, particularly for England, whose haul of 19 included seven for Jimmy Greaves, whilst both Bobby Charlton and Bobby Smith each scored in each of England's three games.
The 1950–51 British Home Championship football tournament was the Home Nations follow-up to England's disastrous appearance at their first World Cup, the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. There the much vaunted English had been beaten by the USA and Spain. The Scots had refused to go, and the Welsh and the Irish had failed to qualify. The Scots went on to capitalise on the demoralised English by taking the Home Championship away from them too.
The 1963–64 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was an unusual affair in which victory was shared between the England, Scotland and Ireland national football teams after all teams scored four points by beating Wales and then winning one and losing one of their remaining matches. Goal difference was not at this stage used to determine team positions in the tournament, but if it had been, England would have won with a goal difference of +8 with Scotland second and Ireland third.
The 1964–65 British Home Championship was an outright victory for the English football team in the run up to the 1966 FIFA World Cup which was held in the country. England's preparation for the tournament had included a rare pre-season tour of the Americas, in which they had beaten the USA 10–0 in New York, but crashed to a 1–5 defeat by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and also lost to Argentina. The Home Championship was a close contest however and an unexpected Welsh defeat of Scotland as well as a drubbing of Ireland in their final game helped them to an impressive second. In the end however, none of the other home nations would qualify for the world cup finals, which England would go on to win.
The 1952–53 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations throughout the 1952–53 season. The tournament saw a last minute goal by Lawrie Reilly in the final game at Wembley which salvaged a draw and thus a share in the trophy for Scotland. England were the other winners whilst both Wales and Ireland played well in a very competitive competition.
The 1957–58 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1957–58 season. The competition was marred by the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958, when an aircraft carrying the Manchester United football team home from a European Cup match in Belgrade crashed at the Munich-Riem airport on take-off. Eight players and fifteen other people, including an array of senior coaches, officials and sports journalists, were killed and another nineteen seriously injured. Three of the dead, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards were experienced England team members while Jackie Blanchflower, an Ireland international, was left permanently disabled. Several other international footballers were also injured more or less severely. This tragedy rather subdued the tournament culmination two months later, although the England team did secure a cathartic 4–0 victory in Glasgow over the Scots with one of the goals coming from Bobby Charlton, who had been injured in the Munich crash.
The 1948–49 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations. The tournament was notable for it being the final competition the Home Nations competed in before they joined the FIFA World Cup and thus the last time it was the most important international football tournament in Britain.
The 1923–24 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1923–24 season between the British Home Nations. It was won by the excellent Welsh team of the early 1920s who achieved a whitewash of the other three home nations over the tournament, scoring five goals for just one in return.
Group D of UEFA Euro 2020 took place from 13 to 22 June 2021 in Glasgow's Hampden Park and London's Wembley Stadium. The group contained host nation England, Croatia, host nation Scotland and the Czech Republic. The head-to-head match between the hosts took place at England's Wembley Stadium.