UEFA Euro 1972

The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972.

1972 UEFA European Football Championship
Europees kampioenschap voetbal België 1972 (in Dutch)
Championnat d'Europe de football Belgique 1972 (in French)
Fußball-Europameisterschaft Belgien 1972 (in German)
Tournament details
Host countryBelgium
Dates14–18 June
Teams4
Venue(s)4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions West Germany (1st title)
Runners-up Soviet Union
Third place Belgium
Fourth place Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored10 (2.5 per match)
Attendance121,880 (30,470 per match)
Top scorer(s) Gerd Müller (4 goals)

Only four countries played in the final tournament, with the tournament consisting of the semi-finals, a third place play-off, and the final.

The hosts were only announced after the qualifying round, which meant all teams had to participate in the qualification process for the final stage.[1] Belgium was chosen among three candidates; the other bids came from England and Italy,[2] whose teams did not reach the semi-finals.

West Germany won the tournament, beating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller (twice) and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.[3]

Qualification

The qualifying round was played throughout 1970 and 1971 (group phase), and 1972 (quarter-finals). There were eight qualifying groups of four teams each. The matches were played in a home-and-away basis. Victories were worth two points, draws one point, and defeats no points. Only group winners could qualify for the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis. The winners of the quarter-finals went through to the final tournament.

Qualified teams
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1]
 Belgium (host)Quarter-final winner13 May 19720 (debut)
 Soviet UnionQuarter-final winner13 May 19723 (1960, 1964, 1968)
 West GermanyQuarter-final winner13 May 19720 (debut)
 HungaryQuarter-final winner17 May 19721 (1964)
  1. Bold indicates champion for that year.

Venues
Brussels Liège
Heysel Stadium Stade Émile Versé Stade Maurice Dufrasne
Capacity: 75,000 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 35,000
 Antwerp
Bosuilstadion
Capacity: 60,000

Match officials
Country Referee
Sweden Johan Einar Boström
East Germany Rudi Glöckner
Austria Ferdinand Marschall
Scotland William Mullan

Final tournament
Finalists and their results

At the final tournament, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

All times are local, CET (UTC+1)

Bracket
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
14 June – Antwerp
 
 
 Belgium1
 
18 June – Brussels (Heysel)
 
 West Germany2
 
 West Germany3
 
14 June – Brussels (Émile Versé)
 
 Soviet Union0
 
 Hungary0
 
 
 Soviet Union1
 
Third place play-off
 
 
17 June – Liège
 
 
 Hungary1
 
 
 Belgium2

Semi-finals
Hungary 0–1 Soviet Union
Report
  • Konkov 53'
Stade Émile Versé, Brussels
Attendance: 1,659
Referee: Rudi Glöckner (East Germany)
Belgium 1–2 West Germany
  • Polleunis 83'
 Report
Bosuilstadion, Antwerp
Attendance: 55,669
Referee: William Mullan (Scotland)

Third-place play-off
Hungary 1–2 Belgium
  • Kű 53' (pen.)
 Report
  • Lambert 24'
  • Van Himst 28'
Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège
Attendance: 6,184
Referee: Johan Einar Boström (Sweden)

Final
West Germany 3–0 Soviet Union
 Report
Heysel Stadium, Brussels
Attendance: 43,437
Referee: Ferdinand Marschall (Austria)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 10 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.

4 goals

1 goal

  • Raoul Lambert
  • Odilon Polleunis
  • Paul Van Himst
  • Lajos Kű
  • Anatoliy Konkov
  • Herbert Wimmer

Awards
UEFA Team of the Tournament[4]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Yevhen Rudakov Revaz Dzodzuashvili
Murtaz Khurtsilava
Franz Beckenbauer
Paul Breitner		 Uli Hoeneß
Günter Netzer
Herbert Wimmer		 Raoul Lambert
Jupp Heynckes
Gerd Müller

References
  1. Henson, Mike (12 May 2012). "Euro 1972: West Germany sweep the continent on finals debut". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  2. "Sportflitsen" [Sports flashes] (in Dutch). De Tijd. 14 March 1972. Retrieved 19 September 2015 – via Delpher.
  3. "Müller strikes twice as West Germany beat USSR in 1972 EURO final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  4. "1972 team of the tournament". Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
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