UEFA Euro 1968

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.

1968 UEFA European Football Championship
Campionato europeo di calcio
Italia 1968
Tournament details
Host countryItaly
Dates5–10 June
Teams4
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Italy (1st title)
Runners-up Yugoslavia
Third place England
Fourth place Soviet Union
Tournament statistics
Matches played5
Goals scored7 (1.4 per match)
Attendance260,916 (52,183 per match)
Top scorer(s) Dragan Džajić (2 goals)

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 eight qualifying groups of four teams each with the exception of group 4, which only had three. The matches were played in a home-and-away basis. Victories were worth 2 points, draws 1 point, and defeats 0 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 would go through to the final tournament.

Qualified teams

UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates7 September 1966 – 11 May 1968
Teams31
Tournament statistics
Matches played90[note 1]
Goals scored280 (3.11 per match)[note 1]
Top scorer(s) János Farkas
Gigi Riva
(6 goals each)
UEFA European Qualifiers
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The qualifying round for the 1968 UEFA European Championship consisted of 31 teams divided into eight groups; seven of four teams and one of three teams. Each group winner progressed to the main tournaments quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis. The winners of the quarter-finals would go through, to the final four part of the tournament.[3]

Summary
  Group winners advanced to the quarter-finals (second round)
  Other teams were eliminated after the qualifying group stage
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8

Spain
Bulgaria
Soviet Union
Yugoslavia
Hungary
Italy
France
England

Czechoslovakia

Republic of Ireland

Turkey
Portugal

Sweden

Norway
Greece

Austria

Finland
West Germany

Albania
East Germany

Netherlands

Denmark
Romania

Switzerland

Cyprus
Belgium

Poland

Luxembourg
Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:

  1. Greater number of points in all group matches
  2. Goal difference in all group matches
  3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  4. Drawing of lots

Groups

Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 6 3 2 1 6 2 +4 8 Advance to quarter-finals — 2–1 2–0 2–0
2  Czechoslovakia 6 3 1 2 8 4 +4 7 1–0 — 1–2 3–0
3  Republic of Ireland 6 2 1 3 5 8 −3 5 0–0 0–2 — 2–1
4  Turkey 6 1 2 3 3 8 −5 4 0–0 0–0 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bulgaria 6 4 2 0 10 2 +8 10 Advance to quarter-finals — 1–0 3–0 4–2
2  Portugal 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 6 0–0 — 1–2 2–1
3  Sweden 6 2 1 3 9 12 −3 5 0–2 1–1 — 5–2
4  Norway 6 1 1 4 9 14 −5 3 0–0 1–2 3–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group 3
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Soviet Union 6 5 0 1 16 6 +10 10 Advance to quarter-finals — 4–0 4–3 2–0
2  Greece 5 2 1 2 7 8 −1 5 0–1 — 4–1 2–1
3  Austria 5 2 1 2 7 9 −2 5 1–0 Void[lower-alpha 1] — 2–1
4  Finland 6 0 2 4 5 12 −7 2 2–5 1–1 0–0 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. The Austria v Greece match was abandoned in the 86th minute at 1–1 due to a crowd disturbance and declared void.[4]

Group 4
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Yugoslavia 4 3 0 1 8 3 +5 6 Advance to quarter-finals — 1–0 4–0
2  West Germany 4 2 1 1 9 2 +7 5 3–1 — 6–0
3  Albania 4 0 1 3 0 12 −12 1 0–2 0–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group 5
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Hungary 6 4 1 1 15 5 +10 9 Advance to quarter-finals — 3–1 2–1 6–0
2  East Germany 6 3 1 2 10 10 0 7 1–0 — 4–3 3–2
3  Netherlands 6 2 1 3 11 11 0 5 2–2 1–0 — 2–0
4  Denmark 6 1 1 4 6 16 −10 3 0–2 1–1 3–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group 6
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 6 5 1 0 17 3 +14 11 Advance to quarter-finals — 3–1 4–0 5–0
2  Romania 6 3 0 3 18 14 +4 6 0–1 — 4–2 7–0
3   Switzerland 6 2 1 3 17 13 +4 5 2–2 7–1 — 5–0
4  Cyprus 6 1 0 5 3 25 −22 2 0–2 1–5 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group 7
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 6 4 1 1 14 6 +8 9 Advance to quarter-finals — 1–1 2–1 3–1
2  Belgium 6 3 1 2 14 9 +5 7 2–1 — 2–4 3–0
3  Poland 6 3 1 2 13 9 +4 7 1–4 3–1 — 4–0
4  Luxembourg 6 0 1 5 1 18 −17 1 0–3 0–5 0–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group 8

Group 8's results were formed by combining the results of the 1966–67 and 1967–68 editions of the British Home Championship.

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 —
Source: UEFA

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. https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/history/seasons/1968/statistics/
  4. Stokkermans, Karel; Tabeira, Martín (7 February 2007). "European Championship 1968". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 26 May 2016.

Venues
Rome Naples Florence
Stadio Olimpico Stadio San Paolo Stadio Comunale
Capacity: 80,000 Capacity: 82,000 Capacity: 52,000

Match officials
Country Referee
Switzerland Gottfried Dienst
Spain José María Ortiz de Mendíbil
West Germany Kurt Tschenscher
Hungary István Zsolt

Final tournament
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-finalsFinal
 
      
 
5 June – Naples
 
 
 Italy (coin toss)0
 
8 June / 10 June – Rome
 
 Soviet Union0
 
 Italy (replay)1 / 2
 
5 June – Florence
 
 Yugoslavia1 / 0
 
 Yugoslavia1
 
 
 England0
 
Third place play-off
 
 
8 June – Rome
 
 
 England2
 
 
 Soviet Union0

Semi-finals
Italy 0–0 (a.e.t.)
Italy won on coin toss		 Soviet Union
Report
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Attendance: 68,582
Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)
Yugoslavia 1–0 England
  • Džajić 86'
 Report
Stadio Comunale, Florence
Attendance: 21,834
Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)

Third place play-off
England 2–0 Soviet Union
 Report
Attendance: 68,817
Referee: István Zsolt (Hungary)

Final
Italy 1–1 (a.e.t.) Yugoslavia
  • Domenghini 80'
 Report
  • Džajić 39'
Attendance: 68,817[1]
Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)
Italy 2–0 Yugoslavia
  • Riva 12'
  • Anastasi 31'
 Report
Attendance: 32,886[2]
Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)

Statistics

Goalscorers

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

2 goals

  • Dragan Džajić

1 goal

Awards
UEFA Team of the Tournament[3]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Dino Zoff Bobby Moore
Giacinto Facchetti
Albert Shesternyov
Mirsad Fazlagić		 Angelo Domenghini
Sandro Mazzola
Ivica Osim		 Geoff Hurst
Gigi Riva
Dragan Džajić

References
  1. "European Football Championship 1968 FINAL". UEFA Euro 2000 official website. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  2. "European Football Championship 1968 FINAL Replay". UEFA Euro 2000 official website. Archived from the original on 29 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. "1968 team of the tournament". Union of European Football Associations. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
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