UEFA Euro 1968

The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third European Football 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
Italia '68
UEFA Euro 1968 official logo
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.

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 that they had to qualify along with all the others for the final stage.[2]

Qualification
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying

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
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1]
 Italy (host)Quarter-final winner20 April 19680 (debut)
 YugoslaviaQuarter-final winner24 April 19681 (1960)
 EnglandQuarter-final winner8 May 19680 (debut)
 Soviet UnionQuarter-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: 80,000 Capacity: 82,000 Capacity: 52,000

Squads
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 squads

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

Final tournament
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 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
Attendance: 68,582
Yugoslavia 1–0 England
 Report
Attendance: 21,834

Third place play-off
England 2–0 Soviet Union
 Report
Attendance: 68,817

Final
Main article: UEFA Euro 1968 Final
Italy 1–1 (a.e.t.) Yugoslavia
 Report
Attendance: 68,817[3]
Italy 2–0 Yugoslavia
 Report
Attendance: 32,886[4]

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]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Dino Zoff Bobby Moore
Giacinto Facchetti
Albert Shesternyov
Mirsad Fazlagić		 Angelo Domenghini
Sandro Mazzola
Ivica Osim		 Geoff Hurst
Luigi Riva
Dragan Džajić

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). "BBC Sport - Euro 1968: Alan Mullery's moment of madness". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  3. "European Football Championship 1968 FINAL". UEFA euro2000.org. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. "European Football Championship 1968 FINAL Replay". UEFA euro2000.org. 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.
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