The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was hosted and won by 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.
| Campionato europeo di calcio Italia 1968 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Italy |
| Dates | 5–10 June |
| Teams | 4 |
| Venue | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Italy (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Yugoslavia |
| Third place | England |
| Fourth place | Soviet Union |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 5 |
| Goals scored | 7 (1.4 per match) |
| Attendance | 260,916 (52,183 per match) |
| Top scorer | Dragan Džajić (2 goals) |
← 1964 1972 → | |
It was in this year that the tournament changed its name from the "European Nations' Cup" to the "European Championship". 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.
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.
This remains to this day the only World Cup or European Championship where a West or reunified German team was eliminated in the qualifying stages (they didn’t enter the 1930 FIFA World Cup, were banned from 1950 and didn’t enter the qualifying stages of UEFA Euro 1960 or 1964 for unknown reasons)
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy (host) | Quarter-final winner | 20 April 1968 | 0 (debut) |
| Yugoslavia | Quarter-final winner | 24 April 1968 | 1 (1960) |
| England | Quarter-final winner | 8 May 1968 | 0 (debut) |
| Soviet Union | Quarter-final winner | 11 May 1968 | 2 (1960, 1964) |
- Bold indicates champion for that year.
Venues
Rome Naples Florence | Rome | Naples | Florence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stadio Olimpico | Stadio San Paolo | Stadio Comunale | |
| Capacity: 80,000 | Capacity: 82,000 | Capacity: 52,000 | |
Squads
Match officials
| Country | Referee |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | Gottfried Dienst |
| Spain | José María Ortiz de Mendíbil |
| West Germany | Kurt Tschenscher |
| Hungary | István Zsolt |
Final tournament
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. Coin toss was as a matter of fact used in the semi final between Italy and Soviet Union.
All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||||
| 5 June – Naples | ||||||||
| Italy (coin toss) | 0 | |||||||
| 8 and 10 June – Rome | ||||||||
| Soviet Union | 0 | |||||||
| Italy (replay) | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 5 June – Florence | ||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Yugoslavia | 1 | |||||||
| England | 0 | |||||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||||
| 8 June – Rome | ||||||||
| England | 2 | |||||||
| Soviet Union | 0 | |||||||
Semi-finals
| Italy | 0–0 (a.e.t.) Italy won on coin toss | Soviet Union |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Yugoslavia | 1–0 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Third place play-off
| England | 2–0 | Soviet Union |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Final
| Italy | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Yugoslavia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Italy | 2–0 | 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
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