1968 UEFA European Football Championship

Italia '68
UEFA Euro 1968 official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Italy
Dates	5 June – 10 June
Teams	4
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 played	5
Goals scored	7 (1.4 per match)
Attendance	260,916 (52,183 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dragan Džajić (2 goals)
← 1964 1972 →

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.

It was in this year that the tournament changed its name from European Nations' Cup to 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.

At the time, only four countries could play the final tournament which meant that there were only the semi-finals, the final and the third place match.

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]

Venues [edit]

Florence Rome Naples
	Rome	Naples
	Stadio Olimpico	Stadio San Paolo
	Capacity: 86,500	Capacity: 72,800
	Florence
	Stadio Comunale
	Capacity: 47,000

Qualification [edit]

1968 UEFA European Football Championship finalists.

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.

The following teams participated in the final tournament (see also: UEFA Euro 1968 squads):

•  England (first appearance)
•  Italy (first appearance)
•  Soviet Union
•  Yugoslavia

Final tournament [edit]

The Italian team commemorated on a 1968 Ajman stamp

All time are CET/UTC+1

	Semi-finals				Final
	5 June – Naples (Stadio San Paolo)
	Soviet Union	0
	Italy (coin toss)	0
					8 June – Rome (Stadio Olimpico) (replayed 10 June)
					Italy	2 (1)
					Yugoslavia	0 (1)
					Third place
	5 June – Florence (Stadio Comunale)			8 June – Rome (Stadio Olimpico)
	England	0		England	2
	Yugoslavia	1			Soviet Union	0

Semi-finals [edit]

5 June 1968 18:00	Italy	0 – 0 (a.e.t.)[3]	Soviet Union	Stadio San Paolo, Naples Attendance: 68,582 Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)

5 June 1968 21:15	Yugoslavia	1 – 0	England	Stadio Comunale, Florence Attendance: 21,834 Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)
	Džajić  87'

Third place play-off [edit]

8 June 1968 16:45	England	2 – 0	Soviet Union	Stadio Olimpico, Rome Attendance: 68,817 Referee: István Zsolt (Hungary)
	Charlton  39' Hurst  63'

Final [edit]

8 June 1968 21:15	Italy	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Yugoslavia	Stadio Olimpico, Rome Attendance: 68,817[4] Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)
	Domenghini  80'		Džajić  32'

Replay [edit]

10 June 1968 21:15	Italy	2 – 0	Yugoslavia	Stadio Olimpico, Rome Attendance: 32,866[5] Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)
	Riva  12' Anastasi  31'

Statistics [edit]

Top scorers [edit]

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

2 goals

• Dragan Džajić

1 goal

• Luigi Riva
• Angelo Domenghini
• Pietro Anastasi
• Geoff Hurst
• Bobby Charlton

Fastest goal [edit]

12 minutes: Luigi Riva (Italy vs Yugoslavia, Replay)

Average goals [edit]

1.4 goals per game

Awards [edit]

UEFA Team of the Tournament^[6]

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

References [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: UEFA Euro 1968

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