The 1968 European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third European Football Championship, an event held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between June 5 and June 10, 1968.

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

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.

Venues

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

Qualification

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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.

Group phase

Group 1

SpainCzechoslovakia

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
8	6	3	2	1	6	2	+4
7	6	3	1	2	8	4	+4
3.	5	6	2	1	3	5	8	-3
4.	4	6	1	2	3	3	8	-5

Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1.	10	6	4	2		10	2	+8
2.	6	6	2	2	2	6	6	0
3.	5	6	2	1	3	9	12	-3
4.	3	6	1	1	4	9	14	-5

Group 3

Soviet Union

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
10	6	5		1	16	6	+10
2.	6	6	2	2	2	8	9	-1
3.	6	6	2	2	2	8	10	-2
4.	2	6		2	4	5	12	-7

Group 4

Yugoslavia

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
6	4	3		1	8	3	+5
2.	5	4	2	1	1	9	2	+7
3.	1	4		1	3		12	-12

Group 5

East Germany

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1.	9	6	4	1	1	15	5	+10
7	6	3	1	2	10	10	0
3.	5	6	2	1	3	11	11	0
4.	3	6	1	1	4	6	16	-10

Group 6

Romania

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1.	11	6	5	1		17	3	+14
6	6	3		3	18	14	+4
3.	5	6	2	1	3	17	13	+4
4.	2	6	1		5	3	25	-22

Group 7

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1.	9	6	4	1	1	14	6	+8
2.	7	6	3	1	2	14	9	+15
3.	7	6	3	1	2	13	9	+4
4.	1	6		1	5	1	18	-17

Group 8

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1.	9	6	4	1	1	15	5	+10
2.	8	6	3	2	1	10	8	+2
3.	4	6	1	2	3	6	12	-6
4.	3	6	1	1	4	2	8	-6

^* Group 8's results were formed by combining the results of the 1966-1967 and 1967-1968 British Home Championships

Quarter-finals

Saturday April 6, 1968

Bulgaria''' Italy'''

1st Leg
3 - 2 (1-0)	17:00 - Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Ref: Gerhard Schulenburg (West Germany)
Kotkov (p) 12'			Penev 61' og
Dermendzhiev 66'		Prati 83'
Zhekov 73'

Saturday April 20, 1968

Italy''' Bulgaria'''

2nd Leg
2 - 0 (1-0)	16:00 - Stadio San Paolo, Naples Ref: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)
Prati 14'
Domenghini 68'
	Italy won 4-3 on aggregate.

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1st Leg - Saturday May 4, 1968

17:00 CET Ferenc Puskas Stadium, Budapest
Referee: Laurens van Ravens (NET)

Hungary	2 - 0	(1-0)	Soviet Union
Farkas 22'
Göröcs 84'

2nd Leg - Saturday May 11, 1968

19:30 MSK Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)

Soviet Union	3 - 0	(1-0)	Hungary
Solymosi 22' own goal
Khurtsilava 59'
Byshovets 72'

Soviet Union won 3-2 on aggregate.

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1st Leg - Wednesday April 3, 1968

19:45 GMT Wembley Stadium, London
Referee: Gilbert Droz (SWI)

England	1 - 0	(0-0)	Spain
B. Charlton 84'

2nd Leg - Wednesday May 8, 1968

20:30 CET Santiago Bernabéu stadium, Madrid
Referee: Josef Krnavek (CZE)

Spain	1 - 2	(0-0)	England
Amancio 48'			Peters 55'
			Hunter 81'

England won 3-1 on aggregate.

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1st Leg - Saturday April 6, 1968

16:00 CET Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Referee: Erwin Vetter (West Germany)

France	1 - 1	(0-0)	Yugoslavia
Di Nallo 78'			Musemic 66'

2nd Leg - Wednesday April 24, 1968

16:30 CET Partizan Stadium, Belgrade
Referee: Paul Schiller (AUT)

Yugoslavia	5 - 1	(4-1)	France
Petkovic 3'			Di Nallo 34'
Musemic 12'
Dzajic 24'
Petkovic 33'
Musemic 80'

Yugoslavia won 6-2 on aggregate.

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Final tournament

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Semi-finals

Wednesday June 5, 1968

18:00 CET Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)

Italy

0 - 0 AET

Soviet Union

Italy through on coin toss.

21:15 CET Stadio Comunale, Florence
Referee: José Maria Ortiz de Mendibil (SPA)

Yugoslavia	1 - 0	(0-0)	England
Dzajic 86'

Third place match

Saturday June 8, 1968

15:00 CET Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: Istvan Zsolt (HUN)

England	2 - 0	(1-0)	Soviet Union
B. Charlton 39'
Hurst 63'

Final

Saturday June 8, 1968

22:15 CET Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: Gottfried Dienst (SWI)

Italy	1 - 1 AET	(0-1)	Yugoslavia
Domenghini 80'			Dzajic 39'

Final replay

Monday June 10, 1968

21:15 CET Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: José Maria Ortiz de Mendibil (SPA)

Italy	2 - 0	(2-0)	Yugoslavia
Riva 11'
Anastasi 32'

ITALY
First title

Statistics

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Top Scorers

2 Goals: Dragan Džajić (Yugoslavia) 1 Goal: Luigi Riva, Angelo Domenghini, Pietro Anastasi (Italy), Geoff Hurst, Bobby Charlton (England)

Fastest goal

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

Average goals

1.4 Per Game

1968 European Football Championship | 1968 in football (soccer) | Football in Italy | Sports festivals hosted in Italy

Europamesterskabet i fodbold 1968 | Fußball-Europameisterschaft 1968 | Ευρωπαϊκό Πρωτάθλημα Ποδοσφαίρου, 1968 | Eurocopa de fútbol 1968 | Championnat d'Europe de football 1968 | Campionato europeo di calcio 1968 | Europees kampioenschap voetbal 1968 | EM i fotball 1968 | Mistrzostwa Europy w piłce nożnej 1968 | Campeonato Europeu de Futebol de 1968 | Europamästerskapet i fotboll 1968