The 1972 European Football Championship (Euro 72) final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth European Football Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between June 14 and June 18, 1972.

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, as well, for the final stage.

Venues

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• Bosuil Stadium, Antwerp - Capacity: 20,000
• Sclessin Stadium, Liège - Capacity: 31,000
• Heysel Stadium, Brussels - Capacity: 50,000
• Stade Émile Versé, Brussels - Capacity: 28,000

Qualifying Round

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The qualifying round was played throughout 1970 and 1971 (group phase), and 1972 (quarter-finals). There were eight qualifying groups of four teams each. 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								Group 2
Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Romania	9	6	4	1	1	11	2	Hungary	9	6	4	1	1	12	5
Czechoslovakia	9	6	4	1	1	11	4	Bulgaria	7	6	3	1	2	11	7
Wales	5	6	2	1	3	5	6	France	7	6	3	1	2	10	8
Finland	1	6		1	5	1	16	Norway	1	6		1	5	5	18

Group 3								Group 4
Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
England	11	6	5	1		15	3	Soviet Union	10	6	4	2		13	4
Switzerland	9	6	4	1	1	12	5	Spain	8	6	3	2	1	14	3
Greece	3	6	1	1	4	3	8	Northern Ireland	6	6	2	2	2	10	6
Malta	1	6		1	5	2	16	Cyprus	0	6			6	2	26

Group 5								Group 6
Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Belgium	9	6	4	1	1	11	3	Italy	10	6	4	2		12	4
Portugal	7	6	3	1	2	10	6	Austria	7	6	3	1	2	14	6
Scotland	6	6	3		3	4	7	Sweden	6	6	2	2	2	3	5
Denmark	2	6	1		5	2	11	Republic of Ireland	1	6		1	5	3	17

Group 7								Group 8
Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Yugoslavia	9	6	3	3		7	2	West Germany	10	6	4	2		10	2
Netherlands	7	6	3	1	2	18	6	Poland	6	6	2	2	2	10	6
East Germany	7	6	3	1	2	11	6	Turkey	5	6	2	1	3	5	13
Luxembourg	1	6		1	5	1	23	Albania	3	6	1	1	4	5	9

Quarter-finals

1st Leg - Saturday April 29, 1972

19:45 GMT Wembley Stadium, London
Referee: Robert Helies (FRA)

England	1 - 3	(0-1)	West Germany
Lee 78'			Hoeness 27'
			Netzer 84' pen
			G. Müller 88'

2nd Leg - Saturday May 13, 1972

16:00 CET Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Stadium, Berlin
Referee: Milivoje Gugulovic (YUG)

West Germany

0 - 0

England

West Germany won 3-1 on aggregate.

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1st Leg - Saturday April 29, 1972

15:30 CET Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Referee: Peter Hristov Nikolov (BUL)

Italy

0 - 0

Belgium

2nd Leg - Saturday May 13, 1972

20:00 CET Parc Astrid, Brussels
Referee: Paul Schiller (AUT)

Belgium	2 - 1	(1-0)	Italy
Van Moer 23'			Riva 85' pen
Van Himst 72'

Belgium won 2-1 on aggregate.

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1st Leg - Saturday April 29, 1972

17:00 CET Ferenc Puskas Stadium, Budapest
Referee: David William Smith (ENG)

Hungary	1 - 1	(1-0)	Romania
Branikovits 11'			Satmareanu 55'

2nd Leg - Sunday May 14, 1972

Bucharest
Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)

Romania	2 - 2	(1-2)	Hungary
Dobrin 14'			Szöke 5'
Neagu 82'			Kocsis 35'

Replay Match (neutral ground) - Wednesday May 17, 1972

20:00 CET Partizan Stadium, Belgrade
Referee: Christe Michas (GRE)

Hungary	2 - 1	(1-1)	Romania
Kocsis 27'			Neagu 34'
Szöke 89'

Hungary won 5-4 on aggregate.

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1st Leg - Sunday April 30, 1972

16:00 CET Crvena Zvezda Stadium, Belgrade
Referee: Rudolf Scheurer (SWI)

Yugoslavia

0 - 0

Soviet Union

2nd Leg - Saturday May 13, 1972

17:00 MSK Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Referee: Aurelio Angonese (ITA)

Soviet Union	3 - 0	(0-0)	Yugoslavia
Kolotov 53'
Banishevski 74'
Kozinkevich 90'

Soviet Union won 3-0 on aggregate.

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Final tournament

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Semi-finals

Wednesday June 14, 1972

20:00 CET Bosuil Stadium, Antwerp
Referee: William J. Mullan (SCO)

West Germany	2 - 1	(1-0)	Belgium
G. Müller 24', 71'			Polleunis 83'

20:00 CET Parc Astrid, Brussels
Referee: Rudi Glöckner (West Germany)

Soviet Union	1 - 0	(0-0)	Hungary
Konkov 53'			85' Zambo missed a penalty (Rudakov saved)

Third place match

Saturday June 17, 1972

20:00 CET Sclessin Stadium, Liège - Attendance 9 000
Referee: Johan Einar Boström (SWE)

Belgium	2 - 1	(2-0)	Hungary
Lambert 24'			Kű (p) 53'
Van Himst 28'

Belgium: Piot, Heylens, Van den Daele, Thissen, Dolmans, Dockx, Verheyen, Polleunis, Semmeling, Van Himst, Lambert
Hungary: Géczi, Fábián, Páncsics, Bálint, P.Juhász, I.Juhász, Kü, Abert, Kozma, A.Dunai, Zámbö (46 Szücs)

Final

Sunday June 18, 1972

16:00 CET Heysel Stadium, Brussels - Attendance: 50 000''
Referee: Ferdinand Marschall (AUT)

West Germany	3 - 0	(1-0)	Soviet Union
G. Müller 27', 58'
Wimmer 52'

West Germany: Maier; Höttges, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner; U.Hoeness, Wimmer, Netzer; Heynckes, G.Müller, E.Kremers
Soviet Union: Rudakov; Dzodzuashvili, Kaplichny, Istomin, Khurtsilava, Kolotov, Troshkin, Baidachni, Banishevsky (66 Kozinkevich), Konkov (46 Dolmatov), Onishenko

WEST GERMANY
First title

Statistics

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Top scorers

4 Goals: Gerd Müller (West Germany)

1 Goal: Herbert Wimmer (West Germany), Anatoli Konkov (USSR), Raoul Lambert, Odilon Polleunis, Paul Van Himst (Belgium), Lajos Kű (Hungary)

Fastest goal

24 Minutes: Raoul Lambert (Belgium vs Hungary); Gerd Müller (West Germany vs Belgium)

Average goals

2.5 Per Game

1972 European Football Championship | 1972 in football (soccer) | Football in Belgium

Fußball-Europameisterschaft 1972 | Eurocopa de fútbol 1972 | Championnat d'Europe de football 1972 | Campionato europeo di calcio 1972 | יורו 1972 | Europees kampioenschap voetbal 1972 | EM i fotball 1972 | Mistrzostwa Europy w piłce nożnej 1972 | Campeonato Europeu de Futebol de 1972 | Europamästerskapet i fotboll 1972