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 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.
For the 1968 tournament the 'European Nations Cup' became
the 'European Football Championship' and 31 teams entered with the Finals
held in Italy.
In qualifying there were few surprises and the quarter-final line-up to
determine the four qualifiers was strong. Hosts Italy qualified by beating
Bulgaria 2-0 at home after losing in Sofia 3-2, whilst Yugoslavia brushed
aside France 5-1 after drawing the away leg.
The USSR lost 2-0 away to a strong Hungarian side but overturned that
deficit at home, scoring three times without reply.
England, the reigning World Champions, beat Spain home and away and qualified
for their first ever European Championship Finals. With the same squad
that had won the World Cup, hopes were high that the Three Lions could
win a second successive major championship.
The semi-finals, then, saw hosts Italy defeat the Soviet Union, remarkably
on the toss of a coin, whilst England were drawn to play Yugoslavia in
Florence.
Four days after losing by the only goal to West Germany in a Hanover friendly,
England went down by the same margin again when Dzajic scored four minutes
from time.
In a match littered with fouls, neither goalkeeper had much to do in the
first half. After a slow start, England pressed but couldn't find a way
through.
Yugoslavia looked dangerous in rare breakaways. Never more so than in
the opening minutes of the second half when twice they were within inches
of scoring. England hit back and a Bobby Charlton shot was only a foot
over the bar. Then Charlton shot into the side-netting when a pass from
Alan Ball had put him clear of the Yugoslav defence.
With four minutes to go and England piling on the pressure, Yugoslavia
broke from defence to score the only goal of the game. Dzajic chested
down a centre from Petkovic and drove it past Gordon Banks into the roof
of the net. One minute from the end, Alan Mullery was sent off for retaliating
after receiving a kick from Trivic.
Yugoslavia completely dominated the Rome showpiece and took the lead through
Dzajic five minutes before the interval. However, they were ultimately
punished for having not beaten Zoff for a second time as Domenghini, with
a free-kick, equalised nine minutes from time.
Italy made five changed for the replay just two days later and strolled
past a tired Yugoslav side, scoring two first-half goals in a 2-0 win.
England beat the USSR 2-0 to claim third place in a match which saw Tommy
Wright win his first full cap at right-back. After the Russians had controlled
most of the first twenty minutes, England went into the lead through Charlton,
when he thundered a pass from Geoff Hurst into the net.
Banks then made a wonderful save from a Logofet header before England
scored again through Hurst. Martin Peters' shot was blocked and the ball
rebounded to Hurst who dribbled it past Pshenichnikov.
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 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.
