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 5 June and 10 June 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

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

Qualification

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:

Squads

For a list of all the squads that took part in the 1968 tournament, go to UEFA Euro 1968 squads.

Final tournament

Semi-finals

Third place play-off

Final

Replay

Statistics

Top scorers

2 goals

• Dragan D?aji?

1 goal

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

Fastest goal

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

Average goals

1.4 goals per game

References