The
1960 UEFA European Nations Cup was the first
European Football
Championship, held every four years and endorsed by
UEFA. The final tournament was held in France. It was
won by the
Soviet Union,
who beat
Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris
after extra time.
The tournament was a knockout competition; just 17 teams entered
with some notable absences,
West Germany,
Italy and
England among them. The teams
would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final
four teams would move on to the final tournament, whose host was
selected after the teams became known.
Spain, still under Francisco Franco's far-right dictatorship,
refused to travel to the Soviet Union
, the main supporter of the Second Spanish Republic in the
Spanish Civil War, and withdrew
from the tournament, so the final four had three Communist
countries: USSR, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, to go with hosts
France. In the semi-finals, the Soviets made easy
work of the Czechoslovaks in Marseille
, beating them 3–0. The other match saw a
nine-goal thriller as Yugoslavia came on top 5–4, coming back from
a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the demoralized
French 2–0 for third place.
In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by
legendary goalkeeper
Lev Yashin,
equalized in the 49th minute. After 90 minutes the score was 1–1,
and
Viktor Ponedelnik scored with
seven minutes left in extra time to give the Soviets the inaugural
European Championship.
Squads
See:
1960 European
Nations' Cup squads
Qualifying rounds
Preliminary round
Czechoslovakia won 4–2 on aggregate.
Round of 16
First leg
Second leg
France won 8–2 on aggregate.
Romania won 3–2 on aggregate.
Portugal won 5–2 on aggregate.
Austria won 6–2 on aggregate.
Soviet Union won 4–1 on aggregate.
Spain won 7–2 on aggregate.
Czechoslovakia won 7–3 on aggregate.
Yugoslavia won 3–1 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for their
quarter-final, so the USSR were awarded a walkover victory.
First leg
Second leg
France won 9–4 on aggregate.
Yugoslavia won 6–3 on aggregate.
Czechoslovakia won 5–0 on aggregate.
Final tournament
1960 European Nations' Cup
finalists.
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Statistics
Top goalscorers
- 2 goals
1 goal
Fastest goal
11 minutes:
Milan Galić (Yugoslavia
vs France)
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