1960 European Nations' Cup
Coupe d'Europe des nations de football
France 1960
(in French)
Tournament details
Host countryFrance
Dates6–10 July
Teams4
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Soviet Union (1st title)
Runners-up Yugoslavia
Third place Czechoslovakia
Fourth place France
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored17 (4.25 per match)
Attendance78,958 (19,740 per match)
Top scorer(s)France François Heutte
Soviet Union Valentin Ivanov
Soviet Union Viktor Ponedelnik
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milan Galić
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dražan Jerković
(2 goals each)

The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the inaugural tournament of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first 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, with just 17 teams entering. There were some notable absences, including West Germany, Italy, Netherlands and England, each of whom had voted against the creation of the tournament in 1957.[1] The entrants would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would then move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known.

In the quarter-finals, Spain, who were under Francoist rule, refused to travel to the Soviet Union for political reasons. After a proposal to play the tie over one leg at a neutral venue were rejected by the Soviets,[2][3] Spain were disqualified: accordingly, three of the final four teams were from communist countries: the USSR, Czechoslovakia, and SFR 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 after coming back from a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the demoralised French 2–0 for third place.

In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, equalised 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.[4]

Qualification

Qualified teams

Team Qualified as Qualified on
 France (host)Quarter-finals winner27 March 1960
 YugoslaviaQuarter-finals winner22 May 1960
 Soviet UnionQuarter-finals winner[upper-alpha 1]28 May 1960
 CzechoslovakiaQuarter-finals winner29 May 1960
  1. ↑ These quarter-final matches were scratched and the Soviet Union qualified by walkover after Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for the first leg.[5]

Venues

Paris Marseille
Parc des Princes Stade Vélodrome
Capacity: 40,000 Capacity: 40,000

Squads

Match officials

Country Referee
England England Arthur Ellis
Belgium Belgium Gaston Grandain
Italy Italy Cesare Jonni

Final tournament

1960 European Nations' Cup finalists

In all matches but the final, extra time and a coin toss were used to decide the winner if necessary. If the final remained level after extra time, a replay would be used to determine the winner.

All times are local, CET (UTC+1).

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
6 July – Marseille
 
 
 Czechoslovakia0
 
10 July – Paris
 
 Soviet Union3
 
 Soviet Union (a.e.t.)2
 
6 July – Paris
 
 Yugoslavia1
 
 France4
 
 
 Yugoslavia5
 
Third place play-off
 
 
9 July – Marseille
 
 
 Czechoslovakia2
 
 
 France0

Semi-finals

France 4–5 Yugoslavia
 Report
Attendance: 26,370
Czechoslovakia 0–3 Soviet Union
Report
Attendance: 25,184
Referee: Cesare Jonni (Italy)

Third place play-off

Czechoslovakia 2–0 France
 Report
Attendance: 9,438
Referee: Cesare Jonni (Italy)

Final

Soviet Union 2–1 (a.e.t.) Yugoslavia
 Report
Attendance: 17,966

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 17 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 4.25 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament[6]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Soviet Union Lev Yashin Czechoslovakia Ladislav Novák
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vladimir Durković		 Czechoslovakia Josef Masopust
Soviet Union Valentin Ivanov
Soviet Union Igor Netto		 Soviet Union Slava Metreveli
Soviet Union Viktor Ponedelnik
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milan Galić
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Kostić
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragoslav Šekularac

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ Murray, Scott. "The Joy of Six: European Championship qualifiers". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2023. At a Uefa congress in 1957, a motion to set up a European championship was finally put to the floor. Predictably, the British associations acted like a petulant child, just as it had done three decades earlier with the World Cup. Fearing such a tournament would interfere with the Home Internationals, it abstained, though this time it was by no means the only offender: seven other countries voted against, including West Germany, Italy and Holland.
    2. ↑ Муртазин, Салават (10 July 2020). "Первая и последняя победа сборной СССР на Евро. Как это было". Championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 15 July 2021.
    3. ↑ Malone, Emmet (21 April 2016). "Euro Moments: General Franco pulls Spain from 1960 tournament". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
    4. ↑ Rostance, Tom (21 May 2012). "BBC Sport - Euro 1960: Lev Yashin leads Soviets to glory in France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
    5. ↑ "European Cup Committee – Meeting of May 28th, 1960, Francfort". Bulletin officiel de l'UEFA. No. 15. Union of European Football Associations. November 1960. In connection with the withdrawal of Spain (v. USSR) the Committee decided to apply Article 7 of the Regulations, namely, to qualify Russia for the Final Tournament.
    6. ↑ "1960 team of the tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
    Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1960 UEFA European Championship.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.