The qualifying round for the 1972 European Football Championship consisted of 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group winner progressed to 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.

Qualified teams

Euro 1972 qualifiers
Qualified Did not qualify Did not enter Not a UEFA member
TeamQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament
Belgium (host)Quarter-final winner13 May 19720 (debut)
Soviet UnionQuarter-final winner13 May 19723 (1960, 1964, 1968)
West GermanyQuarter-final winner13 May 19720 (debut)
HungaryQuarter-final winner17 May 19721 (1964)

Summary

Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8
RomaniaHungaryEnglandSoviet UnionBelgiumItalyYugoslaviaWest Germany
Czechoslovakia Wales FinlandBulgaria France NorwaySwitzerland Greece MaltaSpain Northern Ireland CyprusPortugal Scotland DenmarkAustria Sweden Republic of IrelandNetherlands East Germany LuxembourgPoland Turkey Albania

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:

  1. Greater number of points in all group matches
  2. Goal difference in all group matches
  3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  4. Drawing of lots

Groups

Group 1

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationRomania national football teamCzechoslovakia national football teamWales national football teamFinland national football team
1Romania6411112+99Advance to quarter-finals—2–12–03–0
2Czechoslovakia6411114+791–0—1–01–1
3Wales621356−150–01–3—3–0
4Finland6015116−1510–40–40–1—

Group 2

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationHungary national football teamBulgaria national football teamFrance national football teamNorway national football team
1Hungary6411125+79Advance to quarter-finals—2–01–14–0
2Bulgaria6312117+473–0—2–11–1
3France6312108+270–22–1—3–1
4Norway6015518−1311–31–41–3—

Group 3

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationEngland national football teamSwitzerland national football teamGreece national football teamMalta national football team
1England6510153+1211Advance to quarter-finals—1–13–05–0
2Switzerland6411125+792–3—1–05–0
3Greece611438−530–20–1—2–0
4Malta6015216−1410–11–21–1—

Group 4

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationSoviet Union national football teamSpain national football teamNorthern Ireland national football teamCyprus national football team
1Soviet Union6420134+910Advance to quarter-finals—2–11–06–1
2Spain6321143+1180–0—3–07–0
3Northern Ireland6222106+461–11–1—5–0
4Cyprus6006226−2401–30–20–3—

Group 5

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationBelgium national football teamPortugal national football teamScotland national football teamDenmark national football team
1Belgium6411113+89Advance to quarter-finals—3–03–02–0
2Portugal6312106+471–1—2–05–0
3Scotland630347−361–02–1—1–0
4Denmark6105211−921–20–11–0—

Group 6

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationItaly national football teamAustria national football teamSweden men's national football teamRepublic of Ireland national football team
1Italy6420124+810Advance to quarter-finals—2–23–03–0
2Austria6312146+871–2—1–06–0
3Sweden622235−260–01–0—1–0
4Republic of Ireland6015317−1411–21–41–1—

Group 7

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationYugoslavia national football teamNetherlands national football teamEast Germany national football teamLuxembourg national football team
1Yugoslavia633072+59Advance to quarter-finals—2–00–00–0
2Netherlands6312186+1271–1—3–26–0
3East Germany6312116+571–21–0—2–1
4Luxembourg6015123−2210–20–80–5—

Group 8

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationGermany national football teamPoland national football teamTurkey national football teamAlbania national football team
1West Germany6420102+810Advance to quarter-finals—0–01–12–0
2Poland6222106+461–3—5–13–0
3Turkey6213513−850–31–0—2–1
4Albania611459−430–11–13–0—

Quarter-finals

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd legReplay
Italy1–2Belgium0–01–2
Hungary5–4Romania1–12–22–1
England1–3West Germany1–30–0
Yugoslavia0–3Soviet Union0–00–3

Goalscorers

There were 282 goals scored in 105 matches, for an average of 2.69 goals per match.

7 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

External links

  • at UEFA.com