The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA and the only tournament that was held in a socialist state. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976.

Only four countries played in the final tournament, with the tournament consisting of the semi-finals, a third place play-off, and the final. This was the last tournament to have this format, as the tournament was expanded to include eight teams four years later. It was the only time that all four matches in the final tournament were decided after extra time, either on penalties or by goals scored. This was also the last tournament in which the hosts had to qualify for the final stage.

Czechoslovakia won the tournament after defeating holders West Germany in the final on penalties following a 2–2 draw after extra time. Antonín Panenka gained fame for his delicately chipped penalty, which has since been named after him, to win the penalty shootout and Czechoslovakia's only European Championship title.

Qualification

The qualifying round was played in 1974, 1975 (group phase), and 1976 (quarter-finals). There were eight qualifying groups of four teams each, with matches played on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified for the quarter-finals, played in two legs, home and away. The winners of the quarter-finals would go through to the final tournament.

This was the first time the Soviet Union failed to qualify for the finals.

Quarterfinals

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Yugoslavia3–1Wales2–01–1
Czechoslovakia4–2Soviet Union2–02–2
Spain1–3West Germany1–10–2
Netherlands7–1Belgium5–02–1

Qualified teams

TeamQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament
CzechoslovakiaQuarter-final winner22 May 19761 (1960)
NetherlandsQuarter-final winner22 May 19760 (debut)
West GermanyQuarter-final winner22 May 19761 (1972)
Yugoslavia (host)Quarter-final winner22 May 19762 (1960, 1968)
Alternate logo for the tournament

Venues

BelgradeZagrebBelgradeZagreb
Red Star StadiumStadion Maksimir
Capacity: 90,000Capacity: 55,000

Squads

Match officials

CountryReferee
Belgium BelgiumAlfred Delcourt
Italy ItalySergio Gonella
Switzerland SwitzerlandWalter Hungerbühler
Wales WalesClive Thomas

Final tournament

1976 UEFA European Football Championship finalists

At the final tournament, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

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

Bracket

Semi-finalsFinal
16 June – Zagreb
Czechoslovakia (a.e.t.)3
20 June – Belgrade
Netherlands1
Czechoslovakia (p)2 (5)
17 June – Belgrade
West Germany2 (3)
Yugoslavia2
West Germany (a.e.t.)4
Third place play-off
19 June – Zagreb
Netherlands (a.e.t.)3
Yugoslavia2

Semi-finals

Czechoslovakia3–1 (a.e.t.)Netherlands
Ondruš 19' Nehoda 114' Veselý 118'Ondruš 73' (o.g.)
Yugoslavia2–4 (a.e.t.)West Germany
Popivoda 19' Džajić 30'Flohe 64' Müller 82', 115', 119'

Third place play-off

Netherlands3–2 (a.e.t.)Yugoslavia
Geels 27', 107' W. van de Kerkhof 39'Katalinski 43' Džajić 82'

Final

Czechoslovakia2–2 (a.e.t.)West Germany
Švehlík 8' Dobiaš 25'PositionsMüller 28' Hölzenbein 89'
Penalties
Masný Nehoda Ondruš Jurkemik Panenka5–3Bonhof Flohe Bongartz Hoeneß

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 19 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 4.75 goals per match.

4 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament

GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Czechoslovakia national football team Ivo ViktorCzechoslovakia national football team Anton Ondruš Czechoslovakia national football team Ján Pivarník Netherlands national football team Ruud Krol Germany national football team Franz BeckenbauerCzechoslovakia national football team Antonín Panenka Czechoslovakia national football team Jaroslav Pollák Germany national football team Rainer Bonhof Yugoslavia national football team Dragan DžajićCzechoslovakia national football team Zdeněk Nehoda Germany national football team Dieter Müller

Bibliography

  • Kier, Richard (2018). The European Championship – A Complete History (Part 1: 1960–1976). Rowanvale Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-9115-6967-1.

External links

  • at UEFA.com