1976 UEFA European Football Championship
Europsko prvenstvo u nogometu Jugoslavija 1976. (in Croatian)
Европско првенство во фудбал Jугославиjа 1976 (in Macedonian)
Европско првенство у фудбалу Jугославиjа 1976 (in Serbian)
Evropsko prvenstvo v nogometu Jugoslavija 1976 (in Slovene)
Tournament details
Host countryYugoslavia
Dates16–20 June
Teams4
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Czechoslovakia (1st title)
Runners-up West Germany
Third place Netherlands
Fourth place Yugoslavia
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored19 (4.75 per match)
Attendance106,087 (26,522 per match)
Top scorer(s)West Germany Dieter Müller (4 goals)
Alternative tournament logo

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. 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 won the tournament for Czechoslovakia, the country's only European Championship title.[1]

Qualification

The qualifying round was played throughout 1974 and 1975 (group phase) and 1976 (quarter-finals). There were eight qualifying groups of four teams each. The matches were played in a home-and-away basis. Victories were worth two points, draws one point, and defeats no points. Only group winners qualified 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. This was the first time the Soviet Union did not qualify for the finals tournament.

  • Quarterfinal Play Offs

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Yugoslavia  3–1  Wales 2–0 1–1
Czechoslovakia  4–2  Soviet Union 2–0 2–2
Spain  1–3  West Germany 1–1 0–2
Netherlands  7–1  Belgium 5–0 2–1

Qualified teams

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1]
 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)
  1. ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year.

Venues

Belgrade Zagreb
Red Star Stadium Stadion Maksimir
Capacity: 90,000 Capacity: 55,000

Squads

Match officials

Country Referee
Belgium Belgium Alfred Delcourt
Italy Italy Sergio Gonella
Switzerland Switzerland Walter Hungerbühler
Wales Wales Clive 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

Czechoslovakia 3–1 (a.e.t.) Netherlands
 Report
Attendance: 17,879
Referee: Clive Thomas (Wales)
Yugoslavia 2–4 (a.e.t.) West Germany
 Report
Attendance: 50,652

Third place play-off

Netherlands 3–2 (a.e.t.) Yugoslavia
 Report
Attendance: 6,766

Final

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[3]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Czechoslovakia Ivo Viktor Czechoslovakia Anton Ondruš
Czechoslovakia Ján Pivarník
Netherlands Ruud Krol
West Germany Franz Beckenbauer		 Czechoslovakia Antonín Panenka
Czechoslovakia Jaroslav Pollák
West Germany Rainer Bonhof
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dragan Džajić		 Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Nehoda
West Germany Dieter Müller

References

  1. ↑ Smallwood, Jimmy (12 May 2012). "Euro 1976: The year the Welsh Dragon roared again". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  2. ↑ Kier 2018, pp. 396–399.
  3. ↑ "1976 team of the tournament". UEFA.com. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2015.

Bibliography

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