Euro 1968 in Italy
Euro 1968 was hosted by Italy. The name of the competition changed from European Nations Cup to European Championship. The layout of the competition was totally different from what we know of today. In fact, in the final phase of this Championship, only four teams participated. Teams had to go through a group stage, win their group (there were 8 groups), and win the quarter-final, to bring down the number of teams to 4. The hosting of the competition was also different. The hosting nation of the competition was chosen from the four nations that qualified, so the host nation still had to do well in the qualifying phase.
Italia 68 Tournament
The teams that qualified were Italy (chosen as hosts), USSR, Yugoslavia and England. The final phase started on the 5th June 1968 and three venues were chosen to host the competition. The Stadio San Paolo (Naples) and Stadio Comunale (Florence) hosted the two semi-final games, while the final and third-place were played in the 86500 capacity Stadio Olimpico (Rome).
The first semi-final was between Italy and USSR. This game ended in a 0-0 draw, even after extra time. If today some people criticise penalties for being an unfair way to exit a tournament, it comes as a consolation that we don’t use the same system used in Euro 1968. Basically, nothing could separate Italy and USSR, therefore the method used was to toss a coin. This meant that USSR exited the competition due to hard luck, and Italy progressed to the final. The second semi-final was played on the same day (5 Jun 1968) between Yugoslavia and England. England lost this game 0-1, with the goal coming from Yugoslavia player Dragan Dzajic, top scorer in the competition.
1968 UEFA European Championship Final
Video of Italy's Euro 1968 win, match starts around 25 seconds into video.
On the 8th June 1968 the third place playoff was played between losers in the semi-finals England and USSR. This game was won by England with the score line 2-0 for England. Goals came from Bobby Charlton (39’) and Geoff Hurst (63’). Later on in the day, the final of Euro 1968 was played between Italy and Yugoslavia, in a packed Olimpico stadium with 85000 fans. It was Yugoslavia that scored first through Dzajic in the 39th minute. Italy equalised in the 80th through Domenghini. The game remained unsettled following extra time, which meant that a replay had to be played. No coin tossing this time. The replay match was played 2 days later on the 10th June 1968, in the same stadium with a much reduced attendance (55000 fans, most of which were Italian, having no problem with the unexpected replayed match). Italy won this contest with a score of 2-0, goals coming from Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi. Italy were therefore declared Champions of Europe for the first time in their history.
