UEFA Euro 1976

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

At the time, only four countries could play the final tournament which meant that there were only the semi-finals, the final and the third place match. This was the last tournament to have this format, as the tournament was expanded to include eight teams four years later.

It was the first and 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.

Czech player Antonin Panenka gained fame for his delicately chipped penalty that gave his country victory in the tournament's final against holders West Germany.

Qualifying round
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 could qualify 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.

The following teams participated in the final tournament:

.
 * (first appearance)
 * (first appearance)

Final tournament
All time are CET/UTC+1

Statistics

 * Fastest goal: 8 minutes – Ján Švehlík (Czechoslovakia vs West Germany)

Top scorers
With four goals, Dieter Müller is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 19 goals were scored by 13 different players in 4 games for an average of 4.75 goals per game. One of the goals is credited as own goal.


 * 4 goals
 * Dieter Müller


 * 2 goals
 * Dragan Džajić
 * Ruud Geels


 * 1 goal


 * Danilo Popivoda
 * Josip Katalinski
 * Willy van de Kerkhof
 * Bernd Hölzenbein
 * Heinz Flohe


 * Anton Ondruš
 * Zdeněk Nehoda
 * František Veselý
 * Ján Švehlík
 * Karol Dobiaš


 * Own goal
 * Anton Ondruš

Awards

 * UEFA Team of the Tournament