1960 European Nations' Cup

1960 UEFA European Nations' Cup

UEFA Championnat Européen du Football France 1960
UEFA Euro 1960 official logo
Tournament details
Host country	France
Dates	6 July – 10 July
Teams	4
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Soviet Union (1st title)
Runner-up	Yugoslavia
Third place	Czechoslovakia
Fourth place	France
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	17 (4.25 per match)
Attendance	78,958 (19,740 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Viktor Ponedelnik Milan Galić Dražan Jerković Valentin Ivanov François Heutte (2 goals each)
1964 →

The 1960 UEFA European Nations' Cup was the first European Football Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris after extra time.

The tournament was a knockout competition; just 17 teams entered with some notable absences, West Germany, Italy and England among them. The teams would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known.

Spain, still under Francisco Franco's far-right dictatorship, refused to travel to the Soviet Union, the main supporter of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War, and withdrew from the tournament, so the final four had three communist countries: USSR, Czechoslovakia, and SFR Yugoslavia, to go with hosts France. In the semi-finals, the Soviets made easy work of the Czechoslovaks in Marseille, beating them 3–0. The other match saw a nine-goal thriller as Yugoslavia came on top 5–4, coming back from a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the demoralized French 2–0 for third place.

In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, equalized in the 49th minute. After 90 minutes the score was 1–1, and Viktor Ponedelnik scored with seven minutes left in extra time to give the Soviets the inaugural European Championship.

Venues

Paris
Parc des Princes
Capacity: 40,000
Marseille
Stade Vélodrome
Capacity: 40,000

Qualifying

Main article: 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying

Qualified teams

See also: 1960 European Nations' Cup squads

Country	Qualified as1	Date of qualification	Previous appearances
Czechoslovakia	Quarter-finals winner	29 May 1960	0 (debut)
France (hosts)	Quarter-finals winner	27 March 1960	0 (debut)
Soviet Union	Bye		0 (debut)
Yugoslavia	Quarter-finals winner	22 May 1960	0 (debut)

¹Soviet Union qualified after Spain refused to travel to the country.

Final tournament

	Semi-finals				Final
	6 July – Marseille
	Czechoslovakia	0
	Soviet Union	3
					10 July – Paris
					Soviet Union (a.e.t.)	2
					Yugoslavia	1
					Third place
	6 July – Paris			9 July – Marseille
	France	4		Czechoslovakia	2
	Yugoslavia	5			France	0

Semi-finals

6 July 1960 20:00	France	4–5	Yugoslavia	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 26,370 Referee: Gaston Grandain (Belgium)
	Vincent  12' Heutte  43', 62' Wisnieski  53'	Report	Galić  11' Žanetić  55' Knez  75' Jerković  78', 79'

---

6 July 1960 21:30	Czechoslovakia	0–3	Soviet Union	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 25,184 Referee: Cesare Jonni (Italy)
		Report	Ivanov  34', 56' Ponedelnik  66'

Third place play-off

9 July 1960 18:00	Czechoslovakia	2–0	France	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 9,438 Referee: Cesare Jonni (Italy)
	Bubník  58' Pavlovič  88'	Report

Final

Main article: 1960 European Nations' Cup Final

10 July 1960 21:30	Soviet Union	2 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Yugoslavia	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 17,966 Referee: Arthur Edward Ellis (England)
	Metreveli  49' Ponedelnik  113'	Report	Galić  43'

Statistics

Goalscorers

With two goals, Valentin Ivanov, Viktor Ponedelnik, Milan Galić, Dražan Jerković, François Heutte are the top scorers in the tournament. In total, there were 17 goals scored by 12 different players in 4 games, for an average of 4.25 goals per game. None of the goals is credited as own goal.

2 goals

• Valentin Ivanov
• Viktor Ponedelnik
• Milan Galić
• Dražan Jerković
• François Heutte

1 goal

• Tomislav Knez
• Ante Žanetić
• Vlastimil Bubník
• Ladislav Pavlovič
• Jean Vincent
• Maryan Wisnieski
• Slava Metreveli

Fastest goal

• 11 minutes: Milan Galić (Yugoslavia vs France)

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Lev Yashin	Vladimir Durković	Igor Netto	Slava Metreveli
	Ladislav Novák	Josef Masopust	Milan Galić
		Valentin Ivanov	Viktor Ponedielnik
			Dragoslav Šekularac
			Bora Kostić

External links

• 1960 Nations Cup Review with images and video from the tournament

Template:1960 European Nations' Cup