1960 European Nations' Cup

1960 European Nations' Cup
Coupe d'Europe des nations de football ; France 1960 ; (in French)
Tournament details
Host country	France
Dates	6–10 July
Teams	4
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Soviet Union (1st title)
Runners-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)	François Heutte; Valentin Ivanov; Viktor Ponedelnik; Milan Galić; Dražan Jerković; (2 goals each)
	1964 →

The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the inaugural tournament of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first 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, with just 17 teams entering. There were some notable absences, including West Germany, Italy, Netherlands and England, each of whom had voted against the creation of the tournament in 1957.^[1] The entrants would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would then move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known.

In the quarter-finals, Spain, who were under Francoist rule, refused to travel to the Soviet Union for political reasons. After a proposal to play the tie over one leg at a neutral venue were rejected by the Soviets,^[2]^[3] Spain were disqualified: accordingly, three of the final four teams were from communist countries: the 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 after coming back from a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the demoralised French 2–0 for third place.

In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, equalised 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.^[4]

Quaterfinal play-off

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
France	9–4	Austria	5–2	4–2
Portugal	3–6	Yugoslavia	2–1	1–5
Romania	0–5	Czechoslovakia	0–2	0–3
Soviet Union	w/o^{[note 1]}	Spain	Canc.	Canc.

Qualified teams

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on
France (host)	Quarter-finals winner	27 March 1960
Yugoslavia	Quarter-finals winner	22 May 1960
Soviet Union	Quarter-finals winner^[A]	28 May 1960
Czechoslovakia	Quarter-finals winner	29 May 1960

^ These quarter-final matches were scratched and the Soviet Union qualified by walkover after Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for the first leg.^[5]

Venues

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

Squads

Match officials

Country	Referee
England	Arthur Ellis
Belgium	Gaston Grandain
Italy	Cesare Jonni

Final tournament

In all matches but the final, extra time and a coin toss were used to decide the winner if necessary. If the final remained level after extra time, a replay would be used to determine the winner.

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

Bracket

Semi-finals		Final

6 July – Marseille

Czechoslovakia	0
		10 July – Paris
Soviet Union	3
		Soviet Union (a.e.t.)	2
6 July – Paris
		Yugoslavia	1
France	4

Yugoslavia	5
		Third place play-off

		9 July – Marseille

		Czechoslovakia	2

		France	0

Semi-finals

6 July 1960

20:00

France	4–5	Yugoslavia
Vincent 12' Heutte 43', 62' Wisniewski 53'	Report	Galić 11' Žanetić 55' Knez 75' Jerković 78', 79'

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 26,370

Referee: Gaston Grandain (Belgium)

6 July 1960

21:30

Czechoslovakia	0–3	Soviet Union
	Report	Ivanov 34', 56' Ponedelnik 66'

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 25,184

Referee: Cesare Jonni (Italy)

Third place play-off

9 July 1960

21:30

Czechoslovakia	2–0	France
Bubník 58' Pavlovič 88'	Report

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

Attendance: 9,438

Referee: Cesare Jonni (Italy)

Final

10 July 1960

20:30

Soviet Union	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Yugoslavia
Metreveli 49' Ponedelnik 113'	Report	Galić 43'

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 17,966

Referee: Arthur Ellis (England)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 17 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 4.25 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament^[6]

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

Notes

^ Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for their quarter-final, so Spain were disqualified and the Soviet Union were awarded a walkover victory.

References

^ Murray, Scott. "The Joy of Six: European Championship qualifiers". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2023. At a Uefa congress in 1957, a motion to set up a European championship was finally put to the floor. Predictably, the British associations acted like a petulant child, just as it had done three decades earlier with the World Cup. Fearing such a tournament would interfere with the Home Internationals, it abstained, though this time it was by no means the only offender: seven other countries voted against, including West Germany, Italy and Holland.
^ Муртазин, Салават (10 July 2020). "Первая и последняя победа сборной СССР на Евро. Как это было". Championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ Malone, Emmet (21 April 2016). "Euro Moments: General Franco pulls Spain from 1960 tournament". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
^ Rostance, Tom (21 May 2012). "BBC Sport - Euro 1960: Lev Yashin leads Soviets to glory in France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ "European Cup Committee – Meeting of May 28th, 1960, Francfort". Bulletin officiel de l'UEFA. No. 15. Union of European Football Associations. November 1960. In connection with the withdrawal of Spain (v. USSR) the Committee decided to apply Article 7 of the Regulations, namely, to qualify Russia for the Final Tournament.
^ "1960 team of the tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

External links

1960 European Nations' Cup at UEFA.com

[7] These quarter-final matches were scratched and the Soviet Union qualified by walkover after Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for the first leg.^[5]

[URS-ESP-5] Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for their quarter-final, so Spain were disqualified and the Soviet Union were awarded a walkover victory.

[1] Murray, Scott. "The Joy of Six: European Championship qualifiers". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2023. At a Uefa congress in 1957, a motion to set up a European championship was finally put to the floor. Predictably, the British associations acted like a petulant child, just as it had done three decades earlier with the World Cup. Fearing such a tournament would interfere with the Home Internationals, it abstained, though this time it was by no means the only offender: seven other countries voted against, including West Germany, Italy and Holland.

[2] Муртазин, Салават (10 July 2020). "Первая и последняя победа сборной СССР на Евро. Как это было". Championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 15 July 2021.

[3] Malone, Emmet (21 April 2016). "Euro Moments: General Franco pulls Spain from 1960 tournament". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 August 2023.

[4] Rostance, Tom (21 May 2012). "BBC Sport - Euro 1960: Lev Yashin leads Soviets to glory in France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

[6] "European Cup Committee – Meeting of May 28th, 1960, Francfort". Bulletin officiel de l'UEFA. No. 15. Union of European Football Associations. November 1960. In connection with the withdrawal of Spain (v. USSR) the Committee decided to apply Article 7 of the Regulations, namely, to qualify Russia for the Final Tournament.

[8] "1960 team of the tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

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