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1964 European Nations' Cup
Eurocopa España 1964
Tournament details
Host country	Spain
Dates	17–21 June
Teams	4
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Spain (1st title)
Runners-up	Soviet Union
Third place	Hungary
Fourth place	Denmark
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	13 (3.25 per match)
Attendance	156,253 (39,063 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ferenc Bene; Dezső Novák; Chus Pereda; (2 goals each)
	← 1960 1968 →

The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union.^[1]

The tournament was a knockout competition; 29 teams entered (Greece withdrew after the draw after refusing to play Albania). The Soviet Union, Austria and Luxembourg received byes to the round of 16. The teams played 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.

Luxembourg proved to be the giant-killers of the qualifying rounds; they beat the Netherlands 3–2 on aggregate (1–1 and 2–1), and then drew with Denmark 3–3 and 2–2, before losing the replay 1–0. Denmark thus became the most surprising of the qualifiers for the final tournament, joining the Soviet Union, Spain, and Hungary. In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union defeated the Danes 3–0 in Barcelona, and Spain beat Hungary 2–1 in extra time in Madrid, the winning goal being scored by Amancio. This set up a showdown between Spain and the Soviet Union in the final, only four years after Spain had been disqualified for refusing to travel to Moscow to play the Soviet Union. On this occasion – and with the championship of Europe on the line – General Franco let his team play the Soviets. In front of more than 79,000 people, including Franco himself, at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, the hosts won 2–1 after a late goal from Marcelino.^[2]

Qualified teams

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament^[A]
Denmark	Quarter-final winner	18 December 1963	0 (debut)
Spain (host)	Quarter-final winner	8 April 1964	0 (debut)
Hungary	Quarter-final winner	23 May 1964	0 (debut)
Soviet Union	Quarter-final winner	27 May 1964	1 (1960)

^ Bold indicates champion for that year.

Venues

Madrid Barcelona	Madrid	Barcelona
	Santiago Bernabéu	Camp Nou
	Capacity: 80,000	Capacity: 105,000

Squads

Match officials

Country	Referee	Matches refereed
Belgium	Arthur Blavier	Semi-final: Spain 2–1 Hungary
England	Arthur Holland	Final: Spain 2–1 Soviet Union
Italy	Concetto Lo Bello	Semi-final: Denmark 0–3 Soviet Union
Switzerland	Daniel Mellet	Third place play-off: Hungary 3–1 Denmark

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

17 June – Real Madrid

Spain (a.e.t.)	2
		21 June – Madrid
Hungary	1
		Spain	2
17 June – Barcelona
		Soviet Union	1
Denmark	0

Soviet Union	3
		Third place play-off

		20 June – Barcelona

		Hungary (a.e.t.)	3

		Denmark	1

Semi-finals

17 June 1964

20:00

Spain	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Hungary
Pereda 35' Amancio 112'	Report	Bene 84'

Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid

Attendance: 34,713

Referee: Arthur Blavier (Belgium)

17 June 1964

22:30

Denmark	0–3	Soviet Union
	Report	Voronin 19' Ponedelnik 40' Ivanov 87'

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Attendance: 38,556

Referee: Concetto Lo Bello (Italy)

Third place play-off

20 June 1964

20:30

Hungary	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Denmark
Bene 11' Novák 107' (pen.), 110'	Report	Bertelsen 82'

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Attendance: 3,869

Referee: Daniel Mellet (Switzerland)

Final

21 June 1964

18:30

Spain	2–1	Soviet Union
Pereda 6' Marcelino 84'	Report, lineups	Khusainov 8'

Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid

Attendance: 79,115

Referee: Arthur Holland (England)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 13 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 3.25 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament^[3]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Lev Yashin	Dezső Novák Ferran Olivella Feliciano Rivilla Ignacio Zoco	Valentin Ivanov Amancio Amaro Luis Suárez	Flórián Albert Ferenc Bene Chus Pereda

References

^ "Spain's Marcelino stoops to conquer Europe". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 October 2003. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
^ Sanghera, Mandeep (12 May 2012). "Euro 1964: A forgotten Spanish triumph". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
^ "1964 team of the tournament". Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 14 May 2020.