1964 European Nations' Cup Explained

Tourney Name:European Nations' Cup
Year:1964
Other Titles:Eurocopa España 1964
Size:200px
Country:Spain
Dates:17–21 June
Num Teams:4
Venues:2
Cities:2
Champion:ESP
Champion-Flagvar:1945
Count:1
Second:URS
Third:HUN
Fourth:DEN
Matches:4
Goals:13
Attendance:156253
Top Scorer: Ferenc Bene
Dezső Novák
Chus Pereda
(2 goals each)
Prevseason:1960
Nextseason: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

See main article: 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying.

Venues

MadridBarcelona
Santiago BernabéuCamp Nou
Capacity: 80,000Capacity: 105,000

Squads

See main article: 1964 European Nations' Cup squads.

Match officials

CountryRefereeMatches refereed
BelgiumArthur BlavierSemi-final: Spain 2–1 Hungary
EnglandArthur HollandFinal: Spain 2–1 Soviet Union
ItalyConcetto Lo BelloSemi-final: Denmark 0–3 Soviet Union
SwitzerlandDaniel MelletThird place play-off: Hungary 3–1 Denmark

Final tournament

See main article: 1964 European Nations' Cup 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).

Semi-finals

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Final

See main article: 1964 European Nations' Cup final.

Statistics

Awards

UEFA Team of the Tournament[3]

External links

Notes and References

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