| Tourney Name: | UEFA European Football Championship |
| Year: | 1972 |
| Other Titles: | Europees kampioenschap voetbal België 1972 Championnat d'Europe de football Belgique 1972 Fußball-Europameisterschaft Belgien 1972 |
| Size: | 200px |
| Country: | Belgium |
| Dates: | 14–18 June |
| Num Teams: | 4 |
| Venues: | 4 |
| Cities: | 3 |
| Champion: | FRG |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second: | URS |
| Third: | BEL |
| Fourth: | HUN |
| Matches: | 4 |
| Goals: | 10 |
| Attendance: | 121880 |
| Prevseason: | 1968 |
| Nextseason: | 1976 |
The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972.
Only four countries played in the final tournament, with the tournament consisting of the semi-finals, a third place play-off, and the final.
The hosts were only announced after the qualifying round, which meant all teams had to participate in the qualification process for the final stage.[1] Belgium was chosen among three candidates; the other bids came from England and Italy,[2] whose teams did not reach the semi-finals.
West Germany won the tournament, beating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller (twice) and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.[3]
See main article: UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying.
The qualifying round was played throughout 1970 and 1971 (group phase), and 1972 (quarter-finals). There were eight qualifying groups of four teams each, with matches played on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified for the quarter-finals, played in two legs, home and away. The winners of the quarter-finals went through to the final tournament.
| Brussels | Liège | |
|---|---|---|
| Heysel Stadium | Stade Émile Versé | Stade Maurice Dufrasne |
| Capacity: 75,000 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 35,000 |
| Antwerp | ||
| Bosuilstadion | ||
| Capacity: 60,000 | ||
See main article: UEFA Euro 1972 squads.
| Country | Referee | |
|---|---|---|
 Sweden | Johan Einar Boström | |
| East Germany | Rudi Glöckner | |
 Austria | Ferdinand Marschall | |
| Scotland | William Mullan |
See main article: UEFA Euro 1972 final tournament.
At the final tournament, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
All times are local, CET (UTC+1)
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See main article: UEFA Euro 1972 Final.