Officially called European Nation's Cup, the 1960's tournament was the first official UEFA competition for national teams.

The competition was divided in two stages: a first one with qualifying knockout matches with home-and-away games, and a second and final one involving only four qualified teams. Only 17 national teams participate at the first edition with the notable absences of West Germany, Italy and England.

During the knockout rounds, Spain refused, for political reason, to play their assigned game in Soviet Union and abandoned the competition.

Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, France and Czechoslovakia reached the final stage, and France was selected as the hosting country of the final event.