1972: European Nation's Cup in Belgium

The 1972's European Championship was a defining moment in the history of european football. West Germany qualified for the first time to the final phase, starting a long series of successful EURO's participations. At the same time, after 20 years of great players, Hungary made his last apparition in a final phase.
West Germany was starting a tradition of european wins, while the hungarians were leaving the circle of the masters.

The competition was divided in two phases: the first one was a qualifying phase involving 32 teams and the second phase was a final tournament with the four qualified teams. The participant were divided into 8 groups with the winning teams competing for a spot in the final phase through knock-out matches with home-and-away games.

Soviet Union, Hungary, West Germany and Belgium qualified and Belgium was selected as the hosting country for the final event.

Qualifying Groups - Final standings
Group A
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 Romania Romania
6
9
4
1
1
11
2
+9
2 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
6
9
4
1
1
11
4
+7
3 Wales Wales
6
5
2
1
3
5
6
-1
4 Finland Finland
6
1
0
1
5
1
16
-15
Group B
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 Hungary Hungary
6
9
4
1
1
12
5
+8
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria
6
7
3
1
2
11
7
+4
3 France France
6
7
3
1
2
10
8
+2
4 Norway Norway
6
1
0
1
5
5
18
-13
Group C
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 England England
6
11
5
1
0
15
3
+12
2 Switzerland Switzerland
6
9
4
1
1
12
5
+7
3 Greece Greece
6
3
1
1
4
3
8
-5
4 Malta Malta
6
1
0
1
5
2
16
-14
Group D
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 Soviet Union Soviet Union
6
10
4
2
0
13
4
+9
2 Spain Spain
6
8
3
2
1
14
3
+11
3 Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
6
6
2
2
2
10
6
+4
  Cyprus Cyprus
6
0
0
0
6
2
26
-24
Group E
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 Belgium Belgium
6
9
4
1
1
11
3
+8
2 Portugal Portugal
6
7
3
1
2
10
6
+4
3 Scotland Scotland
6
6
3
0
3
4
7
-3
4 Denmark Denmark
6
2
1
0
5
2
11
-9
Group F
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 Italy Italy
6
10
4
2
0
12
4
+8
2 Austria Austria
6
7
3
1
2
14
6
+8
3 Sweden Sweden
6
6
2
2
2
3
5
-2
4 Ireland Republic of Ireland
6
1
0
01
5
3
17
-14
Group G
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
6
9
3
3
0
7
2
+5
2 Netherlands Netherlands
6
7
3
1
2
18
6
+12
3 East Germany East Germany
6
7
3
1
2
11
6
+5
4 Luxembourg Luxembourg
6
1
0
1
5
1
23
-22
Group H
§ Team
M
P
W
D
L
GM/GT
+/-
1 West Germany West Germany
6
10
4
2
0
10
2
+8
2 Poland Poland
6
6
2
2
2
10
6
+4
3 Turkey Turkey
6
5
2
1
3
5
13
-8
4 Albania Albania
6
3
1
1
4
5
9
-4
Knock-out Round
Date
Match
Result
 
29.04.1972 Italy Italy Belgium Belgium
0
0
13.05.1972 Belgium Belgium Italy Italy
2
1
29.04.1972 England England West Germany West Germany
1
3
13.05.1972 West Germany West Germany England England
0
0
29.04.1972 Hungary Hungary Romania Romania
1
1
14.05.1972 Romania Romania Hungary Hungary
2
2
17.05.1972 Hungary Hungary Romania Romania
2
1
30.04.1972 Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Soviet Union Soviet Union
0
0
13.05.1972 Soviet Union Soviet Union Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
3
0
 

 

Notable players of eliminated teams

Italy Enrico Albertosi

Italy R. Boninsegna

Italy Fabio Capello

Italy Giacinto Facchetti

Italy Gigi Riva

Italy Gianni Rivera

Italy Sandro Mazzola

Yugoslavia Dragan Džajić

Yugoslavia Ilija Petković

Yugoslavia Dragan Holcer

Yugoslavia Vahidin Musemić

Yugoslavia Zoran Filipović

England Bobby Moore

England Geoff Hurst

playersEngland Martin Peters

playersSpain Amancio Amaro

playersSpain Luis Aragones

playersNetherlands Johan Neeskens

playersNetherlands Johan Cruijff

playersPortugal Eusebio

playersPortugal António Simões

playersPoland Włodek Lubański

playersPoland Robert Gadocha

Romania Nicolae Dobrin

Romania A. Iordănescu

Austria Robert Sara

Austria Thomas Parits

playersNorthern Ireland George Best

playersSwitzerland Karl Odermatt

playersBulgaria Hristo Bonev

playersCzechoslovakia Ladislav Kuna

Norway Odd Iversen

Wales Ron Davies