For the 1968 tournament the 'European Nations Cup' became the 'European Football Championship' and 31 teams entered with the Finals held in Italy.

In qualifying there were few surprises and the quarter-final line-up to determine the four qualifiers was strong. Hosts Italy qualified by beating Bulgaria 2-0 at home after losing in Sofia 3-2, whilst Yugoslavia brushed aside France 5-1 after drawing the away leg.

The USSR lost 2-0 away to a strong Hungarian side but overturned that deficit at home, scoring three times without reply.

England, the reigning World Champions, beat Spain home and away and qualified for their first ever European Championship Finals. With the same squad that had won the World Cup, hopes were high that the Three Lions could win a second successive major championship.

The semi-finals, then, saw hosts Italy defeat the Soviet Union, remarkably on the toss of a coin, whilst England were drawn to play Yugoslavia in Florence.

Four days after losing by the only goal to West Germany in a Hanover friendly, England went down by the same margin again when Dzajic scored four minutes from time.

In a match littered with fouls, neither goalkeeper had much to do in the first half. After a slow start, England pressed but couldn't find a way through.

Yugoslavia looked dangerous in rare breakaways. Never more so than in the opening minutes of the second half when twice they were within inches of scoring. England hit back and a Bobby Charlton shot was only a foot over the bar. Then Charlton shot into the side-netting when a pass from Alan Ball had put him clear of the Yugoslav defence.

With four minutes to go and England piling on the pressure, Yugoslavia broke from defence to score the only goal of the game. Dzajic chested down a centre from Petkovic and drove it past Gordon Banks into the roof of the net. One minute from the end, Alan Mullery was sent off for retaliating after receiving a kick from Trivic.

Yugoslavia completely dominated the Rome showpiece and took the lead through Dzajic five minutes before the interval. However, they were ultimately punished for having not beaten Zoff for a second time as Domenghini, with a free-kick, equalised nine minutes from time.

Italy made five changed for the replay just two days later and strolled past a tired Yugoslav side, scoring two first-half goals in a 2-0 win.

England beat the USSR 2-0 to claim third place in a match which saw Tommy Wright win his first full cap at right-back. After the Russians had controlled most of the first twenty minutes, England went into the lead through Charlton, when he thundered a pass from Geoff Hurst into the net.

Banks then made a wonderful save from a Logofet header before England scored again through Hurst. Martin Peters' shot was blocked and the ball rebounded to Hurst who dribbled it past Pshenichnikov.

Related Links

1968 European Championship - Finals statistics
1968 European Championship - Qualifying statistics