There was a slight change to the 1980 European Championship Finals - UEFA decided that eight rather than four teams would qualify.

From the two groups of four there would not be semi-finals but rather the group runners-up would meet in a play-off for third place, whilst the group winners competed for the trophy.

After disappointment in 1976, England qualified from their group to take their place in the tournament.

West Germany won Group A and took their place in the Final with ease, winning a repeat of the 1976 Final against Czechoslovakia   (1-0) before beating Holland 3-2.

The Germans' 0-0 draw with Greece meant that the winners of the Czechoslovakia v Holland match would go through into the third place play-off. In the event a 1-1 draw sent defending champions Czechoslovakia through. 

In Group B, England had been placed with Belgium, Italy and Spain in what looked to be a tough group. England had qualified in style for the Finals, were top of the qualifying statistics and were therefore rightly considered one of the favourites for the trophy.

However, a stuttering start saw England only draw 1-1 with Belgium after a brilliantly taken Ray Wilkins goal had been cancelled out by Jan Ceulemans.

The crucial game, therefore, was the match against Italy. Poor defending and sloppy passing meant that Italy outclassed England and took the match with Tardelli's goal ten minutes from time.

Belgium and Italy's 1-1 draw meant that England couldn't qualify, despite their winning 2-1 against Spain with goals from Trevor Brooking and Tony Woodcock.

In the Final, Germany took the initiative early on by taking the lead through Horst Hrubesch. Bernd Pfaff in the Belgian goal could only parry Muller's shot away for a corner but the Germans only had to wait another six minutes before they opened the scoring.

Bernd Schuster exchanged passes with Klaus Allofs before knocking the ball on to Hrubesch who took the ball on his chest and hit a sweet shot past Pfaff for a nicely taken goal.

At this stage Belgium were struggling to get into the match and if tuth be told they could have been one or two goals further behind when the half-time whistle went. 

Briegel went off injured early in the second half and with his departure, Germany started to look a little less confident in their midfield play.

With Belgian sensing that they could get back in the match, Stielike fouled van der Elst on the edge of the area, and though Jupp Derwall's players tried to convince the referee that the offence had taken place outside the area, the ref pointed to the spot.

René Van der Eycken duly equalised and suddenly a shock was on the cards.

Then, with extra time looming, the Germans came through once again, winning 2-1 through a second Hrubesch goal.

Top Scorers

Player

Country

No. Goals

Allofs

West Germany

3

Nehoda

Czechoslovakia

2

Hrubesch

West Germany

2


Tournament Statistics

1980 European Championship - Finals statistics
1980 European Championship - Qualifying statistics