Euro 1980

The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 1980) final tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between June 11 and June 22, 1980.

Qualification

The following teams participated in the final tournament:

• Belgium
• Czechoslovakia
• England
• Greece
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Spain
• West Germany

Italy automatically qualified for the tournament as hosts

For details concerning the qualifying phase see, 1980 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying.

Overview

This was the first European Championship in which eight teams, rather than four, contested the final tournament. Seven of these countries had to qualify for the final stage. Also for the first time, the hosts, in this case Italy, qualified automatically for the finals. This was the first time in the history of the tournament that all matches were played in one country.

Because of the expanded format, the final tournament went through some changes as well. Two groups of four teams each were created; each team would play all others within their group. The winners of the groups would go straight to the final (there were no semi-finals), while the runners-up disputed the third place match.

The tournament generally failed to draw much enthusiasm from spectators and TV viewers. Attendance was generally poor except for Italy matches. The defensive style of play of many teams led to a succession of dull matches. Hooliganism, already a rising problem in the 1970s, made headlines again at the first-round match between England and Belgium where riot police had to use tear gas, delaying the start of play. The only bright spots were the emergence of a new generation of talented West German stars such as Hans-Peter Briegel, Horst Hrubesch, Hansi Müller and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and the inspired performance of offensively-minded Belgium (around rising stars such as Jan Ceulemans, Eric Gerets, Jean-Marie Pfaff, and Erwin Vandenbergh) who unexpectedly reached the final, only losing to West Germany (1-2) by a Hrubesch goal two minutes before time.

Venues

• Stadio Olimpico, Rome - Capacity: 86,500
• San Siro, Milan - Capacity: 85,700
• Stadio San Paolo, Naples - Capacity: 72,800
• Stadio Comunale, Turin - Capacity: 50,000

First round

All times local (Central European Time)
Half-time scores are in brackets

Group A

June 11, 1980

Czechoslovakia - West Germany 0-1 (0-0)
Rummenigge 57'

Netherlands - Greece 1-0 (0-0)
Kist (p) 65'

June 14, 1980

West Germany - Netherlands 3-2 (1-0)

Allofs 20', 60', 65'
Rep (p) 79', van de Kerkhof 85'

Greece - Czechoslovakia 1-3 (1-2)

Anastopoulos 14'
Panenka 6', Vízek 26', Nehoda 63'