1968 Italy

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Italy 1968

The third year of the Championship was renamed from European Nations Cup to European Championship.

The qualifying round was also altered from a knockout format to a group phase, which consists of 31 teams, divided into seven groups. Six groups has four teams and one with three. The group winner will go through to the quarter finals. Group Eight is the British Home Nation Group consisting England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The group winner is determined by combining the results of the 1966-1967 and 1967-1968 British Home Championships, which saw England going through.

Out of luck for The Soviets and Yugoslavia

The qualifying round, saw the holders Spain losing out to England 3-1, while 1960 Winners and 1964 Runners-Up, The Soviet Union beating 1964 Third place Hungary. Hungary won 2-0 in Budapest, only to be overturned in Moscow, as they lost 3-0. The other two teams to join them were Yugoslavia, and hosts Italy

This would be The Soviets third appearance in the competition, and proves to be their most unsucessful, as they failed to score a single goal in both matches. After a 0-0 draw against Italy, the teams fate was determined by a toss of a coin, which they lost, while Yugoslavia beat World Champions England, by a late strike. The final saw a 1-1 draw, between Yugoslaiva and Italy, with the Italians winning the reply 2-0. Surprisingly, both finals that Yugoslavia played (the other being in 1960), they managed to score first, drew after 90 minutes, and lost afterwards. England took thrid place