The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA and the first and only tournament that was held in a socialist state. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976.
Only four countries played in the final tournament, with the tournament consisting of the semi-finals, a third place play-off, and the final. This was the last tournament to have this format, as the tournament was expanded to include eight teams four years later. It was the only time that all four matches in the final tournament were decided after extra time, either on penalties or by goals scored. This was also the last tournament in which the hosts had to qualify for the final stage.
Czechoslovakia won the tournament after defeating holders West Germany in the final on penalties following a 2–2 draw after extra time. Antonín Panenka gained fame for his delicately chipped penalty, which has since been named after him, to win the penalty shootout and Czechoslovakia's only European Championship title.[1]
The qualifying round was played in 1974, 1975 (group phase), and 1976 (quarter-finals). There were eight qualifying groups of four teams each, with matches played on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified for the quarter-finals, played in two legs, home and away. The winners of the quarter-finals would go through to the final tournament.
This was the first time the Soviet Union failed to qualify for the finals.
At the final tournament, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
All times are local, CET (UTC+1).
There were 19 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 4.75 goals per match.
4 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Anton Ondruš (against Netherlands)
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