The1960 European Nations' Cup was the inaugural tournament of theUEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised byUEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by theSoviet Union, who beatYugoslavia 2–1 inParis after extra time.
The tournament was a knockout competition, with just 17 teams entering. There were some notable absences, includingWest Germany,Italy,Netherlands andEngland, each of whom had voted against the creation of the tournament in 1957.[1] The entrants would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would then move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known.
In the quarter-finals,Spain, who were underFrancoist rule, refused to travel to theSoviet Union for political reasons. After a proposal to play the tie over one leg at a neutral venue were rejected by the Soviets,[2][3] Spain were disqualified: accordingly, three of the final four teams were fromcommunist countries: theUSSR,Czechoslovakia, andSFR Yugoslavia, to go with hosts France.
In the semi-finals, the Soviets made easy work of the Czechoslovaks inMarseille, beating them 3–0. The other match saw a nine-goal thriller as Yugoslavia came on top 5–4 after coming back from a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the French 2–0 for third place.
In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeperLev Yashin, equalised in the 49th minute. After 90 minutes the score was 1–1, andViktor Ponedelnik scored with seven minutes left in extra time to give the Soviets the inaugural European Championship.[4]
In all matches but the final,extra time and acoin toss were used to decide the winner if necessary. If the final remained level after extra time, areplay would be used to determine the winner.
^Murray, Scott (2 September 2011)."The Joy of Six: European Championship qualifiers".The Guardian. Retrieved1 December 2023.At a Uefa congress in 1957, a motion to set up a European championship was finally put to the floor. Predictably, the British associations acted like a petulant child, just as it had done three decades earlier with the World Cup. Fearing such a tournament would interfere with the Home Internationals, it abstained, though this time it was by no means the only offender: seven other countries voted against, including West Germany, Italy and Holland.
