The1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourthUEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed byUEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972.
Only four countries played in the final tournament, with the tournament consisting of the semi-finals, athird place play-off, and the final.
The hosts were only announced after the qualifying round, which meant all teams had to participate in the qualification process for the final stage.[1] Belgium was chosen among three candidates; the other bids came from England and Italy,[2] whose teams did not reach the semi-finals.
The qualifying round was played throughout 1970 and 1971 (group phase), and 1972 (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 went through to the final tournament.
