The1964 European Championship was the second edition of theUEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by thehosts 2–1 over the defending champions, theSoviet Union.[1]
The tournament was a knockout competition; 29 teams entered (Greece withdrew after the draw after refusing to playAlbania). The Soviet Union,Austria andLuxembourg received byes to the round of 16. The teams played home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known.
Luxembourg proved to be the giant-killers of the qualifying rounds; they beat theNetherlands 3–2 on aggregate (1–1 and 2–1), and then drew withDenmark 3–3 and 2–2, before losing the replay 1–0. Denmark thus became the most surprising of the qualifiers for the final tournament, joining the Soviet Union, Spain, and Hungary. In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union defeated the Danes 3–0 inBarcelona, and Spain beat Hungary 2–1 in extra time inMadrid, the winning goal being scored byAmancio. This set up a showdown between Spain and the Soviet Union in the final, onlyfour years after Spain had been disqualified for refusing to travel to Moscow to play the Soviet Union. On this occasion – and with the championship of Europe on the line –General Franco let his team play the Soviets. In front of more than 79,000 people, including Franco himself, at theSantiago Bernabéu in Madrid, the hosts won 2–1 after a late goal fromMarcelino.[2]
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.
