The idea to hold a tournament between European teams appeared in 1927. At that time, it did not work out. After 30 years, UEFA returned to this idea and created the European Championship, or the Henri Delaunay Cup. The first draw took place in 1960. The final part was taken by France.
Regulations
Not all European teams supported the idea of holding EURO 1960. 13 out of 30 countries refused to participate in the tournament. Among them can be noted Italy, England, Germany, Belgium and Sweden. Football federations believed that the draw of the cup would prevent players from recovering after the season.
The other 17 UEFA countries participated in the draw for the 1/8 and 1/4 finals. She passed in early June 1958. 14 teams, including the USSR, began performances in 1/8. Ireland and Czechoslovakia held a classification duel.
In the 1/8 and 1/4 finals, two matches were held: at home and away. The semifinals and finals of EURO 1960 took place in France, as Henri Delon was chairman of the Football Federation of France.
Start
During the EURO-1960 draw there was no strictly regulated calendar - the national team leaders independently agreed on the venue and time. Qualification matches, which, in theory, should be held first, took place only on April 5 and May 10, 1959. Ireland won the first home match 2-0. The return game was held in Bratislava, the Czechs were able to score four unanswered goals and went on.
The debut game of EURO 1960 took place on September 28, 1958. The USSR-Hungary meeting was the first in the history of the European Cup. The match was held at the Luzhniki stadium.
1/8 finals
EURO-1960 football Russia (USSR team) began with a home match against the Hungarians. 100,000 fans came to the duel. The first goal of the match (and the history of the European Championship) was scored in the 4th minute by Soviet footballer Anatoly Ilyin. At EURO 1960 in football, the USSR became the first in everything. Vyacheslav Metreveli soon increased the score, and Valentin Ivanov made the score devastating. The Hungarians were able to answer with only one ball in the 84th minute.
The return match was a year later - September 27, 1959. Once again, luck sided with the Soviet team. Having minimally beaten the Hungarians, the USSR went to the quarter finals.
In the second pair, the French and Greeks came together. The first match took place in France. The completed “Park de Prens” saw eight goals, with seven of them scored by the hosts. The second leg ended with a score: 1: 1.
The first match between Romania and Turkey took place in Bucharest. The Romanians were stronger, scoring three unanswered goals. On April 26, 1959, a return meeting took place in Istanbul. Turkey won 2-0, but that was not enough. The Romanian team went to the quarterfinals.
The Norway-Austria couple played their first game in Oslo. With a minimum score, the Austrians managed to defeat. The second meeting took place in Vienna and ended with the score: 5: 2 in favor of Austria.
Yugoslavia and Bulgaria met in the 1/8 finals of the EURO 1960 football championship. The favorite in the pair was obvious. The first match was won by the Yugoslav national team with a score: 2: 0. The second ended in a draw (1: 1).
An interesting pair for EURO 1960 was the GDR-Portugal. The first match took place in Berlin, where the hosts lost (2: 2). In a guest meeting in Portugal, the Germans scored twice, but the victory remained with the owners (3: 2).
The outcome of the Spain-Poland pair was pretty obvious. Away Spaniards won (4: 2). Houses won 3-0 and went to the quarter finals.
In the final pair, Denmark played with the winner of the qualification round - Czechoslovakia. In Copenhagen, the winner could not be identified (2: 2). At home, the Czechs defeated the Danes in a big way (5: 1).
1/4 finals
The most anticipated match was the USSR-Spain. It was difficult to predict the winner in advance. But the fans were not destined to see exciting confrontations. The reason was the political relations between the two countries, which were strained in those years. Spain refused to visit the USSR, offering to hold matches in neutral territory. UEFA refused, penalizing the national team and ordering disqualification. Thus, the USSR went to the semifinal of EURO 1960.
France in a pair went to Austria. The French won both matches. The first ended with a score: 5: 2, the second - 2: 4.
Portugal opposed Yugoslavia. The Portuguese hardly won the first match with a score: 2: 1. The second meeting, held in Belgrade, ended with the defeat of Portugal (5: 1).
The last couple met Romania and Czechoslovakia. Being in the rank of a favorite, the Czechs confidently won two matches - (0: 2) and (3: 0).
Semifinal
At the end of May 1960, the draw for the semi-finals took place. Czechoslovakia went to the opponents of the USSR. France played with Yugoslavia.
The match with the participation of the Soviet team was held at the Velodrom arena. Without much effort, domestic football players beat the Czechs. Ivanov scored the first goal, in the second half he doubled the result, and Victor Monday put an end to the match.
In the second match, France was considered the favorite, despite the absence of several key players. Yugoslavs led 1-0, but immediately missed. The French prevailed in the game and by the 53rd minute they were leading 1: 4. At the 55th minute, the guests scored the second, but this was clearly not enough. And then the incredible happened. Between the 75th and 79th minutes, the Yugoslavs checked in three times and reached the final.
3rd place match
Frustrated by the loss, France very uncertainly held the final duel against the Czechs. Dissatisfied fans booed their team for any mistake. The result was a victory for Czechoslovakia with a score: 2: 0.
The final
The USSR-Yugoslavia match was held in a wet field, in the rain. In general, the game turned out to be equal. At first, the Yugoslavs looked better. In the 43rd minute, Galich put the team ahead. Soviet footballers were able to answer already in the 49th minute. The second half was held under pressure from the USSR. It was not possible to identify the winner in regular time. Only in the 113th minute, Victor Monday scored the second goal. The USSR national team won EURO-1960, thanks to the persistence of the players and their attendant luck.