1972 UEFA European Football Championship

Europees kampioenschap voetbal België 1972 (in Dutch) Championnat d'Europe de football Belgique 1972 (in French) Fußball-Europameisterschaft Belgien 1972 (in German)
Tournament details
Host country	Belgium
Dates	14–18 June
Teams	4
Venue(s)	4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	West Germany (1st title)
Runners-up	Soviet Union
Third place	Belgium
Fourth place	Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	10 (2.5 per match)
Attendance	121,880 (30,470 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Gerd Müller (4 goals)
← 1968 1976 →

The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. 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, a third 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.

West Germany won the tournament, beating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final, with goals coming from Gerd Müller (twice) and Herbert Wimmer at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.^[3]

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.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament[A]
Belgium (host)	Quarter-final winner	13 May 1972	0 (debut)
Soviet Union	Quarter-final winner	13 May 1972	3 (1960, 1964, 1968)
West Germany	Quarter-final winner	13 May 1972	0 (debut)
Hungary	Quarter-final winner	17 May 1972	1 (1964)

Brussels		Liège
Heysel Stadium	Stade Émile Versé	Stade Maurice Dufrasne
Capacity: 75,000	Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 35,000
Brussels Liège Antwerp		Antwerp
		Bosuilstadion
		Capacity: 60,000

Country	Referee
Sweden	Johan Einar Boström
East Germany	Rudi Glöckner
Austria	Ferdinand Marschall
Scotland	William Mullan

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)

	Semi-finals				Final
	14 June – Antwerp
	Belgium	1
					18 June – Brussels (Heysel)
	West Germany	2
					West Germany	3
	14 June – Brussels (Émile Versé)
					Soviet Union	0
	Hungary	0
	Soviet Union	1
					Third place play-off
					17 June – Liège
					Hungary	1
					Belgium	2

14 June 1972 (1972-06-14)

20:00

Hungary	0–1	Soviet Union
	Report	Konkov 53'

Stade Émile Versé, Brussels

Attendance: 1,659

Referee: Rudi Glöckner (East Germany)

14 June 1972 (1972-06-14)

20:00

Belgium	1–2	West Germany
Polleunis 83'	Report	Müller 24', 71'

Bosuilstadion, Antwerp

Attendance: 55,669

Referee: William Mullan (Scotland)

17 June 1972 (1972-06-17)

20:00

Hungary	1–2	Belgium
Kű 53' (pen.)	Report	Lambert 24' Van Himst 28'

Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège

Attendance: 6,184

Referee: Johan Einar Boström (Sweden)

18 June 1972 (1972-06-18)

16:00

West Germany	3–0	Soviet Union
Müller 27', 58' Wimmer 52'	Report

Heysel Stadium, Brussels

Attendance: 43,437

Referee: Ferdinand Marschall (Austria)

There were 10 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.

4 goals

1 goal

UEFA Team of the Tournament^[4]

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Yevhen Rudakov	Revaz Dzodzuashvili Murtaz Khurtsilava Franz Beckenbauer Paul Breitner	Uli Hoeneß Günter Netzer Herbert Wimmer	Raoul Lambert Jupp Heynckes Gerd Müller

• UEFA Euro 1972 at UEFA.com