# 1964 European Nations' Cup

The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union.
The tournament was a knockout competition; 29 teams entered (Greece withdrew after the draw after refusing to play Albania). The Soviet Union, Austria and Luxembourg 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 the Netherlands 3–2 on aggregate (1–1 and 2–1), and then drew with Denmark 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 in Barcelona, and Spain beat Hungary 2–1 in extra time in Madrid, the winning goal being scored by Amancio. This set up a showdown between Spain and the Soviet Union in the final, only four 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 the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, the hosts won 2–1 after a late goal from Marcelino.

## Qualified teams

| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Denmark | Quarter-final winner | 18 December 1963 | 0 (debut) |
| Spain (host) | Quarter-final winner | 8 April 1964 | 0 (debut) |
| Hungary | Quarter-final winner | 23 May 1964 | 0 (debut) |
| Soviet Union | Quarter-final winner | 27 May 1964 | 1 (1960) |
* ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year.

## Venues

| MadridBarcelona | Madrid | Barcelona |
| MadridBarcelona | Santiago Bernabéu | Camp Nou |
| MadridBarcelona | Capacity: 80,000 | Capacity: 105,000 |

## Match officials

| Country | Referee | Matches refereed |
| Belgium | Arthur Blavier | Semi-final: Spain 2–1 Hungary |
| England | Arthur Holland | Final: Spain 2–1 Soviet Union |
| Italy | Concetto Lo Bello | Semi-final: Denmark 0–3 Soviet Union |
| Switzerland | Daniel Mellet | Third place play-off: Hungary 3–1 Denmark |

## Final tournament

In all matches but the final, extra time and a coin toss were used to decide the winner if necessary. If the final remained level after extra time, a replay would be used to determine the winner.
All times are local, CET (UTC+1).

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 17 June – Real Madrid | 17 June – Real Madrid |
| Spain (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| Spain (a.e.t.) | 2 | 21 June – Madrid | 21 June – Madrid |
| Hungary | 1 | 21 June – Madrid | 21 June – Madrid |
| Hungary | 1 | Spain | 2 |
| 17 June – Barcelona | 17 June – Barcelona | | Spain | 2 |
| 17 June – Barcelona | 17 June – Barcelona | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Denmark | 0 | Soviet Union | 1 |
| Soviet Union | 3 | | |
| Soviet Union | 3 | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| | | 20 June – Barcelona | 20 June – Barcelona |
| | | Hungary (a.e.t.) | 3 |
| | | Denmark | 1 |

### Final
## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 13 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 3.25 goals per match.
2 goals
* Ferenc Bene
* Dezső Novák
* Chus Pereda
1 goal
* Carl Bertelsen
* Valentin Ivanov
* Galimzyan Khusainov
* Viktor Ponedelnik
* Valery Voronin
* Amancio Amaro
* Marcelino

### Awards
#### UEFA Team of the Tournament

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Lev Yashin | Dezső Novák Ferran Olivella Feliciano Rivilla Ignacio Zoco | Valentin Ivanov Amancio Amaro Luis Suárez | Flórián Albert Ferenc Bene Chus Pereda |