1976 UEFA European Under-23 Championship

1976 UEFA European Under 23 Championship

Tournament details
Teams	23 (from 1 confederation)
Defending champions	Hungary U23's
Final positions
Champions	Soviet Union U23's (1st title)
Runner-up	Hungary U23's
Semifinalists	Yugoslavia U23's Netherlands U23's
Tournament statistics
Matches played	58
Goals scored	173 (2.98 per match)

The 1976 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years (1974–76) had 23 entrants. Soviet Union U-23 won the competition.

The 23 national teams were divided into eight groups (seven groups of 3 + one group of 2). The group winners played off against each other on a two-legged home-and-away basis until the winner was decided. There was no finals tournament or 3rd-place playoff.

Qualifying stage

Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

• Group 1 did not include Cyprus
• Group 2 did not include Wales
• Group 3 did not include Northern Ireland
• Group 4 did not include Spain
• Group 5 did not include Poland (moved to Group 8)
• Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland and Switzerland
• Group 7 did not include Iceland
• Group 8 did not include West Germany and Malta, but included Poland (moved from Group 5)

Qualifying Group 1 P W D L F A Pts 1 England 4 3 1 0 9 4 7 2 Portugal 4 1 1 2 5 6 3 3 Czechoslovakia 4 0 2 2 3 7 2

England 3–1 Czechoslovakia Portugal 2–3 England Portugal 2–0 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia 1–1 England Czechoslovakia 1–1 Portugal England 2–0 Portugal England qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 2 P W D L F A Pts 1 Hungary 4 3 1 0 11 2 7 2 Austria 4 1 2 1 6 6 4 3 Luxembourg 4 0 1 3 2 11 1

Luxembourg 0–3 Hungary Luxembourg 1–3 Austria Austria 2–2 Hungary Hungary 2–0 Austria Austria 1–1 Luxembourg Hungary 4–0 Luxembourg Hungary qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 3 P W D L F A Pts 1 Yugoslavia 4 2 2 0 7 2 6 2 Sweden 4 2 1 1 6 6 5 3 Norway 4 0 1 3 1 6 1

Yugoslavia 2–0 Norway Sweden 1–1 Yugoslavia Norway 0–0 Yugoslavia Norway 0–2 Sweden Sweden 2–1 Norway Yugoslavia 4–1 Sweden Yugoslavia qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 4 P W D L F A Pts 1 Scotland 4 4 0 0 11 2 8 2 Romania 4 1 1 2 8 9 3 3 Denmark 4 0 1 3 4 12 1

Romania 6–2 Denmark Denmark 1–1 Romania Romania 1–2 Scotland Denmark 0–1 Scotland Scotland 4–1 Denmark Scotland 4–0 Romania Scotland qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 5 P W D L F A Pts 1 Netherlands 4 3 1 0 10 3 7 2 Italy 4 2 1 1 9 6 5 3 Finland 4 0 0 4 2 12 0

Netherlands 3–0 Finland Netherlands 3–2 Italy Italy 3–0 Finland Finland 0–3 Netherlands Finland 2–3 Italy Italy 1–1 Netherlands Netherlands qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 6 P W D L F A Pts 1 Soviet Union 2 1 0 1 4 2 2 2 Turkey 2 1 0 1 2 4 2

Turkey 2–1 Soviet Union Soviet Union 3–0 Turkey Soviet Union qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 7 P W D L F A Pts 1 France 4 2 1 1 6 5 5 2 East Germany 4 1 2 1 4 4 4 3 Belgium 4 1 1 2 4 5 3

France 1–0 Belgium East Germany 1–1 France Belgium 0–0 East Germany East Germany 1–2 Belgium France 1–2 East Germany Belgium 2–3 France France qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 8 P W D L F A Pts 1 Bulgaria 4 3 0 1 6 3 6 2 Poland 4 2 0 2 7 5 4 3 Greece 4 1 0 3 4 9 2

Greece 0–2 Bulgaria Bulgaria 2–1 Greece Poland 2–1 Bulgaria Poland 4–1 Greece Greece 2–1 Poland Bulgaria 1–0 Poland Bulgaria qualify as group winners

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals Netherlands 2–0 Scotland Scotland 2–0 Netherlands 2–2: Netherlands win 4–3 on penalties Hungary 3–0 England England 3–1 Hungary Hungary win 4–3 on aggregate France 2–1 Soviet Union Soviet Union 2–1 France 3–3: Soviet Union win 4–2 on penalties Bulgaria 2–3 Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 2–1 Bulgaria Yugoslavia win 5–3 on aggregate

Semi-finals Hungary 3–2 Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 1–1 Hungary Hungary win 4–3 on aggregate Soviet Union 3–0 Netherlands Netherlands 1–0 Soviet Union Soviet Union win 3–1 on aggregate

Final Hungary 1–1 Soviet Union Soviet Union 2–1 Hungary Soviet Union win 3–2 on aggregate Soviet Union finish as Champions

See also

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship

External links

• Results Archive at uefa.com
• RSSSF Results Archive at rsssf.com