The Italian national team convincingly won the Euro 1968 championship after defeating Yugoslavia with a final score of 2-0 in a dramatic and tense final at Stadio Olimpico, Rome. This historic victory marked an important milestone in the history of Italian football and ushered in a golden era for Azzurri.
The Euro 1968 final between Italy and Yugoslavia was tense and determined from the first few minutes. Both teams entered the match with high determination, ready to fight to the end for the championship. However, it was the Italian players with their technical and clever play that began to take control of the field.
The turning point of the match came in the 39th minute when Dragan Džajić of Yugoslavia scored the opening goal. However, Yugoslavia’s joy did not last long. With ten minutes remaining in the match, Giovanni Lodetti was fouled by Blagoje Paunović on the edge of the Yugoslav penalty area. The subsequent direct free kick by Domenghini with his right foot went through the wall, past Ilija Pantelić, the Yugoslav goalkeeper, and equalized the score at 1–1. Extra time did not change the score and the match ended in a draw, so the result of the final had to be determined by a replay.
The replay match took place two days later at Stadio Olimpico in front of 32,866 spectators. Gigi Riva opened the scoring for Italy in the 13th minute before Pietro Anastasi tapped and volleyed into the corner of the Yugoslav goal to double Italy’s lead in the 31st minute. Italy missed several scoring opportunities thereafter and the match ended with a score of 2–0, with Italy convincingly won their first European championship.
The victory at Euro 1968 marked the beginning of a glorious era of success for Italian football. Later, Azzurri continued to reap many more major titles, including the World Cup 1982, 2006 and Euro 2021. Euro 1968 remains a lifetime tournament in the hearts of Italian fans and the historic victory over Yugoslavia is sure to be remembered as a bright milestone in the history of Azzurri.
UEFA Euro 1960 to 2021 with 16 tournaments and 10 champion countries.
Germany won the Euro 3 times (1972 – 1980 – 1996)
Spain won the Euro 3 times (1964 – 2008 – 2012)
France won the Euro 2 times (1984 – 2000)
Italy won the Euro 2 times (1968 – 2020)
Soviet Union won the Euro in 1960
Czechoslovakia won the Euro in 1976
Netherlands won the Euro in 1988
Denmark won the Euro in 1992
Greece won the Euro in 2004
Portugal won the Euro in 2016
With the participation of the strongest European teams according to the FIFA ranking as of 15/02/2024 such as France (2) – England (3) – Belgium (4) – Netherlands (6) – Portugal (7) – Spain (8) – Italy (9) – Croatia (10) and bright stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku to promising young talents, Euro 2024 promises to bring high-level and dramatic matches.
EURO 2024 will take place in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024 in 10 cities in Germany with 24 participating teams. The teams are divided into 6 groups to select the first and second teams in each group, and the 4 teams ranked third with the best performance to win the ticket to the knock-out round. The opening match is held on June 14 between hosts Germany and Scotland.
Detailed EURO 2024 groups:
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
Group C: England, Denmark, Serbia, Slovenia
Group D: Poland, France, Netherlands, Austria
Group E: Slovakia, Romania, Belgium, Ukraine
Group F: Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, Georgia
