1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship

1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship
Tournament details
Teams	23 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Czechoslovakia (1st title)
Runners-up	Soviet Union
Tournament statistics
Matches played	63
Goals scored	162 (2.57 per match)
	1974 →

The 1972 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years (1970–72) had 23 entrants. Czechoslovakia U-23 won the competition.

The 23 national teams were divided into eight groups. 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 1972 qualifying tournament with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

Group 2 and 8 had the same competing nations
Group 1 did not include Wales
Group 3 did not include England and Malta
Group 4 did not include Northern Ireland and Cyprus
Group 5 did not include Belgium and Scotland
Group 6 did not include Republic of Ireland
Group 7 did not include Luxembourg

Group 1

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	4	2	2	0	8	4	6
2	Romania	4	2	1	1	5	3	5
3	Finland	4	0	1	3	4	10	1

Finland 1–1 Czechoslovakia Finland 0–1 Romania Romania 1–1 Czechoslovakia	Czechoslovakia 5–2 Finland Romania 3–1 Finland Czechoslovakia 1–0 Romania
Czechoslovakia qualify as group winners

Group 2

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Bulgaria	6	4	1	1	9	3	9
2	Hungary	6	3	1	2	9	3	7
3	Norway	6	1	3	2	6	13	5
4	France	6	0	3	3	5	10	3

Norway 1–0 Hungary France 0–0 Norway Bulgaria 5–0 Norway France 1–1 Hungary Bulgaria 1–0 Hungary Norway 1–1 Bulgaria	Norway 4–4 France Hungary 2–0 Bulgaria Hungary 3–0 France Hungary 3–0 Norway Bulgaria 1–0 France France 0–1 Bulgaria
Bulgaria qualify as group winners

Group 3

Qualifying Group 3		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Greece	2	2	0	0	3	0	4
2	Switzerland	2	0	0	2	0	3	0

Greece 1–0 Switzerland	Switzerland 0–2 Greece
Greece qualify as group winners

Group 4

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Soviet Union	2	1	1	0	3	2	3
2	Spain	2	0	1	1	2	3	1

Soviet Union qualify as group winners

30 May 1971

Spain	1–2	Soviet Union
Sergio 12'	Report	Onyshchenko 7' Gershkovich 60'

La Rosaleda, Málaga

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: René Vigliani (France)

27 October 1971

Soviet Union	1–1	Spain
Dolbonosov 8' Piskaryov 48'	Report	Aguilar 12'

Shakhtar, Donetsk

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Mario Clematide (Switzerland)

Group 5

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Denmark	2	1	1	0	3	2	3
2	Portugal	2	0	1	1	2	3	1

Portugal 1–1 Denmark	Denmark 2–1 Portugal
Denmark qualify as group winners

Group 6

		P	W	L	F	A	Pts
1	Sweden	4	3	1	8	2	6
2	Italy	4	2	2	6	7	4
3	Austria	4	1	3	3	8	2

Italy 3–1 Austria Sweden 2–0 Austria Italy 1–0 Sweden	Austria 0–2 Sweden Sweden 4–1 Italy Austria 2–1 Italy
Sweden qualify as group winners

Group 7

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Netherlands	4	2	1	1	9	7	5
2	Yugoslavia	4	2	1	1	7	7	5
3	East Germany	4	1	0	3	5	7	2

Netherlands 5–2 Yugoslavia East Germany 3–1 Netherlands Yugoslavia 1–1 Netherlands	East Germany 0–1 Yugoslavia Netherlands 2–1 East Germany Yugoslavia 3–1 East Germany
Netherlands qualify as group winners

Group 8

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	West Germany	6	5	1	0	11	1	11
2	Poland	6	2	3	1	7	4	7
3	Albania	6	0	3	3	2	7	3
4	Turkey	6	0	3	3	0	8	3

Albania 1–1 Poland Turkey 0–2 West Germany Turkey 0–0 Albania Albania 0–2 West Germany West Germany 3–0 Turkey Poland 2–1 Albania	West Germany 2–0 Albania Turkey 0–0 Poland Poland 1–1 West Germany Albania 0–0 Turkey West Germany 1–0 Poland Poland 3–0 Turkey
West Germany qualify as group winners

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Finals

Bulgaria (p)	2	0	2 (2)

Netherlands	2	0	2 (0)
				Czechoslovakia	2	1	3

				Greece	0	2	2
Denmark	2	0	2

Greece	0	5	5
								Soviet Union	2	1	3

								Czechoslovakia	2	3	5
Soviet Union	3	0	3

West Germany	1	0	1
				Soviet Union	4	3	7

				Bulgaria	0	3	3
Sweden	1	1	2

Czechoslovakia	0	3	3