The qualifying round for the 1968 UEFA European Championship consisted of 31 teams divided into eight groups; seven of four teams and one of three teams. Each group winner progressed to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis. The winners of the quarter-finals would go through, to the final tournament.

UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
Tournament details
Dates7 September 1966 – 11 May 1968
Teams31
Tournament statistics
Matches played98[note 1]
Goals scored306 (3.12 per match)[note 1]
Top scorer(s)Hungary János Farkas
Italy Gigi Riva
(6 goals each)
1964
1972

Qualified teams

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  Qualified
  Did not qualify
  Did not enter
  Not a UEFA member
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[A]
  Italy (host) Quarter-final winner 20 April 1968 0 (debut)
  Yugoslavia Quarter-final winner 24 April 1968 1 (1960)
  England Quarter-final winner 8 May 1968 0 (debut)
  Soviet Union Quarter-final winner 11 May 1968 2 (1960, 1964)
  1. ^ Bold indicates champion for that year.

Summary

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  Group winners advanced to the quarter-finals (second round)
  Other teams were eliminated after the qualifying group stage
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8
 
Spain
 
Bulgaria
 
Soviet Union
 
Yugoslavia
 
Hungary
 
Italy
 
France
 
England
 
Czechoslovakia
 
Republic of Ireland
 
Turkey
 
Portugal
 
Sweden
 
Norway
 
Greece
 
Austria
 
Finland
 
West Germany
 
Albania
 
East Germany
 
Netherlands
 
Denmark
 
Romania
 
Switzerland
 
Cyprus
 
Belgium
 
Poland
 
Luxembourg
 
Scotland
 
Wales
 
Northern Ireland

Tiebreakers

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If two or more teams finished level on points after completion of the group matches, the following tie-breakers were used to determine the final ranking:

  1. Greater number of points in all group matches
  2. Goal difference in all group matches
  3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  4. Drawing of lots

Groups

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Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Spain 6 3 2 1 6 2 +4 8 Advance to quarter-finals 2–1 2–0 2–0
2   Czechoslovakia 6 3 1 2 8 4 +4 7 1–0 1–2 3–0
3   Republic of Ireland 6 2 1 3 5 8 −3 5 0–0 0–2 2–1
4   Turkey 6 1 2 3 3 8 −5 4 0–0 0–0 2–1
Source: UEFA

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Bulgaria 6 4 2 0 10 2 +8 10 Advance to quarter-finals 1–0 3–0 4–2
2   Portugal 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 6 0–0 1–2 2–1
3   Sweden 6 2 1 3 9 12 −3 5 0–2 1–1 5–2
4   Norway 6 1 1 4 9 14 −5 3 0–0 1–2 3–1
Source: UEFA

Group 3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Soviet Union 6 5 0 1 16 6 +10 10 Advance to quarter-finals 4–0 4–3 2–0
2   Greece 5 2 1 2 7 8 −1 5 0–1 4–1 2–1
3   Austria 5 2 1 2 7 9 −2 5 1–0 Void[a] 2–1
4   Finland 6 0 2 4 5 12 −7 2 2–5 1–1 0–0
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ The Austria v Greece match was abandoned in the 86th minute at 1–1 due to a crowd disturbance and declared void.[1]

Group 4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification      
1   Yugoslavia 4 3 0 1 8 3 +5 6 Advance to quarter-finals 1–0 4–0
2   West Germany 4 2 1 1 9 2 +7 5 3–1 6–0
3   Albania 4 0 1 3 0 12 −12 1 0–2 0–0
Source: UEFA

Group 5

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Hungary 6 4 1 1 15 5 +10 9 Advance to quarter-finals 3–1 2–1 6–0
2   East Germany 6 3 1 2 10 10 0 7 1–0 4–3 3–2
3   Netherlands 6 2 1 3 11 11 0 5 2–2 1–0 2–0
4   Denmark 6 1 1 4 6 16 −10 3 0–2 1–1 3–2
Source: UEFA

Group 6

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   Italy 6 5 1 0 17 3 +14 11 Advance to quarter-finals 3–1 4–0 5–0
2   Romania 6 3 0 3 18 14 +4 6 0–1 4–2 7–0
3    Switzerland 6 2 1 3 17 13 +4 5 2–2 7–1 5–0
4   Cyprus 6 1 0 5 3 25 −22 2 0–2 1–5 2–1
Source: UEFA

Group 7

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   France 6 4 1 1 14 6 +8 9 Advance to quarter-finals 1–1 2–1 3–1
2   Belgium 6 3 1 2 14 9 +5 7 2–1 2–4 3–0
3   Poland 6 3 1 2 13 9 +4 7 1–4 3–1 4–0
4   Luxembourg 6 0 1 5 1 18 −17 1 0–3 0–5 0–0
Source: UEFA

Group 8

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Group 8's results were formed by combining the results of the 1966–67 and 1967–68 editions of the British Home Championship.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification        
1   England 6 4 1 1 15 5 +10 9 Advance to quarter-finals 2–3 5–1 2–0
2   Scotland 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 8 1–1 3–2 2–1
3   Wales 6 1 2 3 6 12 −6 4 0–3 1–1 2–0
4   Northern Ireland 6 1 1 4 2 8 −6 3 0–2 1–0 0–0
Source: UEFA

Quarter-finals

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bulgaria   3–4   Italy 3–2 0–2
Hungary   2–3   Soviet Union 2–0 0–3
England   3–1   Spain 1–0 2–1
France   2–6   Yugoslavia 1–1 1–5

Goalscorers

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There were 306 goals scored in 98 matches, for an average of 3.12 goals per match.[note 1]

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e The matches/goals tally takes into account fixtures that were subsequently annulled.

References

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  1. ^ Stokkermans, Karel; Tabeira, Martín (7 February 2007). "European Championship 1968". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
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