1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Tournament details
Dates8 March – 31 May
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions Yugoslavia (1st title)
Runners-up East Germany
Tournament statistics
Matches played62
Goals scored199 (3.21 per match)
Top scorer(s)Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vahid Halilhodžić (6 goals)
Best player(s)Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vahid Halilhodžić[1]
1980 →

The 1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1976–78) had 24 entrants. Yugoslavia U-21s won the competition.[2]

The 24 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.[citation needed]

Qualifying stage

Draw

The allocation of teams into qualifying groups was based on that of 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

  • Group 1 did not include Portugal (moved to Group 2) and Cyprus, but included Sweden (moved from Group 6)
  • Group 2 did not include England and Finland (both moved to Group 5), but included Portugal (moved from Group 1)
  • Group 3 did not include Malta
  • Group 4 did not include Netherlands, Northern Ireland and Iceland, but included France and Bulgaria (both moved from Group 5)
  • Group 5 composed of England and Finland (both moved from Group 2) and Norway (moved from Group 6)
  • Group 6 (based on World Cup qualifying Group 7) did not include Wales, but included Switzerland (moved from World Cup Group 6)
  • Groups 7 and 8 included the same teams as World Cup qualifying Groups 8 and 9 respectively
Legend
Group winners qualified for the knockout stage

Group 1

P W D L F A Pts
1  Denmark 4 2 1 1 10 5 5
2  Poland 4 2 0 2 7 10 4
3  Sweden 4 1 1 2 6 8 3
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
28 October 1976 Denmark  2–0  Sweden Copenhagen
30 April 1977 Denmark  6–2  Poland Slagelse
18 May 1977 Sweden  2–0  Poland Kalmar
16 June 1977 Sweden  2–2  Denmark Helsingborg
20 September 1977 Poland  1–0  Denmark Nowy Sącz
27 October 1977 Poland  4–2  Sweden Opole

Group 2

P W D L F A Pts
1  Italy 4 3 0 1 13 3 6
2  Portugal 4 3 0 1 7 5 6
3  Luxembourg 4 0 0 4 2 14 0
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
28 November 1976 Luxembourg  1–2  Portugal Esch-sur-Alzette
23 December 1976 Portugal  1–0  Italy Funchal
9 February 1977 Italy  4–0  Luxembourg Como
12 October 1977 Italy  4–1  Portugal Vicenza
29 October 1977 Portugal  3–0  Luxembourg Lisbon
12 November 1977 Luxembourg  1–5  Italy Esch-sur-Alzette

Group 3

Qualifying Group 3 P W D L F A Pts
1  East Germany 4 3 1 0 13 3 7
2  Turkey 4 1 2 1 5 8 4
3  Austria 4 0 1 3 5 12 1
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
16 November 1976 Turkey  1–1  East Germany Bursa
17 April 1977 Austria  2–2  Turkey Vienna
24 September 1977 Austria  1–6  East Germany Vienna
11 October 1977 East Germany  2–1  Austria Erfurt
29 October 1977 Turkey  2–1  Austria Manisa
15 November 1977 East Germany  4–0  Turkey Magdeburg

Group 4

P W D L F A Pts
1  Bulgaria 4 4 0 0 5 1 8
2  Belgium 4 1 1 2 3 4 3
3  France 4 0 1 3 3 6 1
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
3 September 1976 France  1–1  Belgium Amiens
10 October 1976 France  0–1  Bulgaria Le Havre
29 March 1977 Belgium  2–1  France Courtrai
1 June 1977 Belgium  0–1  Bulgaria Brussels
26 October 1977 Bulgaria  1–0  Belgium Burgas
15 November 1977 Bulgaria  2–1  France Stara Zagora

Group 5

P W D L F A Pts
1  England 4 4 0 0 17 2 8
2  Norway 4 2 0 2 6 9 4
3  Finland 4 0 0 4 2 14 0
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
27 October 1976 Finland  1–4  Norway Helsinki
26 May 1977 Finland  0–1  England Helsinki
1 June 1977 Norway  1–2  England Bergen
17 August 1977 Norway  1–0  Finland Grue
6 September 1977 England  6–0  Norway Brighton
12 October 1977 England  8–1  Finland Hull

Group 6

P W D L F A Pts
1  Czechoslovakia 4 2 1 1 7 2 5
2  Scotland 4 2 1 1 5 4 5
3   Switzerland 4 1 0 3 3 9 2
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
12 October 1976 Czechoslovakia  0–0  Scotland Plzeň
30 March 1977 Switzerland  2–0  Scotland Bern
24 May 1977 Czechoslovakia  4–0   Switzerland České Budějovice
7 September 1977 Scotland  3–1   Switzerland Glasgow
20 September 1977 Scotland  2–1  Czechoslovakia Edinburgh
5 October 1977 Switzerland  0–2  Czechoslovakia Zürich

Group 7

P W D L F A Pts
1  Yugoslavia 4 3 0 1 9 3 6
2  Spain 4 2 0 2 5 8 4
3  Romania 4 1 0 3 5 8 2
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
9 October 1976 Yugoslavia  4–1  Spain Zagreb
17 April 1977 Spain  3–0  Romania Madrid
8 May 1977 Romania  1–3  Yugoslavia Craiova
26 October 1977 Romania  4–0  Spain Bucharest
12 November 1977 Yugoslavia  2–0  Romania Osijek
30 November 1977 Spain  1–0  Yugoslavia Elche

Group 8

P W D L F A Pts
1  Hungary 4 2 2 0 9 1 6
2  Soviet Union 4 2 1 1 5 1 5
3  Greece 4 0 1 3 1 13 1
Match results
Date Home Score Away Venue
9 October 1976 Hungary  7–0  Greece Kecskemét
24 April 1977 Greece  0–2  Soviet Union Athens
29 April 1977 Soviet Union  0–0  Hungary Moscow
9 May 1977 Soviet Union  3–0  Greece Moscow
17 May 1977 Hungary  1–0  Soviet Union Békéscsaba
28 May 1977 Greece  1–1  Hungary Serres

Qualified teams

Country Qualified as Previous appearances in tournament
 Denmark Group 1 winner 0 (Debut)
 Italy Group 2 winner 0 (Debut)
 East Germany Group 3 winner 0 (Debut)
 Bulgaria Group 4 winner 0 (Debut)
 England Group 5 winner 0 (Debut)
 Czechoslovakia Group 6 winner 0 (Debut)
 Yugoslavia Group 7 winner 0 (Debut)
 Hungary Group 8 winner 0 (Debut)

Squads

See 1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
            
 England 2 0 2
 Italy 1 0 1
 England 1 1 2
 Yugoslavia 2 1 3
 Yugoslavia 0 2 2
 Hungary 1 0 1
 Yugoslavia 1 4 5
 East Germany 0 4 4
 Czechoslovakia 3 2 5
 East Germany 1 5 6
 East Germany 1 3 4
 Bulgaria 2 1 3
 Denmark 4 0 4
 Bulgaria (a) 1 3 4

FINAL

GDR-YUG 0:1[3]
Halle, 17.5.1978., Scorer: Halilhodžić ('53).
GDR: Heyne, Brauer, Hause (Vingel), Uhlig, Roth, Weber, Terletzki, Eigendorf (Mischinger), Kuhn, Kotte, Riediger.
YUG: Stojanović, Vujkov, Hrstić, Zajec, Stojković, Bogdan, Krmpotić, Klinčarski, Halilhodžić, Bošnjak (R.Savić), Desnica (Slišković).

YUG-GDR 4:4[4]
Mostar, 31.5.1978., Scorers: Halilhodžić ('9, '37), Desnica ('16), Bogdan ('50) - Kotte ('2), Kuhn ('11, '31), Riediger ('15).
YUG: Stojanović, Krmpotić, M.Obradović, Zajec, Stojković, Bogdan, Bošnjak (Starčević), Savić, Halilhodžić, Klinčarski (Verlašević), Desnica.
GDR: Heyne, Hause, Brauer (Vingel), Uhlig, Roth, Schnuphase, Weber, Eigendorf, Riediger, Kotte, Kuhn.

References

  1. ^ "1978: Vahid Halilhodžić". UEFA. 1 June 1978. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Official finals report". UEFA. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Article". Slobodna Dalmacija.
  4. ^ "Article". Slobodna Dalmacija.