UEFA Euro 1980: Difference between revisions

| dates = 11–22 June 1980

Because of the expanded format, the finals tournament went through some changes as well. Two groups of four teams each were created; each team would play all others within their group. The winners of the groups would qualidirectlyqualify directly for the final (there were no semi-finals), while the runners-up contested the [[third place play-off]].

The tournament failed to draw much enthusiasm from spectators and TV viewers. Attendance was generally poor except for matches involving the [[Italy national football team|Italian team]]. The defensivetournament styleformat, ofwhich playrequired ofa manyteam teamsto win their group in order to progress to the final, led to a succession of dull matches. [[Football hooliganism|Hooliganism]], already a rising problem in the 1970s, made headlines again at the first-round match between [[England national football team|England]] and [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]] where riot police had to use [[tear gas]], causing the match to be held up for five minutes in the first half.<ref>{{cite web|author=Daniel Ruiz |url=http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/squad-rotation-tear-gas-and-bucketload-medals-how-england-flopped-euro-80 |title=Squad rotation, tear gas and a bucketload of medals: How England flopped at Euro 80 |website=FourFourTwo.com |date=14 June 2016 |access-date=24 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/that-1980s-sports-blog/2020/oct/09/england-fans-ruined-match-belgium-40-years-ago-euro-80|title=When England fans ruined their match against Belgium 40 years ago|first=Steven|last=Pye|date=9 October 2020|via=The Guardian}}</ref> The only bright spots were the emergence of a new generation of talented [[Germany national football team|German]] stars such as [[Bernd Schuster]], [[Hans-Peter Briegel]], [[Horst Hrubesch]], [[Hansi Müller]] and [[Karl-Heinz Rummenigge]], and the inspirational performance of [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]] (around rising stars such as [[Jan Ceulemans]], [[Eric Gerets]], [[Jean-Marie Pfaff]], and [[Erwin Vandenbergh]]) who reached the final, only losing to [[Germany national football team|West Germany]] (2–1) by a Hrubesch goal two minutes before time.<ref>{{cite web |last=Higginson |first=Marc |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17758978 |title=BBC Sport - Euro 1980: How Belgium defied the odds to reach final |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=12 May 2012 |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref>

Greece made their major tournament debut. Spain and Italy made their first appearances since their wins in 1964 and 1968, respectively. England also qualified for the first time since 1968. Belgium qualified after missing the 1976 tournament. Yugoslavia didn'tdid not qualify after hosting the previous tournament. Other notable absentees were the USSR, France, and Hungary. This was the last time until [[UEFA Euro 2008|2008]] that [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]] failed to qualify.

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