History Of The European Championship: 1980

There was a slight change to the 1980 European Championship Finals - UEFA decided that eight rather than four teams would qualify.

From the two groups of four there would not be semi-finals but rather the group runners-up would meet in a play-off for third place, whilst the group winners competed for the trophy.

After disappointment in 1976, England qualified from their group to take their place in the tournament.

West Germany won Group A and took their place in the Final with ease, winning a repeat of the 1976 Final against Czechoslovakia (1-0) before beating Holland 3-2.

The Germans' 0-0 draw with Greece meant that the winners of the Czechoslovakia v Holland match would go through into the third place play-off. In the event a 1-1 draw sent defending champions Czechoslovakia through.

In Group B, England had been placed with Belgium, Italy and Spain in what looked to be a tough group. England had qualified in style for the Finals, were top of the qualifying statistics and were therefore rightly considered one of the favourites for the trophy.

However, a stuttering start saw England only draw 1-1 with Belgium after a brilliantly taken Ray Wilkins goal had been cancelled out by Jan Ceulemans.

The crucial game, therefore, was the match against Italy. Poor defending and sloppy passing meant that Italy outclassed England and took the match with Tardelli's goal ten minutes from time.

Belgium and Italy's 1-1 draw meant that England couldn't qualify, despite their winning 2-1 against Spain with goals from Trevor Brooking and Tony Woodcock.

In the Final, Germany took the initiative early on by taking the lead through Horst Hrubesch.