1974 UEFA European Under-23 Championship explained

The 1974 UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which spanned two years (1972–74) had 21 entrants. Hungary U-23 won the competition.

The 21 national teams were divided into eight groups (five groups of 3 + three group of 2). 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 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification with several changes, reflecting the absence of some nations:

• Group 1 did not include Hungary (moved to Group 7) and Malta, but included Czechoslovakia (moved from Group 8)
• Group 2 did not include Switzerland and Luxembourg
• Group 3 did not include Belgium and Iceland
• Group 4 did not include Finland (moved to Group 8)
• Group 5 did not include England and Wales, but included Denmark (moved from Group 8) and West Germany (who did not participate in World Cup qualification)
• Group 6 did not include Northern Ireland and Cyprus
• Group 7 did not include Spain, but included Hungary (moved from Group 1)
• Group 8 (based on World Cup qualifying Group 9) did not include Republic of Ireland, but included Finland (moved from Group 4)

Qualifying Group 1 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 9 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 6 2 4 2 1 1 6 5 5 3 4 0 1 3 1 8 1

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

Qualifying Group 2 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 2 align=center width="50" 2 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 2 2 0 0 2 1 4 0

Turkey 1–3 Italy Italy 1–0 Turkey qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 3 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 2 align=center width="50" 2 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 2 2 0 0 2 1 4 0

Norway 1–3 Netherlands Netherlands 1–0 Norway qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 4 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 10 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 6 2 4 1 1 2 5 6 3 3 4 1 1 2 3 9 3

Albania 1–1 Romania Albania 1–0 East Germany Romania 2–1 Albania Romania 1–2 East Germany East Germany 2–1 Romania East Germany 6–0 Albania qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 5 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 9 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 7 2 4 2 1 1 7 3 5 3 4 0 0 4 1 11 0

Denmark 0–2 Poland Denmark 0–2 West Germany Poland 4–1 Denmark West Germany 2–3 Poland West Germany 3–0 Denmark Poland 0–0 West Germany qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 6 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 2 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 2 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 3 2 2 0 1 1 1 2 1

Portugal 0–0 Bulgaria Bulgaria 2–1 Portugal qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 7 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 6 align=center width="50" 6 align=center width="50" 6 2 4 2 0 2 6 3 4 3 4 1 0 3 4 7 2

Yugoslavia 4–0 Hungary Greece 2–0 Yugoslavia Hungary 2–0 Greece Hungary 1–0 Yugoslavia Greece 2–3 Hungary Yugoslavia 2–0 Greece qualify as group winners

Qualifying Group 8 P W D L F A Pts align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 4 align=center width="50" 3 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 0 align=center width="50" 8 align=center width="50" 1 align=center width="50" 7 2 4 1 1 2 3 8 3 3 4 1 0 3 5 7 2

Finland 1–3 France Soviet Union 3–1 France Soviet Union 4–0 Finland France 0–1 Soviet Union Finland 0–0 Soviet Union France 1–2 Finland qualify as group winners

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals Netherlands 2-1 Hungary Hungary 3-1 Netherlands win 4-3 on aggregate Bulgaria 1-2 Poland Poland 0-0 Bulgaria win 2-1 on aggregate Soviet Union 6-0 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia 2-1 Soviet Union win 7-2 on aggregate Italy 0-1 East Germany East Germany 2-1 Italy win 3-1 on aggregate

Semi-finals Soviet Union 2-0 Hungary Hungary 2-0 Soviet Union [aet, pen] 2-2: win 4-3 on penalties East Germany 0-0 Poland Poland 2-2 East Germany 2-2: win on away goals rule

Final East Germany 3-2 Hungary Hungary 4-0 East Germany Hungary win 6-3 on aggregate finish as Champions

See also

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship

External links

• Results Archive at uefa.com
• RSSSF Results Archive at rsssf.com