EURO 1964: All you need to know

Who won the 1964 EURO?

Hosts Spain won their first major title by beating reigning champions Soviet Union 2-1 in the final, Marcelino heading the winner in the final at Madrid's Estádio Santiago Bernabéu on 21 June 1964. Jesús María Pereda gave the Spaniards a sixth-minute lead (the earliest EURO final goal to date), but Galimzyan Khusainov levelled swiftly and there was little to choose between the sides until Marcelino met Pereda's cross for the 84th-minute winner.

"We really were a good unit," said Pereda. "We had Luis Suárez to conduct the orchestra. Then we had great players like Amancio and Marcelino, who was a natural goalscorer. It was a fantastic squad really."

Who were the top scorers at the 1964 EURO?

Three players finished the finals level on two goals:

Ferenc Bene (Hungary)
Dezső Novák (Hungary)
Jesús María Pereda (Spain)

Denmark's Ole Madsen was the top scorer in the competition overall; he netted 11 in qualifying (a record that stood until Croatia's Davor Šuker got 12 in qualifying for EURO '96), but did not score in the finals.

Where was the 1964 EURO held?

Spain was the host nation for the second European Nations' Cup finals; Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium staged Spain's semi-final win against Hungary and their final victory over the Soviet Union, with the other semi-final – and Hungary's third-place play-off win against plucky amateurs Denmark – taking place at Camp Nou in Barcelona. The referees came from Belgium (Arthur Blavier), Italy (Concetto Lo Bello), Switzerland (Daniel Mellet) and England (Arthur Holland).

Who managed the winning team at the 1964 EURO?

José Villalonga coached Spain to their 1964 triumph, and stayed in charge of the national team until the 1966 FIFA World Cup. At club level, Villalonga had coached Real Madrid to their 1956 and 1957 European Cup wins and he got the Spain job after lifting the 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup with Atlético.

However, he focused on young talent for his EURO squad and knew how to inspire players. Forward Jesús María Pereda remembered his pre-match tactics talk ahead of the final against the USSR: "Villalonga mapped out a football pitch in the sand and used stones to represent us – and pine cones to represent the Soviet Union. He convinced us that stones were stronger than pine cones so we were therefore going to win."

Who was the winning captain at the 1964 EURO?

Central defender Fernando Olivella captained Spain to their first major international success, celebrating the climactic victory over the Soviet Union the day before his 28th birthday. A born-and-bred Catalan, he made 513 appearances for Barcelona from 1956 to 1969.

Later becoming a respected PE teacher, he said of his captaincy style: "I have always been a serious person, and I believe there are certain things you always have to take seriously. So if a team-mate was misbehaving, I would tell him so; however it would always be done in private."

What was the format for the 1964 EURO?

As in the first edition, four teams competed at the final tournament in Spain, which took place from 17–21 June 1964. The hosts required extra time to prevail 2-1 against Hungary in the opening semi-final, with the USSR dispatching outsiders Denmark 3-0 in the other semi. It also took extra time for Hungary to overcome the Danes 3-1 in the 20 June third-place play-off in Barcelona. Spain then ousted the USSR in the Madrid final the following day.

How many teams featured in the 1964 EURO?

Four teams figured at the finals, while 29 were in the initial qualifying draw (though Greece withdrew for political reasons after being paired with Albania).

How did 1964 EURO qualifying work?

The first editions of the EURO were knockout competitions, and it needed 13 preliminary round ties to reduce the field to 16 for the first round proper of the 1964 edition, with all ties contested over two legs. The winners of the four second-round ties qualified for the final tournament in Spain.

Who was in the 1964 EURO team of the tournament?

GK: Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
DF: Dezső Novák (Hungary)
DF: Ferran Olivella (Spain)
DF: Feliciano Rivilla (Spain)
DF: Ignacio Zoco (Spain)
MF: Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union)
MF: Amancio Amaro (Spain)
MF: Luis Suárez (Spain)
FW: Flórián Albert (Hungary)
FW: Ferenc Bene (Hungary)
FW: Jesús María Pereda (Spain)

Who scored the first goal at the 1964 EURO?

Jesús María Pereda struck the first goal of the finals, 35 minutes into Spain's semi-final against Hungary. Pereda later told UEFA.com: "The 1960 side with [Alfredo] Di Stéfano and [László] Kubala had more talent, but it's not the names that count in football, it's the team … We were all on form and the task of the coach was to assemble these players and ensure they worked well as a unit."

Meanwhile, the first goal (and indeed the second) of the qualifying competition was scored by Sweden's Örjan Martinsson in a 2-0 away win over neighbours Norway. It was Sweden's first EURO qualifier. Martinsson played winter-sport bandy as well as football, and never turned professional though his IFK Nörrkoping coach Georg Ericson called him "one of the most creative and skillful players we have had in this country".

Five top facts about the 1964 EURO

• Spain playmaker Luis Suárez became the first player to win the European Cup and the EURO in the same summer; his Inter Milan side beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the club showpiece in Vienna.

• Ole Madsen scored 11 in qualifying as Denmark reached the finals; he turned down a professional deal with Barcelona in 1964 because only amateur players could play for the Danish national team.

• Luxembourg were among the stars of 1964 qualifying: they eliminated the Netherlands, and Denmark required a replay to deny them a finals place. The Red Lions did not win another EURO qualifier until 1995.

• When Spain won the Eurovision Song Contest in April 1968 with Massiel's La, La, La, they became the first country to hold the EURO and Eurovision titles simultaneously.

• Four days after scoring the clincher in the EURO final, Marcelino bagged another winning goal – also in the 83rd minute – as Real Zaragoza pipped Valencia 2-1 to land the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.