UEFA Euro 1972

The Belgium national football team officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1982 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

The UEFA Euro 1972 quarter-finals was the last round of qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 1972. They were contested by the eight group winners of the qualifying tournament. The winners of each of four home-and-away ties qualified for the finals tournament in Belgium. The matches were played on 29–30 April and 13–14 May 1972, with a replay on 17 May 1972.

The Soviet Union national football team was the national football team of the former Soviet Union.

The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the inaugural tournament of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris after extra time.

The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union.

The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968.

The Germany national football team represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900. Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.

The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in men's international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances in the FIFA World Cup and 4 appearances in the European Championship, and plays its home matches at the Puskás Aréna, which opened in November 2019.

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region.

Liège is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from borders with the Netherlands and with Germany. In Liège, the Meuse meets the river Ourthe. The city is part of the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia. It still is the principal economic and cultural centre of the region.

The King Baudouin Stadium is a sports ground in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the north-western district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in view of the 1935 Brussels International Exposition. It was inaugurated on 23 August 1930, with Crown Prince Leopold attending the opening ceremony. The stadium hosted 70,000 at the time. Its name honours King Baudouin, Leopold's son and successor as King of the Belgians, from 1951 to his death in 1993.

The Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, also known as the Lotto Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the municipality of Anderlecht in Brussels, Belgium. It is home to R.S.C. Anderlecht. It also hosted the UEFA Euro 1972 semi-final between Hungary and the Soviet Union, as well as several games of the Belgium national football team.

The Stade Maurice Dufrasne is a football stadium in Liège, Belgium. The stadium holds 27,670 people. It is also known as Stade de Sclessin, from the name of the district of Liège where it is located, and is the home stadium of Standard Liège. Belgium have also played here, notably against Estonia in September 2008 in a 2010 World Cup Qualifier and against Gibraltar on 31 August 2017 in a World Cup Qualifier. The stadium hosted one match at Euro 1972 and three matches at Euro 2000.

Antwerp is the largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 530,504, it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in Belgium, second only to Brussels.

The Bosuilstadion is an association football stadium in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The stadium was opened in 1923 and has been the home of Royal Antwerp ever since. It has a capacity of 16,144, of which 800 are indoor VIP seats. It is located in the district of Deurne.

Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund. At 447,425 square kilometres (172,752 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi), with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the entire land area, in the central and southern half of the country.

The Swedish Football Association is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA. SvFF is supported by 24 district organisations.

Johan Einar Boström was a Swedish football referee.

East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, was a country in Central Europe that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, this country was commonly viewed as a communist state, and it described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state". Before the establishment, its territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces with the autonomy of the native communists following the Berlin Declaration abolishing German sovereignty in World War II; when the Potsdam Agreement established the Soviet-occupied zone, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. GDR was dominated by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) from 1949 to 1989 before being liberalized under the impact of the Revolutions of 1989 against the communist states, helping East Germany be united with the West. Unlike West Germany, SED did not see its state as the successor one of the German Reich (1871–1945) and abolished the goal of unification in the constitution (1974). Under the SED rule, GDR was often judged as a Soviet satellite state, most scholars and academics described it as a totalitarian regime.

The Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was from 1958 the football association of the (East) German Democratic Republic, fielding the East Germany national football team until 1990 before rejoining its counterpart, the German Football Association (DFB), which had been founded in 1900. The DFV was dissolved on 20 November 1990 in Leipzig and in its place the North East German Football Association was formed and joined the German Football Association on the same day and at the same location, a few weeks after East Germany itself had ceased to exist with the German reunification on 3 October 1990.

Rudolf Glöckner was the first German to referee a football World Cup final when he took charge of the 1970 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Italy in Mexico City.

Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous city and state. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of 83,871 km2 (32,383 sq mi) and has a population of 9 million.

The Austrian Football Association is the governing body of football in Austria. It organises the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austria national football team, as well as its female equivalent. It is based in the capital, Vienna.

Ferdinand Marschall was an Austrian football referee.

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96-mile (154-kilometre) border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands.

The Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.

William Joseph Mullan was a Scottish football referee.

A penalty shoot-out is a tie-breaking method in association football to determine which team is awarded victory in a match that cannot end in a draw, when the score is tied after the normal time as well as extra time have expired. In a penalty shoot-out, each team takes turns shooting at goal from the penalty mark, with the goal defended only by the opposing team's goalkeeper. Each team has five shots which must be taken by different kickers; the team that makes more successful kicks is declared the victor. Shoot-outs finish as soon as one team has an insurmountable lead. If scores are level after five pairs of shots, the shootout progresses into additional "sudden-death" rounds. Balls successfully kicked into the goal during a shoot-out do not count as goals for the individual kickers or the team, and are tallied separately from the goals scored during normal play. Although the procedure for each individual kick in the shoot-out resembles that of a penalty kick, there are some differences. Most notably, neither the kicker nor any player other than the goalkeeper may play the ball again once it has been kicked.

Central European Time (CET) is a standard time of Central- and parts of Western Europe which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CET is also known as Middle European Time and by colloquial names such as Amsterdam Time, Berlin Time, Brussels Time, Madrid Time, Paris Time, Rome Time, Warsaw Time or even Romance Standard Time (RST).

UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:Central European Time West Africa Time Western European Summer Time British Summer Time Irish Standard Time

The Bosuilstadion is an association football stadium in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The stadium was opened in 1923 and has been the home of Royal Antwerp ever since. It has a capacity of 16,144, of which 800 are indoor VIP seats. It is located in the district of Deurne.

The Belgium national football team officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1982 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

The King Baudouin Stadium is a sports ground in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the north-western district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in view of the 1935 Brussels International Exposition. It was inaugurated on 23 August 1930, with Crown Prince Leopold attending the opening ceremony. The stadium hosted 70,000 at the time. Its name honours King Baudouin, Leopold's son and successor as King of the Belgians, from 1951 to his death in 1993.

The Germany national football team represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900. Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.

The Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, also known as the Lotto Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the municipality of Anderlecht in Brussels, Belgium. It is home to R.S.C. Anderlecht. It also hosted the UEFA Euro 1972 semi-final between Hungary and the Soviet Union, as well as several games of the Belgium national football team.

The Soviet Union national football team was the national football team of the former Soviet Union.

The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in men's international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances in the FIFA World Cup and 4 appearances in the European Championship, and plays its home matches at the Puskás Aréna, which opened in November 2019.

The Stade Maurice Dufrasne is a football stadium in Liège, Belgium. The stadium holds 27,670 people. It is also known as Stade de Sclessin, from the name of the district of Liège where it is located, and is the home stadium of Standard Liège. Belgium have also played here, notably against Estonia in September 2008 in a 2010 World Cup Qualifier and against Gibraltar on 31 August 2017 in a World Cup Qualifier. The stadium hosted one match at Euro 1972 and three matches at Euro 2000.

The Germany national football team represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900. Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.

Gerhard "Gerd" Müller was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of the sport. With success at club and international level, he is one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.

The Belgium national football team officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1982 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Raoul Lambert is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a striker. He finished top scorer of the Belgian First Division with 17 goals in 1972 while playing for Club Brugge. He also scored 18 goals in 33 matches with the Belgium national team between 1966 and 1977. Lambert made his international debut on 20 April 1966 in a 3–0 friendly win against France and he scored. He was in the team for the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the Euro 72. Throughout Raoul's career he stayed at Club Brugge, scoring a total of 270 goals in 458 matches in all competitions.

Odilon Polleunis, nicknamed Lon, is a Belgian football player who won the Belgian Golden Shoe in 1968 while at Sint-Truiden. He played 22 matches and scored 10 goals for the national team between 1968 and 1975, starting in a 1–2 friendly win against the Netherlands on 7 April 1968. Polleunis scoring on his debut and the first of his 7 goals in his first 5 Internationals, including a hat-trick against Finland and two against Yugoslavia in World Cup qualifiers in October 1968. At the Mexico World Cup in 1970 Polleunis came on as sub in Belgium's win against El Salvador and started against Mexico in the third game replacing Raoul Lambert. In the mid-1970s, "Lon" moved to RWDM.

Paul Van Himst is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as a forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht.

The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in men's international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances in the FIFA World Cup and 4 appearances in the European Championship, and plays its home matches at the Puskás Aréna, which opened in November 2019.

Lajos Kű is a Hungarian former footballer who played as a midfielder for Videoton, Ferencvárosi TC, Club Brugge and SC Eisenstadt. In his second game for Club Brugge, he played in the 1978 European Cup Final against Liverpool.

Anatoliy Konkov is a Ukrainian former football player and recognized as the Merited Master of Sports of the USSR (1982). He was elected as the President of the Football Federation of Ukraine in September 2012.

Herbert "Hacki" Wimmer is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Besides winning five national championships and two UEFA Cups with his club side Borussia Mönchengladbach, he won the 1974 World Cup and the UEFA Euro 1972 with Germany.

Revaz Mikheilis dze Dzodzuashvili is a Georgian football manager and a former player. He coaches FC Dinamo Sukhumi. He earned 49 caps for the USSR national football team, and participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1972. After the UEFA Euro 1972 along with his teammates by Soviet Union national football team – Murtaz Khurtsilava and Evgeni Rudakov – he was named by UEFA in the official Team of the Tournament, where also were presented such great players like Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness and Günter Netzer.

Murtaz Kalistratovich Khurtsilava is a former Georgian association football defender.