Italy, the host country, emerged as the
Euro Cup 1968 Winner on the 10th of June. It was the first Euro triumph for Italy, and the second consecutive time, after Spain in 1964, that a host nation won the Euro Cup. New rules were applied to the Euro Cup from this edition. The host country was selected after the qualifiers. Hence, Italy had to participate in all the matches of the qualifying round, including the quarter finals, before they emerged as the
1968 Euro Cup champions.
The Italian national football team was among the four teams, which had qualified for the final round of the Euro Cup 1968. Their opponent in the semi final was USSR. The match ended in a goalless draw. The finalist from this match was decided by the toss of the coin. Italy won the toss and advanced to the final.
In the final, Italy faced Yugoslavia, who had defeated England in the semi final. The final match, played on the 8th of June, ended in a tie. The match was replayed two days later, on 10th June. On that day, Italy defeated their rivals by two goals to emerge as the
Euro Cup 1968 Winner. Luigi Riva scored the first goal in the 12th minute, which incidentally was the fastest goal of the tournament. The other goal was scored by Pietro Anastasi.
