5 interesting facts of the UEFA European Championship you may not know

#3 The rematch of Euro 1976 final in opener of Euro 1980

West Germany won the rematch of the Euro 1976 final against Czechoslovakia during their victorious Euro 1980 campaign

Czechoslovakia had a dream journey in Euro 1976 as they beat West Germany 5-3 on penalties to win a nail-biting final. It was their first victory in a major tournament after the losing the finals of the 1934 and 1962 World Cups. With the tournament format being expanded, eight teams would participate in Euro 1980 instead of four.

Czechoslovakia had narrowly qualified for Euro 1980 ahead of France. In the finals, they were drawn in the same group as West Germany and they would face West Germany in the tournament which instantaneously would be a rematch of the 1976 final.

The Czechs had 10 members from the victorious squad that won the Euro four years back, including star players Anton Ondrus and Antonin Panenka while West Germany had only one player from Euro 1976. The outcome of the match, however, wasn’t the same as four years ago as a goal by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge separated the two teams.

However, the fact that the opener of Euro 1980 was a rematch of the final of Euro 1976 is something which happened for the first time in the Euros and is yet to happen again.