Date 20 June 1976 Event UEFA Euro 1976 | Venue Rajko Mitić Stadium Attendance 30,790 | |
 | ||
Champion Czechoslovakia national football team Referee Sergio Gonella (Italian Football Federation) Similar UEFA Euro 1972 Final, UEFA Euro 1992 Final, UEFA Euro 1996 Final, UEFA Euro 1984 Final, UEFA Euro 1988 Final | ||
The UEFA Euro 1976 Final was the final match of UEFA Euro 1976, the fifth UEFA European Football Championship, UEFA's top football competition for national teams. The match was played at Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade, on 20 June 1976. The match was contested by Czechoslovakia and West Germany. In German, the match is known as the Nacht von Belgrad, or Night from Belgrade.
After extra time, the result was 2–2, and so the first penalty shootout in a European Championships final ensued. The first seven kicks were converted, until West Germany's fourth penalty taker, Uli Hoeneß, ballooned his shot over the bar. With the score 4–3, Antonín Panenka stepped up under immense pressure to take the fifth Czechoslovakian penalty, to win the match. German goalkeeper Sepp Maier dived to his left, while Panenka chipped the ball straight in the middle of the net. The sheer cheek of the goal led a watching French journalist to dub Panenka "a poet", and to this day his winning kick is one of the most famous ever, making Panenka's name synonymous with that particular style of penalty kick.
Up to date, this was the last official match in which West Germany (and Germany after its reunification) did not come up victorious in a penalty shootout.