UEFA Crown New Winners of Men's Euros as Major Change Made

It has been almost 50 years in the making but UEFA have officially recognised a new winner of the European Championship.

Before the country was dissolved in 1992, Czechoslovakia had forged a reputation as one of the leading teams in European football, achieving success in both the World Cup and Euros.

In fact, after reaching two World Cup finals in 1934 and 1962, they lifted the European Championship in 1976 after beating reigning world champions and heavy favourites West Germany.

En route to a final that is mostly remembered for Antonín Panenka's trademark chipped penalty, Czechoslovakia finished top of their qualifying group, which included England and Portugal.

After beating the Soviet Union on aggregate over a two-legged tie in the quarter-finals, they progressed to the final after beating a talented Netherlands side featuring the great Johan Cruyff.

The Panenka penalty was introduced to the world in 1976. Image credit: Getty

As mentioned above, Panenka's now-iconic penalty settled the 1976 final after the fixture against West Germany went to a shoot-out following a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes in Belgrade.

Since lifting the trophy, UEFA have credited Czechoslovakia for the historic win, but on Friday, it emerged that the governing body has recognised Slovakia as a winner together with Czechia.

The majority of Vaclav Jezek's title-winning side were Slovaks rather than Czechs. In fact, eight Slovak players featured in the Czechoslovakia team that won the 1976 European Championship.

As seen in the screenshot below, UEFA's website has recognised both countries for the win.

UEFA website recognises Slovakia as a Euros winner. Image credit: UEFA

Panenka's chipped decider was the first of its kind in international football, but that moment was close to never happening after it was only agreed on the day of the final that the game would be settled by a penalty shootout.

The initial plan had been for a replay two days later.

"It was a request from the German Football Association," Panenka recalled years later. "They said that their players had already booked some holidays, blah, blah, blah, and asked if penalties could be taken straight away instead of a replay."

Speaking about his penalty to Sport360 in 2017, he said: “I had no problem to shoot to the left or right. I always waited on a goalkeeper’s movement and afterwards I would choose the direction of my shot.”