The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was the seventh European Championships and was held in France between 12 and 27 June 1984. France defeated Spain 2-0 in the final at the Parc des Princes, Paris claiming their first title. Michel Platini's nine goals in the tournament remains a record in a single European Championship.
- 1. Host selection
- 2. Qualifying
- 3. Wales and the 1984 European Championship
- 4. Wales players used during qualifying
France and West Germany expressed an interest in hosting the 1984 UEFA European Football Championship with the French bid unanimously selected by the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting on 10 December 1981.
Thirty two of UEFA's 34 members entered the qualification tournament for the 1984 UEFA European Football Championship. Liechtenstein did not enter with France qualifying automatically as hosts.
The teams were drawn into four groups of five teams and three groups of four teams. The group winners would qualify for the tournament proper.
Wales were drawn in Group 4 alongside Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Norway. This was the first time Wales had played Bulgaria and Norway.
Uefa qualifying group 4
| no. | date | score | scorers (wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 373 | 22/09/1982 | Wales 1-0 Norway | Rush | Vetch Field, Swansea | ECQ |
| 13/10/1982 | Norway 3-1 Yugoslavia | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | ECQ | ||
| 27/10/1982 | Bulgaria 2-2 Norway | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia | ECQ | ||
| 17/11/1982 | Bulgaria 0-1 Yugoslavia | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia | ECQ | ||
| 374 | 15/12/1982 | Yugoslavia 4-4 Wales | Flynn, Rush, Jones, R James | Stadion Pod Goricom, Titograd | ECQ |
| 376 | 27/04/1983 | Wales 1-0 Bulgaria | Charles | Racecourse Ground, Wrexham | ECQ |
| 13/10/1982 | Norway 1-2 Bulgaria | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | ECQ | ||
| 380 | 21/09/1983 | Norway 0-0 Wales | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo | ECQ | |
| 12/10/1983 | Yugoslavia 2-1 Norway | Stadion JNA, Belgrade | ECQ | ||
| 382 | 16/11/1983 | Bulgaria 1-0 Wales | National Stadium Vasil Levski, Sofia | ECQ | |
| 383 | 14/12/1983 | Wales 1-1 Yugoslavia | R James | Ninian Park, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 21/12/1983 | Yugoslavia 3-2 Bulgaria | Gradski stadion u Poljudu, Split | ECQ |
Group standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Yugoslavia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 8 |
| 2. | Wales | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| 3. | Bulgaria | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| 4. | Norway | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
Wales and the 1984 European Championship
Wales were drawn in Group 4 alongside Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Norway. This was the first time Wales had played Bulgaria and Norway.
The campaign got off to a great start for Mike England's men with a win over Norway at the Vetch Field, Swansea as Ian Rush scored the only goal of the game.
An unexpected win for fourth seeds, Norway, over the group favourites, Yugoslavia, in the next game threw the group wide open ahead of Wales' visit to Podgorica.
Despite being 4-2 down with 20 minutes to go, Wales secured a point as Joey Jones scored his only international goal before Robbie James grabbed an equaliser. The game in Podgorica proved to be Dai Davies' 50th and final cap as young Everton goalkeeper, Neville Southall, took over in goal for the rest of the campaign.
A win against Bulgaria at The Racecourse, Wrexham and a scoreless draw in Norway meant Wales needed just two points from their final two matches to qualify for the European Championships.
Despite being bottom of the group, Bulgaria were still in with a chance of qualification themselves and weren't the pushovers the table might have suggested, winning 1-0 on a snow covered pitch in Sofia.
A victory for Wales in the final match of their campaign would secure their place in France, but despite taking the lead through Robbie James, Yugoslavia scored an equaliser with just nine minutes remaining.
Mike England's men now had to rely on Bulgaria taking points off Yugoslavia in the last match of the group. With 90 minutes on the clock and the score at 2-2 Wales were on their way to France on goal difference, however in the 92nd minute Ljubomir Radanović scored the winner for the home side breaking Welsh hearts in the process.
Players used during qualifying
Wales used a total of 19 players during the campaign with Kenny Jackett, Robbie James, Joey Jones and Paul Price playing every minute of every match and with Brian Flynn and Ian Rush playing some part of every match.
Kenny Jackett won his first cap in the opening match of the campaign against Norway whilst Nigel Vaughan of Newport County won his first cap in the 4-4 draw away to Yugoslavia.
Dai Davies won the last of his 52 caps in the 4-4 draw in Titograd, a match which saw Joey Jones score his only international goal and saw John Mahoney win his 50th cap.
| Player | NOR | YUG | BUL | NOR | BUL | YUG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Charles | 28 | 23 | 31 | 31 | 8 | |
| Alan Curtis | 62 | |||||
| Dai Davies | 90 | |||||
| Gordon Davies | 90 | |||||
| Brian Flynn | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 82 |
| Jeff Hopkins | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||
| Kenny Jackett | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Robbie James | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Joey Jones | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| John Mahoney | 90 | |||||
| Chris Marustik | 90 | |||||
| Peter Nicholas | 77 | 90 | 90 | 59 | ||
| Paul Price | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Kevin Ratcliffe | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Ian Rush | 90 | 90 | 69 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Neville Southall | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Nigel Stevenson | 90 | |||||
| Mickey Thomas | 90 | 57 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| Nigel Vaughan | 13 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
12 pts for a win / 1 pt for a draw
