Which was the highest scoring match in the history of the UEFA European Football Championship?

The UEFA European Football Championship was inaugurated as the 1960 European Nations’ Cup, although it is worth noting that the first qualifying match for the tournament was played on September 28, 1958. The tournament was unsatisfactory insofar that it was boycotted by the likes of England, Italy, Netherlands and West Germany and Spain was disqualified after refusing to travel to the Soviet Union, on political grounds, at the quarter-final stage.

Nevertheless, after a series of two-legged knockout ties, Czechoslovakia, Soviet Union (who were awarded a walkover victory against Spain) and Yugoslavia joined fellow quarter-final winner, and eventual hosts, France for the finals tournament, whiich began with semi-final matches on July 6, 1960. Indeed, it was the first of the semi-final matches, between France and Yugoslavia, which kicked at the Parc des Princes, Paris at 20:00, that set a record for the highest-scoring finals match that still stands.

Yugoslav striker Milan Galić opened the scoring with a powerful drive after 11 minutes, only seen to his cancelled out by a glancing header from French winger Jean Vincent a minute later. The scores remained level at 1-1 until half-time, but a flurry of second-half goals made for a hugely entertaining spectacle. France led 2-1, 3-1 and 4-2, thanks to a brace of goals from François Heutte and another from his striking partner Marian Wisniewski and, with 15 minutes to play, the hosts look set for a comfortable victory. However, Yugoslavia had other ideas and scored three late goals, including two from striker Dražan Jerković, in the space of four minutes to claim an unlikely 5-4 victory.