As with most of the big sporting competitions, there were teething troubles before the event actually got off the ground as the first European Nations' Cup was nearly called off when the number of entries fell short of the required minimum of 16. A flurry of late applications avoided that fate (though none of the insular British countries entered) - after which the complications were statistical oddities rather than anything life-threatening. 
 
Soviet players celebrate beating Yugoslavia in the 1960 final

For instance, the very first match in the qualifying round was played in Dublin on 5 April 1959, when the Republic of Ireland beat Czechoslovakia 2-0 thanks to a header by Liam Tuohy and a penalty by skipper Noel Cantwell. In the return leg, Imrich Stacho became probably the first goalkeeper to score in an international match when he put the hosts ahead from another penalty on the way to a 4-0 win. And yet the very first match in the competition had been played several months earlier, on 29 September 1958, though this was in the First Round proper not the Preliminary Round. 

That match took place in front of 100,572 people at the Lenin stadium in Moscow, which was only fitting: the USSR dominated this first competition, starting with a 3-1 win on the way to beating Hungary 4-1 on aggregate. The very first goal in a European Football Championship match was scored by Anatoli Ilyin, who had already scored the only goal of the 1956 Olympic Games final as well as scoring in the match that knocked England out of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. 

In the quarter-finals, the Soviet Union had their one slice of good fortune - and the one major political controversy in the history of the event - when General Franco´s right-wing government pulled Spain out of the tie. The USSR took their place with three other countries in the finals, which were also held in the right place. As with so many of major events (FIFA World Cup, European Champion Clubs' Cup, the modern Olympics), the competition was the brainchild of a Frenchman: Henri Delaunay, the secretary of the French Football Federation. He was there to watch the birth of his brainchild (the trophy was named after him) as France hosted the first final tournament. 

1900년도 중반까지만해도 유럽축구의 맹주는 '동유럽'이었다. 월드컵이나 올림픽에서도 동유럽 국가들은 막강한 전력을 자랑했다. 그리고 이러한 '동유럽의 힘'은 유럽선수권대회에도 그대로 이어졌다. 

우선 본선 4개국 중에 3개의 자리를 동유럽이 차지했다. (구) 소련, 유고 슬라비아, 체코슬로바키아 등이 본선에 오르며 동유럽의 힘을 과시했다. 주최국 프랑스만이 유일하게 동유럽세에 맞섰지만 역부족이었다. 프랑스는 준결승전에서 유고 슬라비아에 5-4로 패하며 고개를 숙였다. 

결국 우승컵은 전설적인 수문장 야신이 버티고 있었던 (구)소련이 차지했다. 소련은 유고슬라비아를 2-1로 꺾고 유럽선수권 초대챔프의 영광을 안게됐다. 
 
 우승 - (구) 소련 
 준우승 - 유고 
 4강 - 체코, 프랑스 

스포츠서울닷컷