The 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying preliminary round was the first round of the qualifying competition for the 1960 European Nations' Cup. The tie was played over two legs, home and away, in April and May 1959 and was contested by the Republic of Ireland and Czechoslovakia, as they were randomly selected to play each other. The winner on aggregate would advance to the round of 16.

The first leg was played on 5 April 1959, and won by the Republic of Ireland 2–0. Czechoslovakia won the return leg 4–0 on 10 May 1959, and therefore Czechoslovakia won 4–2 on aggregate. As winners, Czechoslovakia entered the round of 16 with the fifteen nations that had received a bye.

Because some of the matches of the round of 16 had already taken place when the matches of the preliminary round did, Republic of Ireland vs Czechoslovakia was not actually the first ever European Championship match (Soviet Union vs Hungary was), nor was the Republic of Ireland the first team to ever be eliminated from a European Championship (Greece was).

Summary

Matches

First leg details

GK 1 Jimmy O'NeillRB 2 Brendan McNallyLB 3 Noel Cantwell (c)RH 6 Pat SawardCH 5 Charlie HurleyLH 4 Mick McGrathOR 7 Alf RingsteadIR 8 Tommy HamiltonCF 9 Christy DoyleIR 10George CumminsOL 11Liam TuohyManager:Johnny Carey & Selection Committee GK 1 Imrich StachoRB 4 Gustáv Mráz LB 2 Jiří TichýRH 5 Svatopluk Pluskal (c)CH 3 Ján PopluhárLH 6 Titus BuberníkOR 7 Jan BrumovskýIR 8 Anton MoravčíkCF 9 Ladislav KačániIL 10Pavol MolnárOL 11Tadeusz KrausSubstitutions:DF 12Jiří Hildebrandt Manager: Rudolf Vytlačil

Match rules 90 minutes. Maximum of one substitution.

Second leg details

GK 1 Imrich StachoRB 2 Jiří TichýLB 4 Ladislav Novák (c)RH 5 Štefan MatlákCH 3 Ján PopluhárLH 6 Titus BuberníkOR 7 Ladislav PavlovičIR 8 Adolf SchererCF 10Ladislav KačániIL 9 Vlastimil BubníkOL 11Milan DolinskýManager: Rudolf Vytlačil GK 1 Jimmy O'NeillRB 2 Dick WhittakerLB 3 Noel Cantwell (c)RH 4 Frank O'FarrellCH 5 Charlie HurleyLH 6 Mick McGrathOR 7 Alf RingsteadIR 8 Tommy HamiltonCF 9 Arthur FitzsimonsIR 10George CumminsOL 11Liam TuohyManager:Johnny Carey & Selection Committee

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Replay if scores still level on aggregate. Maximum of one substitution.

Goalscorers

References

External links 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying preliminary round