At the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 1980 25 teams took part.
The qualifying games in the eight qualifying groups started on May 24, 1978 and ended on February 5, 1980. The quarter-finals took place from February 12 to April 9, 1980, and the semi-finals took place from April 16 to 30, 1980. The final for the title took place on May 7th and 21st, 1980, with the USSR prevailing against the GDR with an overall result of 1-0 and thus winning the European championship.
Switzerland was eliminated in the preliminary round. Germany and Austria did not take part in the 1980 European Under-21 Championship.
The 25 national teams were drawn in eight groups - seven groups of three teams and one group of four teams. The national selections had to play their encounters with two legs. The respective group winners (marked in yellow) were qualified for the quarter-finals, from which the knockout system was played in the first and second leg up to the final.
The GDR had the Netherlands and Poland as opponents in group 4. There were two full victories in the home games - in Rostock 2-0 against the Netherlands and in Hall 4-1 against Poland - and in the away games two draws (1: 1 each). This enabled the GDR to secure group victory with one point ahead of Poland.
In the quarter-finals, the GDR was drawn as opponents of Hungary. In Budapest , the East Germans had to admit defeat 0-2. Since the home game in Jena was won 3-0, the GDR could qualify for the semi-finals. England was the enemy there. After the first game in Sheffield was surprisingly won 2-1, the GDR could not be denied the success and qualified in Jena with a 1-0 home win for the final.
In the final, the USSR, which had clearly prevailed against Yugoslavia, was the opponent. After the East Germans failed to make it past 0-0 in front of 15,000 spectators in the home game in Rostock, after the 0-1 defeat in Moscow, as in 1978, they had to make do with the runner-up European title.
Switzerland
In the preliminary round group 8, Switzerland had the strong Italians as opponents alongside Luxembourg. The direct duels were therefore decisive for winning the group. After the Swiss only drew 0-0 in their home game in Lugano and had to admit defeat 0-1 in the second leg in Brescia , this was only enough for second place in the group.
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Bulgaria
Belgium
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Yugoslavia
GDR
Denmark
Norway
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Spain
Netherlands
England
Portugal
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Cyprus
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Poland
Scotland
France
Finland
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Romania
Italy
Sweden
Greece
Turkey
Luxembourg
Czechoslovakia
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Soviet Union
Hungary
Switzerland
