Group 4 of the UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying tournament was one of the eight groups to decide which teams would qualify for the UEFA Euro 1972 finals tournament. Group 4 consisted of four teams: Soviet Union, Spain, Northern Ireland, and Cyprus, where they played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners were the Soviet Union, who finished two points above Spain.
Final table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 10 | Advance to quarter-finals | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 6–1 | |
| 2 | Spain
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 8 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 7–0 | ||
| 3 | Northern Ireland
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 6 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 5–0 | ||
| 4 | Cyprus
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 26 | −24 | 0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | — |
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Matches
| Spain | 3–0 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
Rexach  39'Pirri 60'Aragonés 75' |
Report |
| Cyprus | 1–3 | Soviet Union |
|---|---|---|
| Charalambous 42' |
Report | Kolotov 10' Yevryuzhikhin 16'Shevchenko 50' |
| Cyprus | 0–3 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Nicholson 53' Dougan 55'Best 86' (pen.) |
| Northern Ireland | 5–0 | Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Dougan 2' Best 44', 47', 56'Nicholson 85' |
Report |
| Cyprus | 0–2 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Pirri 3' Violeta 86' |
| Soviet Union | 2–1 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Kolotov 79' Shevchenko 83' |
Report | Rexach 88' |
| Soviet Union | 6–1 | Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Fedotov 4', 86' Yevryuzhikhin 23', 38'Kolotov 59'Banishevski 85' |
Report | S. Michael 75' |
| Soviet Union | 1–0 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Muntyan 43' |
Report |
| Northern Ireland | 1–1 | Soviet Union |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholson 13' |
Report | Byshovets 32' |
| Spain | 0–0 | Soviet Union |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Spain | 7–0 | Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Pirri 9', 47' (pen.) Quino 13', 22'Aguilar 63'Lora 66'Rojo 75' |
Report |
| Northern Ireland | 1–1 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Morgan 71' |
Report | Rojo 41' |
Goalscorers
There were 39 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 3.25 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Nikos Charalambous
- Stefanis Michael
- ]
- Anatoliy Banishevskiy
- Anatoliy Byshovets
- Vladimir Muntyan
- Francisco Aguilar
- Luis Aragonés
- Enrique Lora
- José Luis Violeta
References
- "1972 UEFA European Championship". uefa.com. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- "European Championship 1972". RSSSF. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- Robinson, J. (1996). The European Football Championships 1958-1996. Soccer Book Publishing. ISBN 0-947808-69-8.
| UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying | |
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