1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying preliminary round

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.

1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying preliminary round

Event	1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying
Republic of Ireland Czechoslovakia 2 4
Czechoslovakia won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.
First leg
Republic of Ireland Czechoslovakia 2 0
Date	5 April 1959 (1959-04-05)
Venue	Dalymount Park, Dublin
Referee	Lucien Van Nuffel (Belgium)
Attendance	37,500
Second leg
Czechoslovakia Republic of Ireland 4 0
Date	10 May 1959 (1959-05-10)
Venue	Tehelné pole, Bratislava
Referee	Joseph Barbéran (France)
Attendance	41,691

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

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Republic of Ireland	2–4	Czechoslovakia	2–0	0–4

Matches

First leg details

5 April 1959 (1959-04-05)

15:30 CET

Republic of Ireland	2–0	Czechoslovakia
Tuohy 22' Cantwell 42' (pen.)	Report

Dalymount Park, Dublin

Attendance: 37,500

Referee: Lucien Van Nuffel (Belgium)

Republic of Ireland

Czechoslovakia

GK 1 Jimmy O'Neill RB 2 Brendan McNally LB 3 Noel Cantwell (c) RH 6 Pat Saward CH 5 Charlie Hurley LH 4 Mick McGrath OR 7 Alf Ringstead IR 8 Tommy Hamilton CF 9 Christy Doyle IR 10 George Cummins OL 11 Liam Tuohy Manager: Johnny Carey & Selection Committee

GK 1 Imrich Stacho RB 4 Gustáv Mráz  23' LB 2 Jiří Tichý RH 5 Svatopluk Pluskal (c) CH 3 Ján Popluhár LH 6 Titus Buberník OR 7 Jan Brumovský IR 8 Anton Moravčík CF 9 Ladislav Kačáni IL 10 Pavol Molnár OL 11 Tadeusz Kraus Substitutions: DF 12 Jiří Hildebrandt  23' Manager: Rudolf Vytlačil

Match rules 90 minutes. Maximum of one substitution.

Second leg details

10 May 1959 (1959-05-10)

16:00 CET

Czechoslovakia	4–0	Republic of Ireland
Stacho 4' (pen.) Buberník 57' Pavlovič 66' Dolinský 75'	Report

Tehelné pole, Bratislava

Attendance: 41,691

Referee: Joseph Barbéran (France)

Czechoslovakia

Republic of Ireland

GK 1 Imrich Stacho RB 2 Jiří Tichý LB 4 Ladislav Novák (c) RH 5 Štefan Matlák CH 3 Ján Popluhár LH 6 Titus Buberník OR 7 Ladislav Pavlovič IR 8 Adolf Scherer CF 10 Ladislav Kačáni IL 9 Vlastimil Bubník OL 11 Milan Dolinský Manager: Rudolf Vytlačil

GK 1 Jimmy O'Neill RB 2 Dick Whittaker LB 3 Noel Cantwell (c) RH 4 Frank O'Farrell CH 5 Charlie Hurley LH 6 Mick McGrath OR 7 Alf Ringstead IR 8 Tommy Hamilton CF 9 Arthur Fitzsimons IR 10 George Cummins OL 11 Liam Tuohy Manager: 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

There were 6 goals scored in 2 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.

1 goal

• Titus Buberník
• Milan Dolinský
• Ladislav Pavlovič
• Imrich Stacho
• Noel Cantwell
• Liam Tuohy