SPAIN
SPAIN 2-1 USSR
The tiny nation held Denmark to three-all and two-all draws at home and away to set up a play-off in Amsterdam.
Ollie Madsen, who scored all five Danish goals in the first two matches, was on target yet again to overcome the doughty Luxembourgois 1-0.
Luxembourg's Camille Dimmer reflects on his country's greatest footballing achievement with a mixture of pride and melancholy.
"After those three games, I remember I was pretty sad. But those games are now some of the most golden chapters in the history of football in Luxembourg."
"At that moment there was huge national interest for football in Luxembourg certainly."
But it was Denmark who progressed to Spain, where they and the hosts were joined by the defending champions of the USSR, and Hungary.
Although no longer the 'Magnificent Magyars' marshaled by Ferenc Puskas, they were still a formidable proposition for the hosts in their semi-final.
In front of an expectant Madrid crowd, Jus Pereda put Spain in front. But it was not all plain sailing, and Athletic Bilbao's great goalkeeper José Angel Iribar made a rare error, dropping a cross at the feet of Bene, who sent the match to extra time.
Just five minutes before the dreaded coin-toss, Real Madrid's Amancio forced home a winner to send waves of relief coursing around the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Meanwhile, the USSR despatched Hungary 3-0, with 1960 hero Viktor Ponedelnik once more among the scorers.
With the Soviets looking invincible, Spanish coach José Villalonga found an innovative way to make his players believe they could win.
"(Villalonga's) methods were really quite odd," remembers Pereda. "He took us for a walk. And I remember he mapped out a football pitch on a patch of sand. Now what he did: he used stones to represent us, the Spanish players… And then he used pine cones to represent the Russians.
"Well, he convinced us that stones were stronger than pine cones; and that therefore we were going to win"
And win they did. With Luis Suarez conducting the orchestra, the pumped-up Spanish went into a sixth-minute through Pereda, only to be pegged back soon after.
Six minutes remained when Marcelino netted a diving header to send the 80,000-strong crowd into raptures.
Serial underachievers at international level, Spain have not lifted a major honour since, but the memories of glory on home turf will live on in national lore.
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