Imagine playing 120 minutes of grueling, bone-crushing football — and then having your championship dreams decided by a literal coin toss in a locker room. 🪙😱
Yes, really. Before penalty shootouts were invented, major international football tournaments were sometimes decided by the same method you use to figure out who pays for pizza.
The year was 1968, and the European Championship semi-final between Italy and the Soviet Union was locked in a brutal 0-0 tie after 120 minutes of play in Naples.
With 68,000 screaming fans waiting for a winner, the players were completely exhausted. The problem? Penalty shootouts hadn’t been invented yet. FIFA wouldn’t approve them until 1970. 💀
So the referee, the two captains, and a UEFA official walked off the pitch and into a tiny, cramped dressing room to decide the fate of two nations with a coin. Can you imagine?
This wasn’t some glamorous ceremony. The UEFA official on duty — a guy named Señor Pujols — had to search his pockets for a suitable coin.
They actually argued over which currency to use. A peseta, a ruble, and a dollar were all rejected before they finally settled on a Dutch guilder. 🫠
Italian captain Giacinto Facchetti called tails. The coin went up, hit the floor... and allegedly rolled straight down a drain grate on the first toss. 😱 Not even joking.
They had to flip it a second time. It landed tails. Italy was going to the final.
Meanwhile, the entire stadium had absolutely no idea what was happening. There were no big screens. No announcements. Just 68,000 people sitting in the dark. 👀
Suddenly, Facchetti came sprinting out of the tunnel, arms raised, screaming in pure joy. That’s how the crowd — and the Soviet players still standing on the pitch — found out Italy had won. 😭
Facchetti himself later recalled: I went racing upstairs as the stadium was still full and about 70,000 fans were waiting to hear the result. My celebrations told them that they could celebrate an Italian victory.
Italy went on to the final against Yugoslavia — and that match also ended in a tie. But instead of another coin flip, they just made them play the entire match again two days later. 💅
Italy won the replay 2-0 and secured the championship. The Soviet team, meanwhile, had to settle for a third-place playoff. Furious doesn’t even begin to cover it. ⚡
And here’s the kicker: the recovered first coin — the one that allegedly fell down the drain — was reportedly found lying heads-up. If it had counted, the USSR would have gone to the final instead. 🤯
The 1968 incident is basically the reason penalty shootouts exist. The world watched a major championship get decided by pure luck and collectively said: we need a better system.
FIFA approved penalty shootouts in 1970. Two years. That’s all it took for the world to agree that 50/50 odds are a terrible way to decide who wins a trophy. Wild, right? ⚔️
Coin Toss Takes Italy to EURO 1968 Final After USSR Stalemate - UEFA
How Italy Won Euro 1968: Catenaccio, a Coin Toss and a Goal Worthy of Any Final - The Athletic
