1960 European Cup Final

Lore & Background

Real Madrid had won the first four editions of the European Cup in 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959. Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the competition after winning the German football championship for the only time in 1959. The match was initially in doubt as the German Football Association (DFB) had banned their clubs from taking part in matches with any team containing Ferenc Puskás. The ban stemmed from a dispute over the transfer of Puskás from Hungary to Real Madrid, not from any drug allegations or the 1954 World Cup. The ban was eventually lifted after diplomatic intervention, allowing the final to proceed.

Reader's Guide

Real Madrid players Alfredo Di Stéfano (3) and Ferenc Puskás (4) both scored hat-tricks in the final. Until the 2025 UEFA Champions League final, in which Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter Milan 5–0, the match held the record for the largest margin of victory in a European Cup final. This match still has the record of the most goals scored in a European Cup final.

Did You Know?

• The match set a record attendance for a European Cup final at over 127,000.
• An estimated 70 million people across Europe watched the match on television.
• The match set a record for the most goals in a European Cup final at 10, a total that has never been surpassed in any subsequent European Cup or UEFA Champions League final (the 1962 final, for example, had 8 goals).
• Real Madrid's four-goal winning margin is the largest in a European Cup/UEFA Champions League final, a record that has been equalled but never broken (the 1974 replay and the 1994 final also had four-goal margins).