title: 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying preliminary round
text: # 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.
  
  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. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Republic of Ireland | 2–4 | Czechoslovakia | 2–0 | 0–4 |
  
  ## Matches
  
  ### First leg details
  
  | 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
  
  | 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
  