The 1960 UEFA European Nations Cup was the first European Football Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris after extra time.

The tournament was a knockout competition; just 17 teams entered with some notable absences, West Germany, Italy and England among them. The teams would play home-and-away matches until the semi-finals; the final four teams would move on to the final tournament, whose host was selected after the teams became known.

Spain, still under Francisco Franco's far-right dictatorship, refused to travel to the Soviet Union, the main supporter of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War, and withdrew from the tournament, so the final four had three communist countries: USSR, Czechoslovakia, and SFR Yugoslavia, to go with hosts France. In the semi-finals, the Soviets made easy work of the Czechoslovaks in Marseille, beating them 3–0. The other match saw a nine-goal thriller as Yugoslavia came on top 5–4, coming back from a two-goal deficit twice. Czechoslovakia beat the demoralized French 2–0 for third place.

The UEFA Europa League /juːˈeɪfə jʊˈroʊpə ˈliːɡ/, previously called the UEFA Cup /juːˈeɪfə ˈkʌp/, is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.

Previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, with the change of name being simply a rebranding.

In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knock out stage. The 2009 rebranding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup.