A full house at Wembley greeted the teams for this European Nations Cup quarter-final first-leg match and the England fans had to endure a long wait before their team gained the vital breakthrough.

England began in determined fashion and almost immediately Martin Peters had the ball in the net. Unfortunately, the referee spotted an infringement against Mike Summerbee and the goal was disallowed. The Spaniards then defended stoutly with the dominating Zoco a fine central defender. He and Gallego won everything in the air as England pumped cross after cross into the Spanish goal-area. The attack had chances, though, with two clear misses by Summerbee and another by Alan Mullery irritating the crowd. The England pressure really should have brought a goal and the Spaniards must have been delighted with their resolute defending.

Peters went close, as did Alan Ball, and when these two combined to give Summerbee another chance, the Manchester City player shot just wide when he ought to have, at least, hit the target. As the first half wore on, the mental sharpness of England's players began to dull. They became laboured and predictable and at half-time it had all become just a little frustrating.

After the interval Spain began to show everyone their obvious attacking ability as they became more adventurous. Catching England on the break, they began to look menacing. Only a fine save by Gordon Banks prevented the dangerous Amancio scoring after a lovely 'dummy' had exposed the whole English defence. Pirri, too, caused problems and the counter-attacking of the visitors kept Bobby Moore's men on their toes.

England had desperately needed an early goal. That they didn't get one began to show later as several of the players, notably Peters and Bobby Charlton, looked jaded after their long, hard season.

Just as it seemed that the goalless scoreline would remain, England, at last, found a goal. It came in the 85th minute and began with a free-kick given for a foul by Zoco on Jack Charlton. Moore tapped the ball to his right and Bobby Charlton summoned up some reserves of strength to skip around one defender, veer round the defensive wall and fire a low, hard cross-shot into the far corner.

Needless to say the relief of the crowd was obvious. Even then, though, England had Banks to thank for another splendid save. This time he dived brilliantly to stop Grosso's clever back-heel at the foot of his post.

So the game ended with England able to take a narrow lead to Madrid the following month for the second leg.
  

Bobby Charlton crashed the ball into the net from a short free-kick taken by Martin Peters to equal the 44-goal England record held by Jimmy Greaves. Spain threatened to snatch a last-minute equaliser in this first leg European Championship quarter-final tie, but Banks pulled off a spectacular save from a lightning back-heel by Amancio. The Spaniards played a cautious defensive game, putting their faith in a victory in the second leg in Madrid.
  

This was Spain's third defeat at Wembley and they had not beaten England since 1960 in Madrid. While the world champions were regaining the British Championship to qualify for the quarter-finals, the reigning European champions were struggling in Group One. They qualified only by virtue of the Republic of Ireland's surprise victory over Czechoslovakia in Prague.
As on their previous visit, Spain had a solid defence and it was not until six minutes from time that England scored. From a free-kick by Moore, Bobby Charlton ran wide and then shot past Sadurni to give England a lead to defend in the second leg.
England were much more impressive in the second leg, coming from behind with Norman Hunter (who did not play in the first leg) netting the winner. They went on to finish third in Italy after losing their semi-final 1-0 to Yugoslavia in Florence. Having lost their European Championship title, Spain went into decline. It was to be another ten years before they qualified for another major occasion, the World Cup of 1978. They returned to Wembley in 1981.
     

Source Notes

"When Eire beat Czechoslovakia last year, thereby allowing Spain to advance to the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship, the grateful Spaniards are reputed to have sent the Irish a case of sherry. After the draw for the round had been made in Paris yesterday Spanish feelings may not have been quite so sanguine. For depending on the outcome of the international at Hampden Park next month Spain will play Scotland or England. England, who lead by a point in the home championship, need only a draw to qualify; Scotland must win, which gives added point to their meeting on February 24. The draw is:-Scotland or England v, Spain; France v. Yugoslavia; Hungary v. Russia; Bulgaria v. Italy. Ties, decided on a home-and-away basis, must be completed between March 1 and May 15.
"There is, moreover, a considerable incentive towards winning the quarter-final, for the successful country will have for opponents in the semi-final round France or Yugoslavia, perhaps the least strong of the six other countries to reach the present stage of the competition. As a further inducement for Scotland to beat England and Spain they have been nominated as second-choice to hold the semi-finals and final, which are all to be played in one country, in June. At the moment these stages are to be decided in Italy, provided Italy are in the semi-finals." - Wednesday, 17 January 1968, The Glasgow Herald.

"The Football Association yesterday announced the dates on which England will meet Spain in the quarter-finals of the European Championship if they get through against Scotland. They are:- Wednesday, April 3, at Wembley, and Wednesday, May 8, in Spain." - Thursday, 15 February 1968, The Glasgow Herald

TheFA.com
UEFA.com
BDFutbol.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG