The 1961–62 European Cup was the seventh season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Benfica for the second time in a row, beating Real Madrid 5–3 in the final at the Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, on 2 May 1962. This outcome meant that Real Madrid became the first team to win and lose European Cup final. Ferenc Puskás scored his second hat-trick in the final of the competition, and as of May 27th, 2026, is the only player to achieve this feat, as well as being the only final hat-trick scorer to end up on the losing side.
Malta entered its champion for the first time this season.
Teams A total of 29 teams participated in the competition.
For the first time since European Cup inaugural season Spain was represented by only one team – ever-present Real Madrid. Benfica qualified as title holders and since they were also Portuguese champions, runners-up Sporting CP were invited. CDNA Sofia appeared in the sixth edition of European Cup, with only Real Madrid having more appearances in the competition.
Austria Wien, Boldklubben 1913, Tottenham Hotspur, Valkeakosken Haka, Monaco, Hibernians, Feyenoord, Górnik Zabrze and 1. FC Nürnberg made their debut in the competition, while Juventus, Panathinaikos and Fredrikstad returned to the tournament from previous edition.
Servette and Partizan returned to the tournament for the first time since 1956, while Spora Luxembourg and Vasas returned to the competition after five and four years, respectively.
All participants were their respective associations champions, except for Boldklubben 1913, IFK Göteborg and Sporting CP. The first two were leading their respective leagues in spring, but finished third in autumn of 1961.
Austria Wien Standard Liège CDNA Sofia Dukla Prague Boldklubben 1913 Vorwärts Berlin Tottenham Hotspur Valkeakosken Haka Monaco Panathinaikos Vasas Juventus Spora Luxembourg Hibernians Feyenoord Linfield Fredrikstad Górnik Zabrze Benfica TH Sporting CP Drumcondra Steaua București Rangers Real Madrid IFK Göteborg Servette Fenerbahçe 1. FC Nürnberg Partizan
Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 4 July 1961.Corriere dello Sport, 5 July 1961. As title holders, Benfica received a bye, and the remaining 28 teams were grouped geographically into two pots. The first team drawn in each pot also received a bye, while the remaining clubs would play the first round in September.
Pot 1Northern EuropePot 2Southern EuropeDrawnNorthern IrelandEnglandWest GermanyEast GermanyPolandNorwaySwedenDenmarkNetherlandsFranceRepublic of IrelandBelgiumLuxembourgScotlandSpainPortugalSwitzerlandAustriaRomaniaBulgariaGreeceCzechoslovakiaHungaryYugoslaviaItalyMaltaByes Valkeakosken Haka Fenerbahçe The calendar was decided by the involved teams, with all matches to be played by 30 September.
First leg
Second leg
Rangers won 6–4 on aggregate.
Dukla Prague won 6–5 on aggregate.
Feyenoord won 11–2 on aggregate.
1. FC Nürnberg won 9–1 on aggregate.
Boldklubben 1913 won 15–2 on aggregate.
Partizan won 3–1 on aggregate.
Standard Liège won 4–1 on aggregate.
Real Madrid won 5–1 on aggregate.
Servette won 7–1 on aggregate.
Tottenham Hotspur won 10–5 on aggregate.
Juventus won 3–2 on aggregate.
Austria Wien won 2–0 on aggregate.
Vorwärts Berlin won 3–0 on aggregate.
Bracket
First round
First leg
Second leg
Real Madrid won 12–0 on aggregate.
Standard Liège won 7–1 on aggregate.
Benfica won 6–2 on aggregate.
Juventus won 7–1 on aggregate.
Tottenham Hotspur won 4–2 on aggregate.
Dukla Prague won 5–4 on aggregate.
Rangers won 6–2 on aggregate.
1. FC Nürnberg won 3–1 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Standard Liège won 4–3 on aggregate.
Juventus 1–1 Real Madrid on aggregate; play-off needed.
Benfica won 7–3 on aggregate.
Tottenham Hotspur won 4–2 on aggregate.
Play-off
Real Madrid won 3–1 in play-off.
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Benfica won 4–3 on aggregate.
Real Madrid won 6–0 on aggregate.
Final
Top goalscorers The top scorers from the 1961–62 European Cup (including preliminary round) were as follows:
RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Heinz Strehl 1. FC Nürnberg82 Ferenc Puskás Real Madrid7 Alfredo Di Stéfano Real Madrid Justo Tejada Real Madrid5 José Águas Benfica6 Roger Claessen Standard Liège Bent Løfqvist Boldklubben 1913 Bobby Smith Tottenham Hotspur9 Eusébio Benfica5 Rudolf Kučera Dukla Prague
Notes
References
External links 1961–62 All matches – season at UEFA website All scorers 1961–62 European Cup (excluding preliminary round) according to protocols UEFA – results and line-ups (archive) European Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation