The competition was marred by the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958, when an aircraft carrying the Manchester United football team home from a European Cup match in Belgrade crashed at the Munich-Riem airport on take-off.

Three of the dead, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards were experienced England team members while Jackie Blanchflower, an Ireland international, was left permanently disabled.

This tragedy rather subdued the tournament culmination two months later, although the England team did secure a cathartic 4–0 victory in Glasgow over the Scots with one of the goals coming from Bobby Charlton, who had been injured in the Munich crash.

Wales and Ireland again struggled to a 1–1 draw, denying the Irish a rare undisputed title while England, with a team containing several young and inexperienced players, achieved an impressive 4–0 victory over the Scots in Glasgow to take their share of the tournament.

The competition was also intended to have been a good indicator of form going into the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, which all four Home Nations had reached through separate qualifying groups.