After beating the Soviet Union 4–2 on aggregate over a two-legged tie in the quarter-finals, they progressed to the final after defeating the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the semi-finals.

West Germany also won their qualifying group, which included Greece, Malta and Bulgaria, before beating Spain 3–1 on aggregate in the two-legged quarter-finals and then tournament hosts Yugoslavia 4–2 after extra time in the single-match semi-final.

[1] Thirty-two teams competed in qualifying rounds,[2] which were played on a home-and-away round-robin basis, between 1 September 1974 and 28 February 1976,[3] before the two-legged quarter-finals were held between 24 April and 22 May 1976.

The fixture was fulfilled the following afternoon and although Channon gave England the lead midway through the first half, goals either side of half-time from Nehoda and Dušan Galis ensured a 2–1 victory for Czechoslovakia.

Anton Ondruš gave Czechoslovakia the lead in the seventh minute but Nené equalised almost immediately and no further goals were scored, resulting in a 1–1 draw.

The second half was goalless and the result ensured that Czechoslovakia ended as winners of Group 1, one point ahead of England, and securing progression to the quarter-finals.

The match was played in wet conditions and Jozef Móder opened the scoring for Czechoslovakia, striking past Aleksandr Prokhorov in the 34th minute.

Just after half-time, Panenka doubled Czechoslovakia's lead when his free kick passed under the Soviet Union's defensive wall and into the bottom corner of the net.

[18] Ivo Viktor, the Czechoslovak goalkeeper, made several saves in the first half, denying Blokhin, Volodymyr Veremeyev and Anatoliy Konkov, before Móder gave Czechoslovakia the lead with a free kick just before half-time.

With 17 minutes remaining, Ondruš sliced the ball into the Czechoslovak net when attempting to clear a cross from Ruud Geels to level the score with an own goal.

Neeskens was then dismissed for a foul on Nehoda before Viktor denied Rob Rensenbrink on three separate occasions to send the game into extra time.

[21] Four minutes later, Panenka passed to Veselý who avoided Netherlands defender Piet Schrijvers before striking the ball into the goal, securing a 3–1 victory and passage to the final.

Bernhard Cullmann equalised for West Germany early in the second half before Kostas Eleftherakis restored Greece's lead with 20 minutes of the game remaining.

After a goalless first half, Jupp Heynckes scored midway through the second to give West Germany the lead, but Delikaris equalised with twelve minutes remaining to secure a 1–1 draw.

Heynckes and Beer both doubled their tally before Berti Vogts and Bernd Hölzenbein scored late in the game to secure an 8–0 win for their side.

[29] Santillana gave Spain the lead midway through the first half: outjumping Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, he controlled Goyo Benito's cross and struck it past Sepp Maier in the West Germany goal.

[31] Uli Hoeneß put West Germany ahead in the 17th minute volleyed Beer's cross over his own shoulder to make it 1–0 before Klaus Toppmöller doubled the lead just before half-time when he converted a rebound after Miguel Ángel saved Franz Beckenbauer's shot.

[34] Midway through the second half, West Germany substitute Heinz Flohe's shot was deflected off Wimmer past Ognjen Petrović in the Yugoslavia goal to halve the deficit.

[41][38] The Czechoslovak team had prepared for a potential shoot-out while training ahead of the tournament, their manager Václav Ježek deploying hundreds of people behind the goal to intimidate the penalty takers.

[44] Midway through the first half, Schwarzenbeck fouled Koloman Gögh and Masný took the resulting free kick which was cleared by Beckenbauer as far as Dobiaš who struck a half-volley past Maier to make it 2–0.

[46] With around ten minutes remaining, both sides made substitutions, Czechoslovakia's Ladislav Jurkemik coming on for Švehlík and West Germany's Beer being replaced by Hans Bongartz.

[40] Viktor made saves from Flohe and Müller but with no change to the scoreline after the additional 30 minutes, the match went to a penalty shoot-out for the first time in the tournament's history.

Nehoda, Ondruš and Jurkemik then all scored for Czechoslovakia while Flohe and Bongartz converted their penalties to make it 4–3 as Hoeneß stepped up to take his kick.

Striking it firmly, the ball sailed high over the Czechoslovak crossbar leaving Panenka with the opportunity to win the final for his side should he score.

Taking a short and stuttering run-up, he gently struck the ball in an arcing parabola into the net while Maier had already dived and was resting on his knees.

[47][50] David Lacey, writing for The Guardian described Panenka's winning penalty as "a remarkably cool double shuffle ... before scoring with a cheeky little chip.

"[40] He went on to suggest that while West Germany "had speed, wit and invention", Czechoslovakia were "more direct in their methods, more inclined to launch searching attacks from deep positions".

[52] Viktor later recalled that he blamed himself for Czechoslovakia conceding the equaliser in the final moments of the match, suggesting that he "wasn't aggressive enough going for the ball", that he had been tired and had lost concentration.

[54] The French newspaper L'Équipe reported that "this final showed a great dialogue between the playful ease of [Czechoslovakia] and the German football machine.

West Germany automatically qualified as champions of the 1974 FIFA World Cup but were knocked in the second group stage, placing third behind the Netherlands and Italy.