Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's European Qualifiers
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The Men's European Football Qualifiers for the 1972 Summer Olympics consisted of two stages, the first single elimination tournament and then group stage.[1]
Dates24 March 1971 – 31 May 1972
Teams22 (from 1 confederation)
Matchesplayed36
Goals scored112 (3.11 per match)
First round
Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's European Qualifiers – First round
Second round
Qualified teams
The following four teams from Europe qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in the Summer Olympics football tournament1 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Soviet Union | Group 1 winners | 18 November 1971 | 2 (1952, 1956) |
 East Germany | Group 3 winners | 26 April 1972 | 1 (1964) |
 Poland | Group 2 winners | 7 May 1972 | 4 (1924, 1936, 1952, 1960) |
 Denmark | Group 4 winners | 21 May 1972 | 6 (1908, 1912, 1920, 1948, 1952, 1960) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
- 2 Includes all participations by a competing nation at the Summer Olympics (clubs representing nations, olympic teams, full national teams, etc.).