The final was played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on 21 June 1964 in front of 79,115 spectators. Spain's Suárez struck an early free kick over the Spain crossbar before his pass to Marcelino was cut out by Yashin. In the sixth minute, Marcelino dispossessed Ivanov, took the ball past Eduard Mudrik and after making a one-two with Lapetra, crossed for Pereda who scored to give Spain a 1–0 lead. Two minutes later, Viktor Anichkin passed to Galimzyan Khusainov down the left side of the pitch and his weak shot was mishandled by the Spain goalkeeper Iribar to allow the equaliser. Despite the two early goals, the remainder of the half saw both sides competing in the midfield with several misplaced passes and fouls, although Yashin saved shots from both Pereda and Fusté before Iribar kept Chislenko's attempt out.
