After the defeat of the Romanian National team against Czechoslovakia in the quarter-finals of the 1960 UEFA European Championship (0:2 in Bucharest and 0:3 in Bratislava), the Romanian Communist Party decided the withdrawal of all Romanian teams from international competitions to avoid the risk of further "humiliation". Consequently, Romanian national team did not compete also for the qualifiers for 1962 FIFA World Cup where Romania had to play Italy.