Fencing at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's team sabre

Cuba defeated Romania 9–7, followed by Romania defeating the Soviet Union 9–7. In the final match of the pool, Cuba needed a win to take first place while the Soviet team needed to reach at least 10 bouts won to guarantee first place (a 9–7 Soviet win would result in a three-way tie, broken by touches). The Soviets got to 10–5 to win the pool, with the final bout unnecessary.

Pos	Team	W	L	BW	BL	Qual.		URS	ROU	CUB
1	Soviet Union	1	1	17	14	QS			7–9	10–5
2	Romania	1	1	16	16	QQ		9–7		7–9
3	Cuba	1	1	14	17			5–10	9–7

Poland defeated East Germany 9–7, followed by East Germany and Bulgaria tying 8–8 (with 63 touches apiece). Poland defeated Bulgaria 9–7 to win the pool. East Germany and Bulgaria were tied on matches, bouts, and touches received, but East Germany had 2 more touches scored than Bulgaria (having scored 60–62 against Poland, to Bulgaria's 58–62).

Pos	Team	W	L	BW	BL	Qual.		POL	GDR	BUL
1	Poland	2	0	18	14	QQ			9–7	9–7
2	East Germany	0.5	1.5	15	17			7–9		8–8
3	Bulgaria	0.5	1.5	15	17			7–9	8–8

In the only match of the pool, Italy defeated Hungary 8–7. (The final bout was unnecessary, as Italy's 65–52 touches lead ensured that Italy would win the tie-breaker even if Hungary won the last bout 5–0.)

Pos	Team	W	L	BW	BL	Qual.		ITA	HUN
1	Italy	1	0	8	7	QS			8–7
2	Hungary	0	1	7	8	QQ		7–8