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The FIFA World Cup History

History of the FIFA World Cup - Timeline of Events 1958-1970

History of the World Cup - Sweden 1958:

This World Cup was the first to embrace new technology, as England's 0-0 draw with Brazil was shown on television across the world. The qualifiers were too much for Spain, Uruguay, and most surprisingly Italy. The appearance of minnows such as Northern Ireland, Wales and the USSR at the World Cup finals also added a bit of spice to the occasion.

Sweden 1958 is most famously known for being the tournament when the world first set eyes on a young 17 year old called Pele, who inspired the Brazilian team to finally win the Jules Rimet trophy, as Brazil came of age as a footballing nation.

Brazil cruised through the group stages, with England and Czechoslovakia notable casualties due to the new extra-games format used when teams were tied on points.

The French team were extremely prolific in Sweden, scoring 26 goals, and with Just Fontaine scoring 13 goals. His top goal-scorer record in a World Cup Finals still stands today. The French dream was ended by Brazil when, only days after scoring his first goal in the tournament (against Wales), Pele scored a hat-trick giving Brazil a 5-2 win.

Sweden shocked West Germany in the semi-final, but couldn't match the genius of Pele, and lost 5-2 in the final. Pele scored twice as the Jules Rimet Trophy went to Brazil, and in Pele, a star was born.

History of the World Cup - Chile 1962:

Chile hosted the World Cup tournament in 1962, and the event was notable for its bad tempered matches and fist fights between teams.

One of the most notorious football matches was between Italy and Chile, now famously dubbed the Battle of Santiago. Tensions between the two teams were high after Italian journalists reported negatively on the state of the Chilean nation. Two Italian players were sent off, one had his nose broken after being punched by a Chilean player, and the police had to intervene three times before Italy finally won 2-0.

Bad tempers were rife throughout the tournament with a total of six players sent off.

The usual suspects of Brazil, England, Italy, and USSR were seen as the favourites, and the European teams enjoyed the fast tempo and physical nature adopted by many. Despite this, however, Italy and Spain failed to qualify from the group stages.

Chile stunned the USSR, a victory which saw the nation take to the streets in celebration, whilst Brazil beat England, leaving a nation frustrated due to its lack of international success.

Pele limped out after just one game due to injury, and the Brazilian flair was disrupted, yet they still breezed through to the final where they met the surprise package of the tournament in Czechoslovakia, who had shocked everyone by beating Hungary and then Yugoslavia to reach the final.

The shock looked set to continue as the Czechs took an early lead, but a technically superior Brazil were eventually too much. Brazil eventually beat the Czechs 3-1, winning the trophy for a second time.

History of the World Cup - England 1966:

Football came home as England hosted the World Cup tournament, and won football's greatest prize for the first time; fitting for the nation who invented the beautiful game.

World Cup Willie became the first official mascot of the World Cup Finals, and before the tournament the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a stamp exhibition. It was found a week later by Pickles the dog who became a national hero overnight.

England 1966 wasn't without controversy, as African nations pulled out of the tournament when FIFA changed the qualification process meaning that the continent no longer had a guaranteed place in the finals.

South Africa was not invited to play in the final due to its apartheid policy, and England manager Alf Ramsey was told to apologise to the Argentine players by FIFA after he described them as “animals” following an ugly quarter-final clash which England won 1-0.

One of football's biggest upsets was caused by the part-timers of North Korea in their final group match when Pak Doo Ik scored the only goal to put them through, and knock out Italy, who were welcomed home by a barrage of rotten tomatoes.

North Korea looked to repeat this feat in the quarter-finals against a Eusebio inspired Portugal. Korea seemed to have pulled of the incredible when they raced to a 3-0 lead within 22 minutes, but then Eusebio, nicknamed the ‘Black Pearl' stepped up. Eusebio dragged his nation out of the mud, scoring an incredible four times, and Portugal eventually won 5-3.

Portugal, with Golden Boot winner Eusebio, were up against England in the semi-final. England were ably marshalled by Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles to win 2-1 in a close match. With West Germany beating the USSR, it was to be an England v West Germany final at a packed Wembley stadium. 93,000 people crammed in to witness one of the all time great World Cup finals.

Despite falling behind to Haller's strike, England came back with goals from Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters to lead 2-1 but, with only seconds remaining, West German defender Wolfgang Weber blasted in from close range to take the match to extra-time.

Then came one of the most controversial goals in World Cup history. Geoff Hurst swivelled in the box, only to crash his shot off the underside of the bar. The ball bounced, seemingly on the line, but the Russian linesman declared that it had in fact crossed the line, and despite the German protests the goal stood. To this day people still argue as to whether or not the ball actually crossed the line.

In the last minute of extra-time Geoff Hurst broke free and planted the ball in the top corner, as TV commentator Kenneth Wolstenhome said the immortal line of “they think it's all over, it is now”.

With the Jules Rimet trophy now belonging to England, they became the first host-nation to win the World Cup since Italy in 1934.

History of the World Cup - Mexico 1970:

There are some World Cup finals that stand head and shoulders above the rest. Mexico 1970 was one of these classics for a single reason: Brazil. Brazil have been widely regarded as the greatest footballing team of all time, littered with stars, classic performances, incredible goals, and by playing the kind of football that the others could only dream of.

In the 1970 tournament, Brazilian Jairzinho became the first player to score in every round of the World Cup. The introduction of two substitutions, red and yellow cards and penalty shoot-outs were among the other firsts at the tournament.

FIFA was initially worried about the high altitude causing problems for the players, especially for the European teams, as the importance of TV demanded that games kicked of at midday to allow worldwide audiences to be able to watch.

A new high of 75 teams applied to enter the World Cup in 1970. Teams such as Spain, France, Portugal and Hungry failed to make it past the qualifiers, with El Salvador, Israel and Morocco making their first appearances.

There were a number of all-time classic games during the Mexico World Cup, including England v Brazil, the match many believed to be a prelude to the final. Brazil edged it 1-0, and England goalkeeper Gordon Banks produced what is regarded as the greatest save of all time from a Pele header.

The quarter-final between England and West Germany was a repeat of the 1966 final, and with England cruising 2-0 with 20 minutes to go, it seemed to be heading one way. That was until Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton were substituted, apparently to save them for the next match, and Gerd Mueller destroyed England scoring a hat-trick, with the winner in extra-time knocking out the defending champions.

West Germany fell at the semi-final stage in another classic match, the 4-3 defeat to Italy. The scores were a tense 1-1 at full-time, and with Beckenbauer playing with a dislocated shoulder in extra-time, he couldn't stop the Azzurri meeting Brazil in the final.

The monumental efforts of the Italians in the semi-final seemed to leave them drained, and the Brazilians tore them apart in the final, running out 4-1 winners. Captain Carlos Alberto lifted the Jules Rimet trophy for Brazil. This was Brazil's third World Cup win meaning that the trophy was theirs to keep, and the Brazilian team carried a tearful Pele out of the stadium on their shoulders as a mark of respect for one of football's all time greats, as he played his last World Cup football match for the country.

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