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The FIFA World Cup History

History of the FIFA World Cup - Timeline of Events 1974-1986

History of the World Cup - West Germany 1974:

The arrival of colour TV had made the 1974 World Cup a must-see event worldwide.

Brazil's attacking flair had dominated world football in recent years, but one European country then changed the way football was played forever - Holland.

The Dutch team of the 1970s created the style called “total football”, famously used by the Ajax team dominating football in Holland at the time. “total football” allowed an incredible amount of fluency between the players, no matter what position they played.

With stars such as Neeskens, Rep, Rensenbrin, and Cruyff, the orange of Holland became feared, and the fact that they destroyed Argentina 4-0 and beat both East Germany and Brazil only enhanced their reputation.

There was a clutch of teams playing in their first World Cup in 1974, with East Germany, Australia, Haiti and Zaire (the first sub-Saharan African nation to reach the FIFA World Cup finals) all appearing in West Germany.

The World Cup in West Germany used a different system to the previous knock-out one favoured in the previous World Cup tournaments. After the original group stages, the eight qualifiers were put into two groups. The winners of each of these groups then met each other in the World Cup final, and the runners-up contested the third and fourth places in a play-off.

West Germany was another feared nation. Ruthlessly efficient, strong and led by Franz Beckenbauer and “Der Bomber” Gerd Muller, West Germany were much fancied to win the trophy on their own patch.

But the West German team faced a crisis after their final first group match against their East German neighbours. Despite West Germany having already qualified, East Germany beat their illustrious hosts 1-0, and Beckenbauer called an emergency team meeting and apologised to the nation in an unprecedented move. The West German team reacted by breezing through the second phase to set up a Holland v West Germany final.

Total football looked to be the winner, as a complicated run from Cruyff led to him being tripped in the box for a penalty. Neeskens slotted away the penalty, and incredibly Holland were 1-0 up within a minute without the Germans even having touched the ball.

But Beckenbauer and Vogts soon stifled the Dutch creative ability, and fought back with a penalty from Breitner, and a Gerd Muller winner sealed the Dutch's fate. This gave West Germany their first World Cup since 1954, and they became the first winners of the new Gold FIFA World Cup.

History of the World Cup - Argentina 1978:

Argentina's attempt to host the FIFA World Cup was surrounded by political controversy, as many countries debated whether or not they would boycott the tournament, due to General Videla's abusive regime. Cruyff refused to travel to the World Cup, and noticeable absentees, included the USSR, Yugoslavia, and England, who yet again failed to qualify.

Another footballing legend was on show, in the form of French playmaker Michel Platini, but the French failed to progress from the initial group stages. Nor did Scotland, who were embarrassed 3-1 by Peru and drew with Iran. Beating Holland 3-2 in the last match wasn't enough to save them.

Spain once again failed on the big stage, and West Germany's lack of killer instinct put them to the sword in the second round of group stages.

Argentina had a talented side, with Villa, Ardiles, a young Diego Maradona and the goal scoring talents of Mario Kempes firing them into the final group stages. Many believe that there was something afoot, as Brazil's victory over Poland meant that Argentina had to beat Peru by four clear goals to top the group and progress to the finals. Argentina won 6-0, thanks largely to some comical defensive mistakes, meaning that Brazil had to make do with a play-off, in which they beat Italy to win 3^rd place.

Argentina took on a resurgent Holland, who came alive in the second group stage, but in the final Golden Boot winner Kempes was too much for them to handle. Argentina ran out 3-1 winners resulting in wild celebrations in Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina.

History of the World Cup - Spain 1982:

FIFA had a new qualification structure in place for the 1982 World Cup, meaning that a wider range of the world's football teams were represented than ever before.

There were 13 qualifiers from Europe, three from South America, two from Africa, two from Asia/Oceania, and two from Central and North America from the 105 teams who originally entered.

The England football team was packed full of stars, and they fancied their chances to bring back the title. They went flying out of the blocks in their opening match against France, where Bryan Robson scored the fastest goal at a World Cup Finals, hitting the net after only 26 seconds in the 3-1 victory over France. England raced through the first set of group stages, but a lack of goals ultimately cost them dearly, and their journey was over in the second phase.

Hungary recorded a record 10-1 victory over El Salvador. France, Germany and Italy all struggled through the first set of matches, with only goal difference saving the Italians an embarrassing exit. West Germany were humbled by Algeria in their opening match, going down 2-1.

Northern Ireland's striker Norman Whiteside was the youngest player to appear at the World Cup Finals at just 17 years and 42 days, and was instrumental in beating the host-nation, Spain, 1-0.

Another all-time classic match was the deciding match of the second phase of group stages between Italy and Brazil. With the winner guaranteed a place in the semi-final a Brazil team with such stars as Socrates and Zico attacked relentlessly, but the Italians had the goal scoring prowess of Paulo Rossi, whose hat-trick was enough to see the Italians through 3-2 in a wonderful encounter.

Italy then strolled past Poland into the final, but the other semi-final was another monumental clash between France and West Germany. France took the game to extra-time thanks to Platini's equaliser, then raced into a 3-1 lead, before the Germans pulled it back, and eventually won on penalties.

Italy cruised past a tired West Germany in the final to win 3-1, with Golden Boot winner Rossi scoring once again. Italian goalkeeper and captain, 40 year-old Dino Zoff collected the World Cup, which went to Italy for the third time in World Cup history.

History of the World Cup - Mexico 1986:

Mexico 1986 was a truly great World Cup Final, with some of the world's finest players appearing, controversy, and some amazing goals.

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Mexico became the first nation to host the tournament twice, as original hosts Columbia pulled out due to the financial implications of hosting the tournament. A major earthquake killed 20,000 in Mexico on the eve of the tournament, but the decision was made for it to go ahead.

The 1986 World Cup tournament dropped the two group stages, favouring the system that is still used today, one group stage, then a straight knock-out format.

The group stages ran largely to form. England had a few tense moments, and it took a Gary Lineker hat-trick in their final group match against Poland to see them through.

The French were expected to go all the way with a talented team made up of Platini, Tigana and Giresse, and after strolling the group stage, and beating Italy in the 2^nd round, many thought that they would. But they lost to West Germany in the semi-finals for the second tournament running.

Penalties also decided the matches between West Germany v Mexico, and Belgium v Spain. West Germany and Belgium went through to the semi-finals.

One of the most exciting games of the tournament was Argentina v England, meeting for the first time since the Falklands War. Argentina were inspired by the immense talent of Diego Maradona, who scored one of the most controversial goals of all time. He used his hand to put the ball into the net, later claiming that the goal was scored only by “the hand of God”. He then scored again, rounding the hapless Peter Shilton after a run from the halfway line, putting the Argentines two goals up. Gary Lineker's header pulled one back. This was Lineker's sixth goal of the tournament and won him the Golden Boot, but it wasn't enough. Argentina marched on to the semi-final and England found themselves on the plane home.

Maradona scored another wonder-goal, helping to put the Belgians to the sword, and West Germany beat France 2-0 in the other semi-final.

Argentina were widely regarded as an average team, yet with Maradona in their midst, they became World Champions, as he won them the trophy almost single handedly. 115,000 fans crammed into the Aztec Stadium to see the final between Argentina and West Germany, where Argentina needed extra-time to win 3-2.

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