Group 3 of the 1978 FIFA World Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

. The group consisted of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In their first world cup since

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, Austrian players retrieved a part of their past glory. They won the group before an astonished

. "Auriverdes" who scored only two goals were thrilling until the end of the third game. An Austrian equalizer could send Spain to the next round. Finally, Brazilians clinched the second place to reach the second round where they had to play against the Argentinians hosts and Peruvians in a "Latin American coloured group".

Standings

Matches

Austria vs Spain

Brazil vs Sweden

This match is remembered for Zico's disallowed goal during injury time of the second half. Welsh referee Clive Thomas whistled for full time while the ball was in the air after a corner kick, fractions of second before Zico's header

Austria vs Sweden

Brazil vs Spain

Spain vs Sweden

Brazil vs Austria

References

External sources

Report of the game Austria-Spain

Report of the game Brazil-Sweden

Report of the game Brazil-Spain

Report of the game Spain-Sweden

{{DEFAULTSORT:Group 3

Groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

Austria at the 1978 FIFA World Cup Brazil at the 1978 FIFA World Cup Spain at the 1978 FIFA World Cup Sweden at the 1978 FIFA World Cup