FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, a quadrennial
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
(and
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the
FIFA World Cup Trophy
The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...
, created by the Italian sculptor
Silvio Gazzaniga
Silvio Gazzaniga (; 23 January 1921 – 31 October 2016) was an Italian sculptor. While working for the Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni company, he created the FIFA World Cup Trophy.
Biography
Silvio Gazzaniga was born in Milan on 23 January ...
, was awarded. The previous trophy, the
Jules Rimet Trophy
The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...
, had been won for the third time by
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 ...
in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
and awarded permanently to the Brazilians. This was the first out of three World Cups to feature two rounds of group stages.
West Germany won the title, beating the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
2–1 in the final at the
Olympiastadion
Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to:
* Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'')
* Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...
in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. This was the second victory for West Germany, who had also won in
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
.
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
and
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
made their first appearances at the final stage, with the latter two making their only appearance, and East Germany making their only appearance before Germany was reunified in 1990.
Host selection
West Germany was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London, England on 6 July 1966. Hosting rights for the
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
and
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
tournaments were awarded at the same time. West Germany agreed to a deal with Spain by which Spain would support West Germany for the 1974 tournament, and in return West Germany would allow Spain to bid for the 1982 World Cup unopposed.
Havelange on "planned" host winner
Speaking in 2008, former FIFA president
João Havelange
Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, athlete and centenarian who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the ...
said to ''
Folha de Sao Paulo
''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...
'' that the competition, along with the
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
, was fixed so that the host country would win: "In the three matches that the Brazilian national team played in 1966, of the three referees and six linesmen, seven were British and two were Germans. Brazil went out,
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
Sir Stanley Rous
Sir Stanley Ford Rous (25 April 1895 – 18 July 1986) was an English football referee and the 6th President of FIFA, serving from 1961 to 1974. He also served as secretary of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962 and was an international ...
, who was the President of FIFA at the time, had wanted. In Germany in 1974 the same thing happened. During the Brazil-Holland match, the referee was German, we lost 2-0 and Germany won the title. We avelange was Brazilianwere the best in the world, and had the same team that had won the World Cup in 1962 in Chile and
1970 in Mexico
Events in the year 1970 in Mexico.
Incumbents Federal government
* President: Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (until 30 November), Luis Echeverría (starting 1 December)
* Interior Secretary (SEGOB): Mario Moya Palencia
* Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE): ...
, but it was planned for the host countries to win".
Qualification
Ninety-eight countries took part in the qualifying tournament.
Some of football's most successful nations did not qualify, including 1966 champions England, France, hosts and quarter-finalists of the 1970 tournament Mexico, Spain, 1966 third-place finishers Portugal, 1970 quarter-finalists Peru, Belgium, 1962 runners-up Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Hungary, and Romania. The USSR was also disqualified after refusing to travel for the second leg of their playoff against Chile as a result of the
1973 Chilean coup d'état
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...
. The Netherlands and Poland qualified for the first time since 1938. Scotland was back in the Finals after a 16-year absence. Argentina and Chile were also back after having missed the 1970 tournament and Yugoslavia was back after missing both the 1966 and 1970 tournaments.
First-time qualifiers were East Germany (who made their sole World Cup or European Championship appearance as a separate team); Australia, which were the first team from Oceania to qualify (although they would not qualify again until the next time the tournament was held in Germany, in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
); Haiti, the first team from the Caribbean to qualify since
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in 1938; and Zaire, the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to reach the finals, and the third African team overall.
As of 2022, this was the last time Haiti and Zaire (now DR Congo) qualified for a FIFA World Cup tournament, as well as the last time Spain failed to qualify.
This was the first tournament in which the defending champions (in this case
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 ...
) played in the opening game as opposed to the hosts, although this was later changed back to the hosts for the
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
tournament, which was also held in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, as the defending champions no longer had a secured spot in the tournament.
List of qualified teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
AFC (0)
* ''None qualified''
CAF (1)
*
OFC (1)
*
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...
(1)
*
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
(4)
*
*
*
*
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
(9)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* (hosts)
*
Format
The tournament featured a new format. While the competition once again began with the sixteen teams divided into four groups of four teams, the eight teams which advanced did not enter a knockout stage as in the previous five World Cups but instead played in a second group stage. The winners of the two groups in the second stage then played each other in the final, with the respective runners-up from each group meeting in the third place play-off. This was one of only two times that this format was deployed (1978 being the other). For the 1974 World Cup, FIFA introduced the
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
as a means of determining the winner in knockout stages should the match end on a draw after 120 minutes. The method, however, was not put in practice as both the third-place match and the final were decided after 90 minutes. The first World Cup to feature a penalty shoot-out was the 1982 World Cup, in the semi-final match between France and West Germany.
It was decided in advance that if the host nation progressed to the second round their matches would not take place simultaneous to the other matches but instead be held in the other timeslot (either 16:00 or 19:30 local time).
Summary
First round
The tournament was held mostly in bad weather, and the stadia had few protected places. Only five western European nations had qualified, of which only the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
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 ...
made it past the group stage. Fans from the Eastern Communist neighbour states East Germany, Bulgaria and Poland were hindered by political circumstances.
Carlos Caszely
Carlos Humberto Caszely Garrido (born 5 July 1950 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean former footballer, nicknamed "Rey del metro cuadrado" ( en, King of the square meter, pt, O Rei do Metro Quadrado), who played as a forward.
Regarded as one o ...
of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
became the first player to be sent off with a
red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction.
Red card may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers
* Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...
in a World Cup match, during their match against West Germany. Red cards were formally introduced in World Cup play in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, but no players were sent off in that tournament.
Two teams made a particularly powerful impact on the first round. The Netherlands demonstrated the " Total Football" techniques pioneered by the top Dutch club
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, in which specialised positions were virtually abolished for the outfield players, and individual players became defenders, midfielders or strikers as the situation required. The Dutch marked their first World Cup finals since 1938 by topping their first-round group, with wins over
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and a draw with Sweden. Sweden joined the Dutch in the second group round after beating Uruguay 3–0.
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, meanwhile, that also marked their first World Cup finals since 1938, took maximum points from a group containing two of the favourites for the tournament. They beat
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
3–2, trounced
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
7–0, then beat
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
2–1 – a result that knocked the Italians out of the Cup and resulted in Argentina qualifying for the second group round on goal difference. Argentina would not fail to win either of their opening two games of a World Cup again until 2018. While Haiti lost all three games and finished second-to-last in the tournament, they did have one moment of glory; in their opening game against Italy, they managed to take the lead with a goal from
Emmanuel Sanon
Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 ...
, before eventually losing 3–1. That goal proved to be significant as it ended
Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at the ...
's run of 1,142 minutes without conceding a goal – Italy had not conceded in their last 12 international matches.
Group 2 was a particularly close group. With
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 ...
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
drawing all their games against each other, it was decided by the number of goals these three teams scored when defeating
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
. Yugoslavia hammered the African nation 9–0, equalling a finals record for the largest margin of victory. Brazil beat them 3–0. Scotland however only managed a 2–0 margin, and so were edged out of the tournament on goal difference. They were the only team that did not lose a game in the tournament as well as becoming the first ever country to be eliminated from a World Cup Finals without having lost a match.
Group 1 contained both
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
and the host
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and they both progressed at the expense of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and newcomers
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The last game played in Group 1 was much anticipated, a first ever clash between the two German teams. West Germany was already assured of progression to the second round whatever the result. In one of the most politically charged matches of all time, it was the East that won, thanks to a late
Jürgen Sparwasser
Jürgen Sparwasser (born 4 June 1948 in Halberstadt) is a retired German football player and later briefly a football manager.
Sparwasser started his playing career in the youth department of his hometown club BSG Lokomotive Halberstadt in 19 ...
goal. This result forced a realignment of the West German team that would later help them win the tournament.
Second round
Coincidentally, the two second-round groups both produced matches that were, in effect, semi-finals. In Group A, the Netherlands and Brazil met after each had taken maximum points from their previous two matches. In Group B, the same happened with West Germany and Poland – so the winners of these two games would contest the final.
In Group A, two goals from the inspirational
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...
helped the Dutch side thrash Argentina 4–0. At the same time, Brazil defeated East Germany 1–0. The Dutch triumphed over East Germany 2–0 while in the "Battle of the South Americans", Brazil managed to defeat Argentina 2–1 in a scrappy match. Argentina and East Germany drew 1–1 and were on their way home while the crucial match between the Netherlands and Brazil turned into another triumph for Total Football, as second-half goals from
Johan Neeskens
RCH may stand for:
* Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization
* Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways
* The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian F ...
and Cruyff put the Netherlands in the final. However the match would also be remembered for harsh defending on both sides.
Meanwhile, in Group B, West Germany and Poland both managed to beat Yugoslavia and Sweden. The crucial game between the Germans and the Poles was goalless until the 76th minute, when Gerd Muller scored to send the hosts through 1–0. The Poles took third place after defeating Brazil 1–0.
Final
The final was held on 7 July 1974 at Olympiastadion, Munich. West Germany was led by
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...
, while the Dutch had their star
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...
, and their Total Football system which had dazzled the competition. With just a minute gone on the clock, following a solo run, Cruyff was brought down by
Uli Hoeneß
Ulrich "Uli" Hoeneß (, ; born 5 January 1952) is the former president of German football club Bayern Munich and a former footballer for West Germany who played as a forward for club and country. Hoeneß represented Germany at one World Cup and ...
inside the German penalty area, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing penalty by
Johan Neeskens
RCH may stand for:
* Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization
* Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways
* The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian F ...
before any German player had even touched the ball. West Germany struggled to recover, and in the 26th minute were awarded a penalty, after
Bernd Hölzenbein
Bernd Hölzenbein (born 9 March 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker or winger. At international level, he was a member of the West German team that won the World Cup in 1974. Hölzenbein is best known fo ...
fell within the Dutch area, causing
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
referee Jack Taylor to award another controversial penalty.
Paul Breitner
Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best players of his era, Breitner was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and was named by Pel ...
spontaneously decided to kick, and scored. These two penalties were the first in a World Cup final. West Germany now pushed, and in the 43rd minute, in his typical style,
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...
scored what turned out to be the winning goal, and the last of his career as he retired from the national team. The second half saw chances for both sides, with Müller putting the ball in the net for a goal that was disallowed as offside. In the 85th, Hölzenbein was fouled again, but no penalty this time. Eventually, West Germany, European Champions of 1972, also won the 1974 World Cup.
This was the only case of the reigning European champions winning the World Cup, until Spain (champions of the
UEFA Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...
) defeated the Netherlands in the South Africa
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
Final. France have also held both trophies, albeit in a different order, at the same time by winning the 1998 World Cup followed by Euro 2000.
Joao Havelange (former FIFA President from 1974 to 1998) claimed that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed so that England and Germany would win respectively.
This was only the second time that a team had won the World Cup after losing a match in the Finals (West Germany losing to East Germany during the group stage). The previous occasion was West Germany's earlier win in 1954.
Poland's
Grzegorz Lato
Grzegorz Bolesław Lato (Polish pronunciation: ; born 8 April 1950) is a Polish former professional football player and manager who played as a winger. He was a member of Poland's golden generation of football players who rose to fame in the 1 ...
led the tournament in scoring seven goals.
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...
's goal in the final was the 14th in his career of two World Cups, beating
Just Fontaine
Just Louis Fontaine (born 18 August 1933) is a French former professional footballer. A prolific forward, he is best known for scoring the most goals in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in 1958. In 2004, Pel ...
's record of 13, in his single World Cup. Müller's record was only surpassed 32 years later, in 2006 by
Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People
Notable people known as Ronaldo include:
As ...
's 15 goals from three World Cups and then 8 years after, in 2014 by
Klose Klose is a surname of German language, German, Silesian, and West Slavic languages, West Slavic origins, and may refer to
* Adolf Klose (1844–1923), German railroad engineer and inventor
* Alfred Klose (1895–1953),(:de:Alfred Klose (Mathematike ...
's 16 goals from four World Cups.
Günter Netzer
Günter Theodor Netzer (born 14 September 1944) is a German former professional football player, executive and pundit. He achieved great success in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the early 1970s and, after moving to Spain in 1973, wit ...
, who came on as a substitute for West Germany during the defeat by the East Germans, was playing for
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
at the time: this was the first time that a World Cup winner had played for a club outside his home country.
This is the last of four
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
tournaments to date with no
extra-time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
matches. The others are the
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
,
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
, and
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
Jafar Namdar
Jafar Namdar (2 July 1934 – 1 January 2014) was an Iranian football referee.
Refereeing career
Namdar officiated as a referee at the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups.
When he refereed Australia vs Chile at the 1974 FIFA World Cup Namdar beca ...
*
Govindasamy Suppiah
Govindasamy Suppiah (born 17 June 1929 – 6 December 2012) was a Singaporean football referee.
Suppiah officiated at the 1974 FIFA World Cup where he took charge of one match, Poland's 7–0 win against Haiti and went on to officiate as a line ...
CAF
*
Mahmoud Mustafa Kamel
Mahmud is a Romanization of Arabic, transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad (name), Muhammad''.
...
*
Youssou N'Diaye Youssou is a Senegalese given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Youssou Lo (born 1992), Senegalese footballer
* Youssou N'Dour (born 1959), Senegalese singer, percussionist, songwriter, composer, and actor
* Youssou Ndoye
Youssou Ndoy ...
Werner Winsemann
Werner Winsemann was a German-born former football referee. He officiated at the 1974 FIFA World Cup as a referee and linesman. At the 1978 FIFA World Cup he officiated as a linesman (now called assistant referee) only. He is the only Canadia ...
CONMEBOL
*
Ramón Barreto
Ramón Ivanoes Barreto Ruiz (14 September 1939 – 4 April 2015) was a Uruguayan professional association football referee. He is the only referee in the history of the FIFA World Cup to have been appointed to two consecutive Final matches: in 19 ...
Vicente Llobregat
Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer").
Vicente may refer to:
Location
*São Vicente, Cap ...
Luis Pestarino
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and ...
Heinz Aldinger
Heinz Aldinger (born January 7, 1933) is a retired German football referee. He was a linesman at the 1974 FIFA World Cup and refereed one match in the 1980 UEFA European Football Championship in Italy.
He also refereed the 1978 European Cup-Wi ...
*
Aurelio Angonese Aurelio may refer to:
People Politicians
* Aurelio D. Gonzales Jr. (born 1964), congressman in the Philippines
*Aurélio de Lira Tavares (1905–1998), President of Brazil
*Aurelio Martínez, Honduran politician
*Aurelio Mosquera (1883–1939), Pr ...
*
Doğan Babacan
Doğan Babacan (30 November 1929 – 18 May 2018) was a Turkish Referee (association football), football referee. He was the first Turkish referee to supervise a match in FIFA World Cup history.
Babacan was born in Istanbul. He played football f ...
Rudi Glöckner
Rudolf Glöckner (20 March 1929, in Markranstädt – 25 January 1999, in Markranstädt) was the first German to referee a football World Cup final when he took charge of the 1970 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Italy in Mexico City.
Glö ...
*
Pavel Kasakov
Pavel (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel ...
*
Erich Linemayr
Erich Linemayr (24 January 1933 in Linz – 4 June 2016) was an Austrian football referee. He is known for having refereed three matches in the FIFA World Cup, two in 1974 and one in 1978. He also refereed two matches in the 1980 UEFA European F ...
*
Vital Loraux
Vital or Vitals may refer to:
Places
* Vital Creek, a creek located in the Omineca Country region of British Columbia
* Vital Range, a subrange in the Omineca Mountains in British Columbia
People
* Vital (given name)
*Vital (surname)
Arts, ent ...
*
Károly Palotai
Károly Palotai (11 September 1935 – 3 February 2018) was a Hungarian association football player and referee. He was an Olympic Gold winner as a player before turning to refereeing. He was a referee at three World Cup tournaments and offici ...
*
Nicolae Rainea
Nicolae Rainea (19 November 1933 – 1 April 2015), nicknamed ''The Locomotive of the Carpathians'', was a Romanian football referee and player. Highly regarded throughout the world, he is considered one of the best whistles of his generation an ...
Rudolf Scheurer
Rudolf Scheurer (May 25, 1925 – November 1, 2015) was a football (soccer) referee from Bettlach, most remembered for supervising four matches at the FIFA World Cup: two in 1970 and 1974. During his peak times, Scheurer was a high-profile refe ...
*
Gerhard Schulenburg Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to:
Given name
* Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate
* Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark
* Gerhard Barkhorn (1919–19 ...
Kurt Tschenscher
Kurt Waldemar Tschenscher (5 October 1928 – 13 August 2014) was a German football referee.
Born in Schimischow, Weimar Germany (today Szymiszów, Poland), Tschenscher took up refereeing in 1948 and by 1953 he was part of the German Football A ...
*
Arie van Gemert
Arie is a masculine given name.
As a Dutch name, Arie (pronounced ) is generally a short form of Adrianus, but sometimes also of Arend or Arent, Arnout or Arnoud, or even Aaron.
As a Hebrew, Jewish, or Israeli name, Arie (pronounced ) is a tr ...
Tony Boskovic
Anton Boskovic (27 January 1933 – 16 June 2022) was an Australian soccer referee.
Career
Born in Blato, Croatia, Yugoslavia, he emigrated to Australia from the former Yugoslavia in 1955.
Boskovic is known for having refereed two matches in ...
Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see ''
1974 FIFA World Cup squads
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
''.
Seeding
The FIFA Organising Committee agreed by vote to seed the hosts, holders and the other two 1970 semi-finalists into the first position of the four groups:
* (1970 semi-finalists and holders)
* (1970 semi-finalists)
* (1970 semi-finalists)
* (1970 semi-finalists and hosts)
Then the remaining spots in the groups were determined by dividing the participants into pots based on geographical sections. When the final draw was held, the 16th and final qualifier was not yet known; it would be either
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 ...
subject to the result of a final playoff match in February 1974. The two teams had finished with an identical record in their qualification group, and following this situation the rules were changed, so that tied teams had to compete in a playoff match on neutral ground.
Final draw
The final draw took place at 21:30 local time on 5 January 1974 in
HR Sendesaal
HR Sendesaal, formerly Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks (English: Large broadcasting hall of the Hessischer Rundfunk) is a music hall and former television studio based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The hall is part of the Broadcasting ...
in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, and was televised on
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
. 80 commentators were gathered at the Eurovision headquarters, and TV stations from 32 countries had requested pictures of the ceremony at the time. The TV broadcast of this show was followed by an estimated 800 million people.
Ahead of the draw, the FIFA Organising Committee decided that the host nation (
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
) and trophy holder (
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 ...
) would be seeded, and placed respectively into the first position of Groups 1 and 2 prior to the draw. The remaining two top-seeded teams (
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
) would be drawn into the first position of Group 3 and Group 4. It was also decided that South American nations could not play in the same group during the first group stage. In other words,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
drawn from pot 3, could not be drawn into the two groups seeded by Brazil and Uruguay.
Uruguay was drawn before Italy, taking the seeded first position of Group 3, and Italy were drawn into the seeded first position of Group 4. Next, the remaining two South American teams from pot 3 were drawn into the two top-seeded European groups (Group 1 and Group 4), as per the draw regulations. This was followed by a draw of the remaining two European teams from pot 1 into Groups 2 and 3. Finally other nations were drawn on an unseeded basis, one by one into Group 1–4 in numerical order, first from pot 2 and then from pot 4.
The "innocent hand" who made the draws was an 11-year-old boy, Detlef Lange, a member of the
Schöneberger Sängerknaben
The Schöneberger Sängerknaben were a German boys' choir from Berlin, named after the . The choir performed with about 30 boys at a time. They wore short black trousers, black blazers with emblems, white shirts and white knee socks. The rep ...
, a children's choir.
The great sensation of the draw was the meeting of the two German teams in Group 1. When FIFA President Sir
Stanley Rous
Sir Stanley Ford Rous (25 April 1895 – 18 July 1986) was an English football referee and the 6th President of FIFA, serving from 1961 to 1974. He also served as secretary of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962 and was an international ...
had announced the lot, the room was quiet for a few moments, followed by long-lasting applause. In the days following the event, a rumour began circulating that
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
would consider withdrawing from the World Cup following a meeting with the West Germany delegation; however, this was quickly and officially denied by the East German government.
First round
The first round, or first group stage, saw the 16 teams divided evenly into four groups. Each group was a round-robin of six games, where each team played each of the other teams in the same group once. Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams finishing first and second in each group qualified for the second round, while the bottom two teams in each group were eliminated from the tournament.
Tie-breaking criteria
Teams were ranked on the following criteria:
: 1. Greater number of points in all group matches
: 2. Goal difference in all group matches
: 3. Goals scored in all group matches
: 4. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Second round
The second round, or second group stage, saw the eight teams progressing from the first round divided into two groups of four teams on the basis of the tournament regulations. Group A would consist of the winners of Groups 1 and 3, plus the runners-up from Groups 2 and 4. Group B would consist of the other four teams, namely the winners of Groups 2 and 4, plus the runners-up from Group 1 and 3. Like the first group stage, each group in the second round was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same group. Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The two teams finishing first in each group advanced to the final, while the two runners-up would meet to decide third place.
Tie-breaking criteria
Teams were ranked on the following criteria:
: 1. Greater number of points in all second round group matches
: 2. Goal difference in all second round group matches
: 3. Goals scored in all second round group matches
: 4. Higher finishing position in the table in the first round
: 5. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee
''All times listed below are at local time (
UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
** B ...
)''
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
The third place play-off was the first match in FIFA World Cup history in which a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
could potentially be held (in the event of the score being level after the regular 90 minutes and 30 minutes' extra time). If the teams remained tied in the final after extra time, a replay would be held. Only if the scores remained level during the replay after the regular 90 minutes and 30 minutes' extra time would penalties be used to determine the champion. At all previous World Cup tournaments, the drawing of lots had been foreseen in this situation to split the teams.
''All times listed below are at local time (
UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
** B ...
)''
Third place play-off
Final
Goalscorers
With seven goals, Grzegorz Lato of Poland was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 97 goals were scored by 52 players, with two of them credited as own goals and one player scored for and against.
7 goals
*
Grzegorz Lato
Grzegorz Bolesław Lato (Polish pronunciation: ; born 8 April 1950) is a Polish former professional football player and manager who played as a winger. He was a member of Poland's golden generation of football players who rose to fame in the 1 ...
5 goals
*
Johan Neeskens
RCH may stand for:
* Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization
* Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways
* The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian F ...
*
Andrzej Szarmach
Andrzej Szarmach (; born 3 October 1950) is a former Polish football player.
He played in the Polish national team during its "golden age" in the 1970s. With Grzegorz Lato at his right, Robert Gadocha at his left, and Kazimierz Deyna in suppo ...
4 goals
*
Johnny Rep
John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7.
Playing career
Rep played as a right-footed ...
*
Ralf Edström
Ralf Sigvard Edström (born 7 October 1952) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as Sweden's best player in the 1970s, he started off his career with Degerfors IF in the late 1960s and went on t ...
*
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...
3 goals
*
René Houseman
René Orlando Houseman (19 July 1953 – 22 March 2018), nicknamed ''Loco'', was an Argentine footballer, who played as a winger (association football), right winger. At the beginning of his career, Houseman was considered successor of legendary ...
*
Rivellino
Roberto Rivellino (also Rivelino, ; ; born 1 January 1946) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer. He was one of the stars of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning team. Rivellino currently works as a pundit for Brazilian TV Cult ...
*
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...
*
Kazimierz Deyna
Kazimierz Deyna (; 23 October 1947 – 1 September 1989) was a Polish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder in the playmaker role and was one of the most highly regarded players of his generation, due to his excellent vis ...
*
Paul Breitner
Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best players of his era, Breitner was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and was named by Pel ...
*
Dušan Bajević
Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; gr, Ντούσαν Μπάγεβιτς, ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. H ...
2 goals
*
Héctor Yazalde
Héctor Casimiro Yazalde (29 May 1946 – 18 June 1997) was an Argentine professional footballer who played as a striker.
Nicknamed ''Chirola'', Yazalde scored 46 goals in one single season with Sporting CP, being awarded that season's European ...
*
Jairzinho
Jair Ventura Filho (born 25 December 1944), better known as Jairzinho (), is a Brazilian former footballer. A quick, skillful, and powerful right winger known for his finishing ability and eye for goal, he was a key member and top scorer of th ...
*
Joachim Streich
Joachim Streich (13 April 1951 – 16 April 2022) was a German footballer who won the bronze medal with East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Playing career
Born in Wismar, Streich played as a striker for Aufbau Wismar from 1957 t ...
*
Emmanuel Sanon
Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 ...
*
Joe Jordan
Joseph Jordan (born 15 December 1951) is a Scottish football player, coach and manager. He is currently a first-team coach at AFC Bournemouth.
A former striker, he played for Leeds United, Manchester United, and Milan, among others at club le ...
Wolfgang Overath
Wolfgang Overath (born 29 September 1943) is a former West German footballer. A true one-club man, Overath spent his entire professional career at 1. FC Köln. He represented his country three times in World Cup finals, culminating in 1974 wit ...
*
Stanislav Karasi
Stanislav Karasi (; born 8 November 1946) is a Serbian former football manager and player.
Club career
After coming through the youth system of Red Star Belgrade, Karasi started his senior career with Yugoslav Second League side Borovo. He ret ...
*
Ivica Šurjak
Ivan "Ivica" Šurjak (born 23 March 1953) is a Croatian retired football midfielder. He was the driving force behind the success of Hajduk Split as it became a force in the Yugoslav First League in the 1970s.
Club career
He started his career ...
1 goal
*
Rubén Ayala
Rubén Hugo Ayala Sanabria (born 8 January 1950 in Santa Fe, Argentina) is a former Argentine football player and manager, who played as a forward.
Playing career
Born in Humboldt, Las Colonias Department, Santa Fe Province, Ayala played clu ...
*
Carlos Babington
Carlos Alberto Babington (born 20 September 1949) is an Argentine former football attacking midfielder. He represented the Argentina national team at the 1974 World Cup.
Biography
Babington (nicknamed "El Inglés" – ''The Englishman'') was ...
*
Miguel Ángel Brindisi
Miguel Ángel Brindisi de Marco (born 8 October 1950) is an Argentine football coach and former player. An attacking midfielder, he played for the Argentina national team at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
Playing career
Born in the Almagro neighbo ...
*
Ramón Heredia
Ramón Armando Heredia Ruarte (born 26 February 1951 in Córdoba) is an Argentine former football defender who played for the Argentina national team.
Heredia started his playing career in 1969 with San Lorenzo in Argentina. He was part o ...
Hristo Bonev
Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...
*
Sergio Ahumada
Sergio Alberto Ahumada Bacho (born 2 October 1948) is a retired Chilean footballer, who played for Deportes La Serena, Colo-Colo, Tecos, Unión Española, among others clubs.
International career
He earned 29 caps and scored 6 goals for the Ch ...
Jürgen Sparwasser
Jürgen Sparwasser (born 4 June 1948 in Halberstadt) is a retired German football player and later briefly a football manager.
Sparwasser started his playing career in the youth department of his hometown club BSG Lokomotive Halberstadt in 19 ...
*
Pietro Anastasi
Pietro Anastasi (; 7 April 1948 – 17 January 2020), nicknamed ''Petruzzu 'u turcu'' () by fans, was an Italian footballer who played mainly in the role of a forward.
He started his professional club career in Italy with Varese in 1966, helpi ...
*
Romeo Benetti
Romeo Benetti (; born 20 October 1945) is an Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. A tenacious player, Benetti played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, winning titles with A.C. Milan, Juventus and R ...
*
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player.
As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
*
Gianni Rivera
Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder.
Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...
*
Theo de Jong
Theodorus Jacob de Jong (born 11 August 1947) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current coach of Nigerian Premier League club Ikorodu United F.C.
During his career, he played for NEC Nijmegen and Feyenoord Rotterdam. He earned 15 ...
*
Ruud Krol
Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax, and he became a coach a ...
*
Rob Rensenbrink
Rob Rensenbrink (; 3 July 1947 – 24 January 2020) was a Dutch footballer and member of the Netherlands national team that reached two World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978. A creative and prolific left winger or forward, he became a legend in B ...
*
Jerzy Gorgoń
Jerzy Paweł Gorgoń (born 18 July 1949 in Zabrze) is a Polish former football player who is remembered for his participation in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was a 6'4" tall central defender, who became well known in 1967 while playing for Górn ...
*
Peter Lorimer
Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...
*
Conny Torstensson
Jan Conny Torstensson (born 28 August 1949) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. He represented Åtvidabergs FF, Bayern Munich, and FC Zürich during a career that spanned between 1967 and 1980. A f ...
*
Ricardo Pavoni
Ricardo Elvio Pavoni Cúneo (born August 8, 1943 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan former football defender who played the majority of his career for Club Atlético Independiente in the Argentine First Division.
Career
Club
Pavoni began his fo ...
Jürgen Grabowski
Jürgen Grabowski (7 July 1944 – 10 March 2022) was a German footballer. He played for Eintracht Frankfurt. He became European champion in 1972 and world champion in 1974. Grabowski is considered the greatest Eintracht Frankfurt player ever.
...
*
Uli Hoeneß
Ulrich "Uli" Hoeneß (, ; born 5 January 1952) is the former president of German football club Bayern Munich and a former footballer for West Germany who played as a forward for club and country. Hoeneß represented Germany at one World Cup and ...
Dragan Džajić
Dragan Džajić ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Џајић; born 30 May 1946) is a Yugoslav former footballer from Serbia.
Džajić is widely considered to be one of the best footballers to emerge from the former Yugoslavia, and one of the greatest lef ...
Branko Oblak
Branko Oblak (born 27 May 1947) is a Slovenian football coach and former international player. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or deep-lying playmaker.
Playing career
Brane, as he is often known, started playing football at the you ...
*
Ilija Petković
Ilija Petković ( sr-Cyrl, Илија Петковић, ; 22 September 1945 – 27 June 2020) was a Serbian footballer and manager.
Petković was capped 43 times for Yugoslavia, participating in the 1968 European Football Championship, and in t ...
Own goals
*
Roberto Perfumo
Roberto Alfredo Perfumo (3 October 1942 – 10 March 2016) was an Argentine association football, footballer and sports commentator. Nicknamed ''El Mariscal'', Perfumo is considered one of the best Argentine Defender (association football), defe ...
(for Italy)
*
Colin Curran
Colin John Curran (born 21 August 1947) including date of birth is a former
(for East Germany)
*
Ruud Krol
Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax, and he became a coach a ...
(for Bulgaria)
FIFA retrospective ranking
In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1974 tournament were as follows:
Notes
Scotland were the only unbeaten team in the finals tournament, beating Zaire and drawing with Brazil and Yugoslavia in the first round. Even West Germany, the eventual champions, lost to neighbours East Germany in their group stage match.
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...