FIFA World Cup – Sweden 1958
World Cup 1958 Poster
The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from June 8 to June 29. Sweden was chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1950. It was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5-2 in the final for their first title.
Qualification
This World Cup saw the entry and qualification of the Soviet Union for the first time, and the qualification of all the United Kingdom ‘s Home Nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with Northern Ireland eliminating Italy for the first time in the competition’s history.
Aside from the main European zone matches, Wales, which finished second in its group behind Czechoslovakia , were drawn into a play-off with Israel after Israel won their group without playing a match due to the withdrawals of the three opponents, Turkey , Indonesia and Sudan . FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match because many teams qualified for previous World Cups without playing due to withdrawals of their opponents. Wales won the play-off and qualified.
Summary
The format of the competition changed from 1954 : 16 teams still competed in four groups of four, but this time each team played each of the other teams in its group at least once, without extra time in the event of a draw. Instead, if second and third place finished on the same points, then there would be a play-off with the winner going through. If a play-off resulted in a draw, then goal average from the group games would have been used to determine who went through to the next round. If the goal averages were equal then lots would have been drawn. If the first two teams finished on equal points then goal average would decide who was placed first and second.
In Group 4, Pelé did not play until the last of Brazil ‘s group games, against the Soviet Union.
Playoffs were also needed in Group 1 ( Northern Ireland beat Czechoslovakia to join the defending champions West Germany in the quarter-finals) and Group 3 ( Wales topped Hungary to advance with hosts Sweden ). Hungary had become a spent force after their appearance in the final of the previous tournament. They had lost their best players two years before, when they fled in the wake of the failed uprising against the communist regime. In a rather restrictive sense, from the 1954 team, only goalkeeper Gyula Grosics , defender Jozsef Bozsik and forward Nándor Hidegkuti remained.
Of the British nations, it was arguably Scotland who had the toughest group, having to face Yugoslavia , Paraguay , and France . France topped Group 2, with Just Fontaine netting six goals. Yugoslavia finished second, while Scotland came in last.
World Cup Brazil Team Squad
The quarter-finals saw France’s Just Fontaine continue in similar form to the group stage, managing another two goals as France triumphed over Northern Ireland. West Germany’s Helmut Rahn put them into the semi-finals with a single goal against Yugoslavia, while Sweden went though at the expense of USSR. The other game in the quarter-finals saw Pelé score the only goal against Wales.
In the semi-finals, Sweden continued their strong run as they defeated West Germany 3-1 in a vicious game in which megaphones were used to orchestrate the home crowd shouting “Heja, Heja”.
The third place match saw Fontaine score four more goals as they beat the Germans 6-3. This brought his total to 13 goals in one competition, a record that still has not been broken.
The final was played in Solna , in the Råsunda Stadium , as 50,000 people watched in amazement as the Brazilians went a goal down after four minutes. The Jules Rimet trophy belonged to Brazil – the World Cup winners.
Venues
A record of twelve cities hosted the tournament:
- Borås Ryavallen -15,000
- Eskilstuna Tunavallen -20,000
- Gothenburg Ullevi -43,200
- Halmstad Örjans Vall -15,000
- Helsingborg Olympia -16,000
- Malmö Malmö Stadion -26,500
- Norrköping Idrottsparken -20,000
- Örebro Eyravallen -13,000
- Sandviken Jernvallen -20,000
- Solna Råsunda Stadium -50,000
- Uddevalla Rimnersvallen -12,000
- Västerås Arosvallen -10,000