1978 FIFA World Cup

The 1978 FIFA World Cup was held in Argentina between June 1 and June 25. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina who became the fifth team (after Uruguay, Italy, England, and West Germany), to be both hosts and world champions.

Qualification

England failed to qualify for the second World Cup in succession, losing out to Italy. European champion Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union also failed to make it through the qualifying tournament. Newcomers to the finals were Iran and Tunisia, while France, Spain and Hungary were back for the first time since 1966.

Summary

First Round

The format of the competition stayed the same: 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four.

Poland won Group 2 ahead of world champions West Germany, after holding the Germans to a goalless draw and then beating Tunisia and Mexico. The Germans played out a second goalless draw against Tunisia, and only redeemed themselves with a 6-0 thrashing of Mexico. Although they failed to qualify for the second round, Tunisia made history by beating Mexico 3-1.

Peru pushed the Netherlands into second place in Group 4. Scotland drew with Iran 1-1 and the only highlight of their campaign was a 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in their final group game which was not enough to prevent elimination. Iran, the reigning Asian champions, went out of the tournament winless.

In Group 3 Austria finished ahead of Brazil. The Austrians beat Spain and Sweden, while Brazil were held to draws by the same two teams. Brazil needed to beat Austria in their final group game to be sure of progressing to the second round, and managed. Brazil and Austria thus finished with the same number of points and the same goal difference, but Austria won the group by virtue of having scored more goals.

Group 1 had the strongest line-up of teams in the first round, featuring Italy, the host Argentina, France and Hungary. The two places in the second round were claimed before the final round of games, with Italy and Argentina both beating France and Hungary.

Second Group Round

In the all-European Group A, the Netherlands got off to a flying start by thrashing Austria 5-1. The Italians beat Austria 1-0, and so the Netherlands faced Italy in their last group game knowing that the winners would reach the final. The Netherlands had reached their second successive World Cup Final. West Germany were surprisingly beaten by Austria 2-3 which marked their end as World Champions.

Group B was essentially a battle between Argentina and Brazil. Argentina met the Netherlands in the final. Brazil, denied a final place by Argentina’s 6-0 win over Peru, took third place from an enterprising Italy side and were dubbed “moral champions” by coach Cláudio Coutinho, because they did not win the tournament, but did not lose a single match either.

The Final

The final, Argentina vs Netherlands, was also controversial. The Netherlands refused to attend the post-match ceremonies after the match ended. Argentina won the final 3-1 after extra time, with two goals from Mario Kempes, who was also the tournament’s top scorer with six goals. The Netherlands lost their second World Cup final in a row, both times to the host nation, after losing to West Germany in 1974.

Mascot

The official mascot of this World Cup was Gauchito, a boy wearing an Argentina strip. His hat (with the words ARGENTINA ’78), neckerchief and whip are typical of gauchos .

Venues

• Buenos Aires – Estadio Monumental Capacity: 76,000
• Mendoza – Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza Capacity: 34,875
• Mar del Plata – Estadio José María Minella Capacity: 43,542
• Cordoba – Estadio Chateau Carreras  Capacity: 46,083
• Rosario – Estadio Gigante de Arroyito Capacity: 41,654
• Buenos Aires – Estadio José Amalfitani Capacity: 49,540