1978 FIFA WORLD CUP
The '1978 FIFA World Cup', the 11th staging of the World Cup, was held in Argentina between June 1 and June 25. Argentina was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. 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 sixth team (after Uruguay, Italy, West Germany, Brazil, and England) to be world champions.
Qualification
Main articles: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
Summary
The format of the competition stayed the same as in 1974: 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. The top two teams in each group would advance to the second round, where they would be split into two groups of four. The winners of each group would play each other in the final, and the second place finishers in the third place match.
A controversial fact surrounding the 1978 World Cup was that Argentina had suffered a military coup only two years before the cup. Because of this, some countries, most notably the Netherlands, considered publicly whether they should participate in the cup. Despite this, all teams eventually participated without restrictions although the Dutch team attended without its star, Johan Cruijff, who refused to participate.
In a first-round game against the Netherlands, Scotland's Archie Gemmill scored a famous goal, which was later made a part of a memorable scene in the movie ''Trainspotting''. Scotland needed to win the game by a margin of three goals to advance to the second round, and Gemmill made it 3-1 only for the Dutch to score and deny Scotland with a 3-2 result.
There was a controversy surrounding this World Cup dealing with Argentina's final game in the second round against Peru. Because of goal difference, Argentina needed to defeat Peru by at least four goals to qualify for the final instead of Brazil, thanks to Brazil's 3-1 victory against Poland played a few hours earlier. The Peruvian goalkeeper at the time, Ramón Quiroga, was actually born in Argentina and had, until that game, only let in six goals in five matches. Argentina had only scored six goals in the competition up to this point; they put the same number past Peru, winning 6-0 and advancing to the final ahead of Brazil on goal difference. Players of both sides still deny any agreement to favour Argentina. (It is said that Peruvian players get easily demoralized, which may account for the 6-0 defeat; during the 1982 World Cup finals, they were also defeated 5-1 by Poland, but no one suggested any foul play in that result.) The format has since been changed so that the final games in a group are played at the same time.
The final, Argentina vs Netherlands, was also controversial, as the Dutch accused the Argentinians of using stalling tactics to delay the match. The host team came out late and questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof's wrist -- allowing tension to build for the visitors in front of a hostile Buenos Aires crowd. The Netherlands refused to attend the post-match ceremonies after the match ended [1]. 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.
This was one of the few World Cups not to make a profit, as the tournament's losses amounted to $750 million [2].
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
Five cities hosted the tournament:
★ Buenos Aires, Estadio Monumental and Estadio José Amalfitani
★ Córdoba, Estadio Chateau Carreras
★ Mar del Plata, Estadio José Maria Minella
★ Mendoza, Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza
★ Rosario, Estadio Gigante de Arroyito
Seeded teams
, , , and
Match officials
;Africa
★ Youssou N'Diaye
;Asia
★ Farouk Bouzo
★ Jaffar Namdar
;Europe
★ Ferdinand Biwersi
★ Charles Corver
★ Jean Dubach
★ Ulf Eriksson
★ Antonio Garrido
★ John Gordon
★ Sergio Gonella
★ Alojzy Jarguz
★ Abraham Klein
★ Erich Linemayr
★ DuÅ¡an Maksimović
★ Angel Franco MartÃnez
★ Károly Palotai
★ Pat Partridge
★ Adolf Prokop
★ Nicolae Rainea
★ Francis Rion
★ Clive Thomas
★ Robert Wurtz
;North and Central America
★ Archundia González
;South America
★ Ramon Barreto
★ Arnaldo Cézar Coelho
★ Angel Norberto Coerezza
★ César Orosco
★ Juan Silvagno
Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see ''1978 FIFA World Cup squads''.
Results
First round
All times local (UTC-3)
Group 1
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '6' | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | |
| '4' | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | |
| '2' | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| '0' | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -5 |
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Group 2
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '5' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | |
| '3' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | |
| '0' | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | -10 |
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Group 3
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '4' | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | |
| '4' | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | |
| '3' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| '1' | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 |
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Group 4
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '5' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | |
| '3' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | |
| '3' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | |
| '1' | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -6 |
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Second round
Group A
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '5' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | |
| '3' | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| '2' | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | |
| '2' | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 |
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Group B
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '5' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | |
| '5' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | |
| '2' | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | |
| '0' | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | -10 |
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Third place match
Final
Awards
| 1978 World Cup Winners |
|---|
'Argentina' 'First title' |
| FIFA Fair Play Trophy: |
|---|
| Argentina |
Scorers
Other facts
★ Argentina was a candidate to host the 1970 World Cup, but since Mexico City was hosting the 1968 Summer Olympics and had constructed new football stadia, it went to Mexico.
★ The Netherlands's Rob Rensenbrink's goal against Scotland was the 1000th goal of World Cup history.
★ Scotland's Willie Johnston was expelled from the World Cup after he was found to have taken a banned stimulant during the opening game against Peru.
★ At the final minutes of the Brazil vs Sweden match, the Brazilians were awarded a corner kick that resulted in a goal (which would have given Brazil a 2-1 victory). However, the goal was not awarded, because the referee Clive Thomas had whistled the end of the game as the ball was being kicked into the area. The Brazilian players were not happy with the decision, but the final result remained a 1-1 draw.
Firsts
★ For the 1978 World Cup, FIFA introduced the penalty shootout 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 before 120 minutes.
★ Tunisia was the first African team to win a match in World Cup finals, beating Mexico 3-1.
★ This edition was the first appearance of Coca-Cola in the FIFA World Cup as a sponsor.
Notes
External links
★ 1978 FIFA World Cup on FIFA.com
★ Details at RSSSF
★ History of the World Cup-1978
★ Planet World Cup - Argentina 1978
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