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
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. [1]
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 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.
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 a Dutch player'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 [2]. Argentina won the final 3-1 after extra time, with two goals from the tournament's top scorer Mario Kempes, who scored 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 stood amounted to $750 million [3].
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
Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1978 FIFA World Cup squads.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 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
Group 2
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1
| ||
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | ||
Group 3
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2
| ||
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
Group 4
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2
| ||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
Second round
Group A
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4
| ||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | ||
Group B
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0
| ||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | ||
Third place match
Final
Awards
| 1978 World Cup Winners |
|---|
Argentina First title |
| FIFA Fair Play Trophy: |
|---|
| Argentina |
Scorers
- 6 goals
- 5 goals
- 4 goals
- Leopoldo Luque
- Hans Krankl
- 3 goals
- Dirceu
- Roberto Dinamite
- Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
- Paolo Rossi
- Johnny Rep
- 2 goals
- Daniel Bertoni
- Nelinho
- Heinz Flohe
- Dieter Müller
- Roberto Bettega
- Ernie Brandts
- Arie Haan
- Zbigniew Boniek
- Grzegorz Lato
- Archie Gemmill
- 1 goal
- René Houseman
- Daniel Passarella
- Alberto Tarantini
- Erich Obermayer
- Walter Schachner
- Reinaldo
- Zico
- Marc Berdoll
- Bernard Lacombe
- Christian Lopez
- Michel Platini
- Dominique Rocheteau
- Rüdiger Abramczik
- Bernd Hölzenbein
- Hansi Müller
- Karoly Csapo
- Andras Toth
- Sandor Zombori
- Iraj Danaeifard
- Hassan Rowshan
- Romeo Benetti
- Franco Causio
- Renato Zaccarelli
- Victor Rangel
- Arturo Vasquez
- Dick Nanninga
- René van de Kerkhof
- Willy van de Kerkhof
- Cesar Cueto
- Jose Velasquez
- Kazimierz Deyna
- Andrzej Szarmach
- Kenny Dalglish
- Joe Jordan
- Juan Manuel Asensi
- Dani
- Thomas Sjöberg
- Mokhtar Dhouib
- Nejib Ghommidh
- Ali Kaabi
- Own goals
- Berti Vogts (for Austria)
- Andranik Eskandarian (for Scotland)
- Ernie Brandts (for Italy)
Trivia
- 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 official mascot of this World Cup was Gauchito, a gaucho boy wearing Argentina's uniform.
- 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.
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.