Argentina 1978 World Cup Finals
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Football Index:
World Cup Finals: Argentina 1978.
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row
As in West Germany, again the Dutch finished runners-up to the hosts.
World Cup History - Argentina 1978
Home side Argentina, welcomed by sackfulls of shredded newspaper drifting down from the stands, stumbled to Italy in the first-round group stage and almost lost out on a final spot to Brazil.
Argentina needed to beat Peru by four clear goals, in the last group match. They managed six, with Mario Kempes (the tournament's leading goalscorer with six goals) adding another two to his tally.
For the fifth time, in eleven World Cup Finals, a host nation lifted football's greatest prize: Uruguay, in 1930; Italy, in 1934; England, in 1966 and West Germany, in 1974 had all achieved the feat.
After Argentina, home fans needed to wait 20 years to see this achieved again; in France 98.
After the Argentina 1978 World Cup Finals, Keith Burkinshaw went on to make the shrewdest buys of the summer, by bringing Osvaldo 'Ossie' Ardiles and Ricardo 'Ricky' Villa to Tottenham's White Hart Lane.
In August of 1978, Tottenham fans introduced sackfuls of ticker-tape at Nottingham Forest's Trent Bridge; helping the Argentinians feel at home in English football.
16 Countries Competed at Argentina 1978
Argentina
Group 1 (2:1) (2:1) (0:1); Group B (2:0) (0:0) (6:0);
Winner (3:1 aet).
Austria
Group 3 (2:1) (1:0) (0:1); Group A (1:5) (0:1) (3:2).
Brazil
Group 3 (1:1) (0:0) (1:0); Group B (3:0) (0:0) (3:1);
Third place (2:1).
France
Group 1 (1:2) (1:2) (3:1).
Holland
Group 4 (3:0) (0:0) (2:3); Group A (5:1) (2:2) (2:1);
Finalist (1:3 aet).
Hungary
Group 1 (1:2) (1:2) (1:3).
Iran
Group 4 (0:3) (1:1) (1:4).
Italy
Group 1 (2:1) (3:1) (1:0); Group A (0:0) (1:0) (1:2);
Third place (1:2).
Mexico
Group 2 (1:3) (0:6) (1:3).
Peru
Group 4 (3:1) (0:0) (4:1); Group B (0:3) (0:1) (0:6).
Poland
Group 2 (0:0) (1:0) (3:1); Group B (0:2) (1:0) (1:3).
Scotland
Group 4 (1:3) (1:1) (3:2).
Spain
Group 3 (1:2) (0:0) (1:0).
Sweden
Group 3 (1:1) (0:1) (1:1).
Tunisia
Group 2 (3:1) (0:1) (0:0).
West Germany
Group 2 (0:0) (6:0) (0:0); Group A (0:0) (2:2) (2:3).
First Round - Group Stage
Group 1
Played in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata.
2nd June
Argentina vs Hungary (2:1)
Italy vs France (2:1)
6th June
Argentina vs France (2:1)
Italy vs Hungary (3:1)
10th June
Italy vs Argentina (1:0)
France vs Hungary (3:1)
Italy and Argentina qualify for the final round.
Group 2
1st June
Buenos Aires: West Germany vs Poland (0:0)
2nd June
Rosario: Tunisia vs Mexico (3:1)
6th June
Cordoba: West Germany vs Mexico (6:0)
Rosario: Poland vs Tunisia (1:0)
10th June
Cordoba: West Germany vs Tunisia (0:0)
Rosario: Poland vs Mexico (3:1)
Poland and West Germany qualify for the final round.
Group 3
Played in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata.
3rd June
Austria vs Spain (2:1)
Sweden vs Brazil (1:1)
7th June
Austria vs Sweden (1:0)
Brazil vs Spain (0:0)
11th June
Spain vs Sweden (1:0)
Brazil vs Austria (1:0)
Austria and Brazil qualify for the final round.
Group 4
Played in Cordoba and Mendoza.
3rd June
Peru vsv Scotland (3:1)
Holland vs Iran (3:0)
7th June
Scotland vs Iran (1:1)
Holland vs Peru (0:0)
11th June
Peru vs Iran (4:1)
Scotland vs Holland (3:2)
Peru and Holland qualify for the final round.
Final Round - 2nd Group Stage
Group A
Played in Buenos Aires and Cordoba.
14th June
West Germany vs Italy (0:0)
Holland vs Austria (5:1)
18th June
Italy vs Austria (1:0)
West Germany vs Holland (2:2)
21st June
Holland vs Italy (2:1)
Austria vs West Germany (3:2)
Holland won two and drew one, to reach the final.
Group B
Played in Mendoza and Rosario.
14th June
Brazil vs Peru (3:0)
Argentina vs Poland (2:0)
18th June
Poland vs Peru (1:0)
Argentina vs Brazil (0:0)
21st June
Brazil vs Poland (3:1)
Argentina vs Peru (6:0)
Argentina scored more goals than Brazil against Peru, to earn a place in the final.
Third Place - 24th June, 1978
Buenos Aires: Brazil vs Italy (2:1)
1978 World Cup
Final
25th June:
Argentina vs Holland (3:1 aet)
Buenos
Aires.
Appearances:
How many appearances each country has made in the World Cup Finals.
World Cup Finals
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2)
on July 30th, 1930.
Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy
for the home fans.
France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.
Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.
Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.
Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.
England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.
W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.
Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany,
they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.
Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.
Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.
Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.
USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.
France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.
Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.
Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening
match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the
semi-finals.
South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.
Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.
Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.
Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.
United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of
Morocco.
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