FIFA World Cup History – FIFA World Cup 1970
FIFA World Cup 1970 took place in the South American country Mexico. It was held between 31st May and 21st June. This was the first World Cup that took place outside of Europe and South America. For the Brazilian star Pele’, this was the fourth and final World Cup. This World Cup is still considered by many fans as the finest FIFA World Cup in the history of the game.
Like all other World Cups, there were supposed to be four groups, top two from each group would qualify for the next round and then battle each other out for a spot in the semi finals and then the final. The teams that qualified in this FIFA World Cup, included; Soviet Union, Mexico, Belgium, El Salvador, Italy, Uruguay, Sweden, Sweden, Israel, Brazil, England, Romania, Czechoslovakia, West Germany, Peru, Bulgaria and Morocco.
In the first group, the Soviets were considered to be one of the best teams of the tournament. They proved themselves by drawing their first match against Mexico and winning the other two against Belgium, 4-1, and El Salvador, which ended 2-0. They topped their group to be the first team to qualify for the next round. The runner-up of the group was the host nation itself, Mexico. The Mexicans drew their first match against the Soviets and won the other two against Belgium and El Salvador. Mexicans, however, did not manage to top the group because the Soviets had scored more goals.
In group 2, Italy, Uruguay and Sweden had to fight each other for a spot in the next round as the fourth team were the underdogs, Israel. Uruguay and Italy both won their first match to make a step towards their qualification, as the Italians defeated the Swedes with a one goal margin. In the second round of the group stages, Italy and Uruguay had to go head to head and it was sure that whoever was going to win this match was going to top the group, but the match ended in a goalless draw. On the other hand, the Swedes drew the match against Israel to put their qualification in jeopardy. In the last round of the group stages, Uruguay suffered a loss from the Swedes and qualified for the next round while the Italians drew the match with Israel to top the group.
In group 3, the defending champions, England had to go head to head with the mighty Brazilians. With these two powers ringing in the same group, Romania and Czechoslovakia had no chance to qualify in the next round. England and Brazil both won their first matches to prove themselves. In the next round of the group stages, they had to go head to head and it was sure that whoever was going to win was going to top the group, and England suffered a 1 goal loss as Jairzinho scored a goal in the second half to lead his team to victory. In the last matches for both of them, they both won and qualified for the quarter finals.
In the fourth group, West Germany was battling 3 of the easiest teams in the FIFA World Cup; Peru, Bulgaria and Morocco. It was known by all the fans that the Germans were definitely going to qualify and they did, by winning all the matches they played. Peru, on the other hand, won all the matches except the one in which they were against the West Germans. They both qualified for the next round of the World Cup.
In the quarter finals, Soviet Union faced Uruguay and the Uruguayans somehow defeated them by scoring a goal in extra time to qualify for the semi finals. The next match was between Brazil and Peru, in which, Brazil smashed Peru in a 4-2 win over them, with Tostao scoring the first and the last goal of the match. The third match was between Italy and Mexico and the result was pretty much expected. Italy ruined the Mexican’s dreams by winning 4-1. The last quarter final supposed to be a master blaster. It was West Germany going head to head with England who had won the last World Cup. These two were facing each other in the last World Cup’s final and a goal was given by the side line referee which actually did not really cross the goal line. The Germans took care of the English side in extra time as Muller scored the third goal and won it for his team and qualified for the semi finals.
The semi finals were between the four best teams in the World; Brazil, Uruguay, West Germany and Italy. The first match was between Brazil and Uruguay. Both the South American teams battled each other out for a place in the final. Brazilians and Uruguayans, both, wanted to win their 3rd title and Brazil stepped on Uruguayans hopes by winning the match 3-1 to qualify for the final. In the other semi final, West Germany faced the Italians in an action pact match which went onto extra time as the West Germans equalized in the 90th minute with the help of Schnellinger’s shot that could not be blocked by the Italian keeper and went into the net. In extra time the score was tied 3-3 and both of them kept trying hard to steal a win. Finally, a goal from Rivera sealed the deal for the Italians as the Germans could not cross the Italian defence after that. The match was considered to be one of the best matches in the World Cup history.
The final was between Brazil and Italy, both were good teams back then, but the Brazilian side proved to be the better side on that day; in fact the best of that tournament as they destroyed the Italians by defeating them 4-1. Pele’ opened the scoring in the 18th minute and the Italians came back to draw in the 37th minute from a goal by Boninsegna. The second half was all Brazil; as Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, all three scored one goal apiece to end the game 4-1 and made Brazilians the champions of the World for the third time in World Cup history.
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