FIFA World Cup History - Reliving Germany’s 2nd title in the 1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 World Cup marked the 10th anniversary of the World Cup, which began back in 1930. West Germany were the proud hosts of this tournament, chosen in July 1966 by FIFA. This tournament was historic as it was the first time that the current trophy was ever awarded to a team. The previous Jules Rimet Trophy was given to Brazil permanently when they won an unprecedented 3rd title. West Germany also won the title, for the second time, when they defeated the Netherlands 2-1.
98 teams battled out for qualification, with heavy weight France, Spain, England and Hungary failing to qualify. The format for this edition of the World Cup was changed from that of 1970. Here 16 teams were split into four groups. Top two teams qualified and went into the next round. The top 8 teams were then split into two groups of four, with the top two playing the final. The second teams from both groups played for the third place. The tournament was mostly played in terrible weather conditions, and fans had to bear the weather as there were not many covered stands.
The Netherlands outplayed everyone in their group, using their famous Total Football technique. The total football technique eliminated the need for specific positions, and anybody could play anywhere. They topped the group, defeating Uruguay and Bulgaria, and drew with Sweden. Sweden was the second team which qualified, after they overcame Uruguay 3-0. Poland was also in red hot form, when they defeated all of their group teams, which included heavy weights Italy and Argentina. They thrashed Haiti 7-0 to cement their place into the next round. Argentina qualified due to goal difference.
Brazil, Yugoslavia and Scotland all drew their group round matches, and the team who defeated Zaire with the most margin would qualify. Yugoslavia lashed Zaire 9-0, while Brazil managed a 3-0 win. Scotland did win the match 2-0, but were eliminated, thus being the only team to be eliminated without losing a match. Group 1 saw both East and West Germany qualify, causing Chile and Australia to crash out of the World Cup.
In the next round, surprisingly, Poland met West Germany, who both topped their group, while Brazil met Netherlands, who were the strong favourites. It was known to be the semi finals as all the four teams had taken maximum points in the group. West Germany just managed to defeat the Poles, with a goal from the legendary Gerd Muller turning out to be the only goal separating the two sides. Netherlands defeated Brazil 2-0. Two second half goals from Johan Neeskens were enough to sink the Brazilians. Brazilians were defeated by Poland 1-0 to capture the third spot.
Franz Beckenbauer captained West Germany into the final against the Netherlands, who had the services of the extremely talented Johan Cruyff. The Dutch boasted their Total Football system, which had perhaps led them to the final. With only a minute to the opening whistle, the Dutch were in front owing to a penalty awarded to Cruyff. The Germans then fought back and also scored on a penalty, in the 26th minute. The scores were level and Germans dominated possession. In his truly remarkable and famous fashion, Gerd Muller scored in the 43rd minute, which proved to be the winner. That goal was Muller’s last since he retired from international football after the match. In the second half, both sides had chances to score, but failed to covert. With the score line staying the same at the final whistle, West Germany were crowned the World Champions for the second time.
They were the first team to accomplish the feat of holding two International trophies, as they were also the European champions at the time. Only France was able to repeat the feat, having won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000.Gerd Muller’s goal in the final made him the top scorer of all time, having scored 14 in two World Cups. His record was broken by Ronaldo in 2006, who scored 15 in 3 World Cup appearances.
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