World Cup History – FIFA World Cup 1962
The FIFA World Cup 1962 took place in the South American country, Chile. It took place between 30th May and 17th June. The format of the World Cup remained the same, as it was in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Top 4 teams were given one group apiece and the rest were put in a group with them. In this case, the top 4 were Brazil, England, Italy and Uruguay. The top 2 teams in each group advanced to the next round, or the quarter finals.
From the four groups, the first group had Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Uruguay and Colombia paired up against each other to fight for the spot in the quarter finals. The first match took place between Uruguay and Colombia in which the Uruguayans defeated the Colombians by 2-1. The Colombians won an early penalty to get a good start to the game but Uruguay came back in the second half by scoring two goals and leading till the end of the match. The second match was between Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, in which the Soviets defeated the Yugoslavians with a good two goal margin to give a steady start to their World Cup. Yugoslavia then went on to face Uruguay and defeated them to add spice to the group; while the Soviets drew the match 4-4, against Colombia. Everything was up to the last day of the group stages, when Soviet Union defeated Uruguay to qualify for the next round and Yugoslavia smashed the Colombians 5-0, to be a part of the quarter finals.
In the 2nd group, West Germany, Chile, Italy and Switzerland were paired up. The hosts started their World Cup by defeating the Swiss 3-1 while the Germans drew the match against the mighty Italians. In the second round of the group stages, the Italians were beaten by the hosts to cause the first upset of the group stages. West Germany, on the other hand, defeated the Swiss side to knock them out of the World Cup. The last matches of the group stages were to decide whether Italy will qualify or not, but West Germany defeated Chile to knock the Italians out and their 3-0 win over the Swiss mean nothing. West Germany and the hosts, Chile, qualified for the quarter finals.
In the third group, there was a fierce battle for the second spot as Brazil was paired up with Czechoslovakia, Mexico and Spain. The Spaniards, back then, were not that strong but were always considered as a tough team. Brazil took a good start by winning 2-0 from Mexico while the Czechs defeated the Spanish side 1-0. Brazil then drew the match against Czechoslovakia, as both the teams were unable to score, while the Spaniards stole a win from the Mexicans by scoring a 90th minute goal. Brazil and Spain went head to head in the last match to decide the fate of Spain in the World Cup; and the Brazilians did what they had to, and won the match 2-1 to knock Spain out. On the other hand, Mexico won the match against the Czechs but it meant nothing as the Czechs had already qualified for the next round.
In the last group; Hungary, England, Argentina and Bulgaria went head to head to decide who would be going to the quarter finals. Argentina won the first match against Bulgaria but lost the match against England and drew with Hungary to get knocked out of the World Cup. Hungary won their first match against the mighty English side, smashed Bulgaria with a 6-1 victory and drew the last match against Argentina to top the group. Bulgaria were beaten in both the games they played first, so they had no chance to stay in the World Cup and were the first ones of the group to get knocked out as England stood 2nd and qualified for the quarter finals.
During the knockout stages, Soviet Union had to go head to head with the host nation, Chile and they suffered a loss. Chile took an early lead which was equalized by the Soviets in the 26th minute. Chile did not let the Soviets put the match on level terms and scored a winner right after 3mins to get a win. In the second quarter final, the defending champions Brazil had to face the English side and Brazilians won it 3-1, and qualified for the semi finals to face the hosts, Chile. West Germany had to face Yugoslavia, and West Germany lost the match as the Yugoslavians scored a late goal to qualify for the semi finals. In the last quarter final, the very impressive Hungary side was defeated by the Czechoslovakians by a single goal scored by Scherer in the 13th minute, to make his country a part of the semi finals.
Out of the four teams that had qualified, Brazil were the favourites and they had to face the host nation and their neighbours, Chile. Brazil took an early 2 goal lead as Garrincha scored two goals in the first half. Chile, however, came back right before the end of the first half when Toro scored his first goal of the match. In the second half it was Vava for the Brazilians as he scored the goal right after the half started, to lead his team 3-1. Chile’s player Sanchez, however, won a penalty and scored to make his team come back from a 3-1 to a 3-2. Vava, on the other hand, was not yet finished. In the 78th minute he struck a beautiful shot which found the net to make it 4-2 for Brazil and an easy win over the hosts. In the other semi final, the Czechs defeated Yugoslavia 3-1 to meet Brazil in the Final.
In the final match, Brazil were the favourites as they were a South American nation and also the defending champions. The match started and the Czechs took an early lead in the 15th minute. After that goal, it was all Brazil. The defending champions equalized right after 2 minutes when Almarildo scored for his country. The first half ended with both the sides evenly matched. In the second half Zito scored right before the 70th minute to lead his team to victory; Brazilians, however, were not through yet. In the 78th minute Vava scored the 3rd goal to make his team the champions of the World. Brazilians were the second team ever to defend their titles successfully, after the Italians, in 1938.
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