West Germany 1974 World Cup Finals

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Munich
Munich Olympic Stadium by Christoph Keil on Unsplash.

Germany - Hosted the tenth World Cup, in 1974.

The Ball is Round Football Index: World Cup Finals: West Germany 1974 .

Germany - Hosted the tenth World Cup, in 1974.

World Cup holders Brazil got off to a poor start; drawing (0:0) to Yugoslavia and Scotland before beating Zaire (3:0).

In the final round, the Brazilians beat East Germany (1:0) and Argentina (2:1), before losing to Holland (0:2); who were unbeaten in their six group games.

World Cup History - West Germany 1974

Johan Cruyff was the exceptional player of the tournament, as total football became the buzzword of the day.

Holland must have fancied their chances against West Germany, who had lost to East Germany in the first-round, but the West Germans were to be the stronger in the 1974 World Cup final; holding on to their (2:1) half-time lead, until the final whistle.

West Germany, winners of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, were shocked by the Dutch in the first minute of the final when Johan Cruyff broke into the penalty area on his own. The West Germans hadn't even touched the ball as Neeskens stepped up to the penalty-spot to fire Holland into the lead.

From then on, Vogts snuffed out much of Cruyff's creativity and Breitner levellled for West Germany; from the spot as well. Gerd Müller made it (2:1) just before half-time...... and that's the way the home team were happy to keep it.

After the first-round defeat to East Germany, German captain Franz Beckenbauer thought it enough of a crisis to hold a team conference and explain the situation to the nation; on colour television.

Scotland needed to console themselves too, as they were the only team not to lose a game in the competition.... and still not make it further than the first-round; they didn't score enough goals against Zaire.

A mention should be given to Poland too. After knocking England out of the qualifying round, the Poles scored twelve goals in the first-round and won two of their three final round games, before losing by a solitary goal to West Germany.

Poland's Gzregorz Lato was the tournament's top goalscorer, with 7 goals.

16 Countries Competed at West Germany 1974

Argentina Argentina
Group 4 (2:3) (1:1) (4:1); Group A (0:4) (1:2) (1:1).

Australia Australia
Group 1 (0:2) (0:3) (0:0).

Brazil Brazil
Group 2 (0:0) (0:0) (3:0); Group A (1:0) (2:1) (0:2); Third place (0:1).

Bulgaria Bulgaria
Group 3 (0:0) (1:1) (1:4).

Chile Chile
Group 1 (0:1) (1:1) (0:0).

Germany East Germany
Group 1 (2:0) (1:1) (1:0); Group A (0:1) (0:2) (1:1).

Haiti Haiti
Group 4 (1:3) (0:7) (1:4).

Holland Holland
Group 3 (2:0) (0:0) (4:1); Group A (4:0) (2:0) (2:0); Finalist (1:2).

Italy Italy
Group 4 (3:1) (1:1) (1:2).

Poland Poland
Group 4 (3:2) (7:0) (2:1); Group B (1:0) (2:1) (0:1); Third place (1:0).

Scotland Scotland
Group 2 (2:0) (0:0) (1:1).

Sweden Sweden
Group 3 (0:0) (0:0) (3:0); Group B (0:1) (2:4) (2:1).

Uruguay Uruguay
Group 3 (0:2) (1:1) (0:3).

Germany West Germany
Group 1 (1:0) (3:0) (0:1); Group B (2:0) (4:2) (1:0); Winner (2:1).

Serbia Yugoslavia
Group 2 (0:0) (9:0) (1:1); Group B (0:2) (1:2) (1:2).

Zaire Zaire
Group 2 (0:2) (0:9) (0:3).

First Round - Group Stage

For the tenth World cup final, the top two teams in the four first-round groups moved into another mini league, organised into 2 groups of four.

The two final-round group winners would now be playing for the new FIFA World Cup statuette; as Brazil made it three wins to hold onto the Jules Rimet Cup, in Mexico 1970.

The old World Cup trophy was stolen for a second time (the first time was in 1966) and Brazil was given a replica.

Group 1

14th June
Berlin: West Germany vs Chile (1:0)
Hamburg: East Germany vs Australia (2:0)

18th June
Berlin: Chile vs East Germany (1:1)
Hamburg: West Germany vs Australia (3:0)

22nd June
Berlin: Australia vs Chile (0:0)
Hamburg: East Germany vs West Germany (1:0)

East Germany and West Germany both qualify for the final round.

Group 2

13th June
Frankfurt: Brazil vs Yugoslavia (0:0)

14th June
Dortmund: Scotland vs Zaire (2:0)

18th June
Gelsenkirchen: Yugoslavia vs Zaire (9:0)
Hamburg: Scotland vs Brazil (0:0)

22nd June
Frankfurt: Scotland vs Yugoslavia (1:1)
Gelsenkirchen: Brazil vs Zaire (3:0)

Yugoslavia and Brazil qualify for the final round.

Group 3

15th June
Dusseldorf: Sweden vs Bulgaria (0:0)
Hannover: Holland vs Uruguay (2:0)

19th June
Dortmund: Holland vs Sweden (0:0)
Hannover: Bulgaria vs Uruguay (1:1)

23rd June
Dortmund: Holland vs Bulgaria (4:1)
Dusseldorf: Sweden vs Uruguay (3:0)

Holland and Sweden qualify for the final round.

Group 4

15th June
Munich: Italy vs Haiti (3:1)
Stuttgart: Poland vs Argentina (3:2)

19th June
Munich: Poland vs Haiti (7:0)
Stuttgart: Argentina vs Italy (1:1)

23rd June
Munich: Argentina vs Haiti (4:1)
Stuttgart: Poland vs Italy (2:1)

Poland and Argentina qualify for the final round.

Final Round - 2nd Group Stage

Group A

26th June
Gelsenkirchen: Holland vs Argentina (4:0)
Hannover: Brazil vs East Germany (1:0)

30th June
Gelsenkirchen: Holland vs East Germany (2:0)
Hannover: Brazil vs Argentina (2:1)

3rd July
Dortmund: Holland vs Brazil (2:0)
Gelsenkirchen: Argentina vs East Germany (1:1)

Holland remain unbeaten as they enter the final.

Group B

26th June
Dusseldorf: West Germany vs Yugoslavia (2:0)
Stuttgart: Poland vs Sweden (1:0)

30th June
Dusseldorf: West Germany vs Sweden (4:2)
Frankfurt: Poland vs Yugoslavia (2:1)

3rd July
Dusseldorf: Sweden vs Yugoslavia (2:1)
Frankfurt: West Germany vs Poland (1:0)

West Germany win all three games to meet Holland in the final.

Third Place - 6th July, 1974

Munich: Poland vs Brazil (1:0)

1974 World Cup Final
7th July:
West Germany vs Holland (2:1)
Munich.

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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