1978 World Cup - Argentina

Host country	Argentina
Dates	1–25 June (25 days)
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	6 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Argentina (1st title)
Runners-up	Netherlands
Third place	Brazil
Fourth place	Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played	38
Goals scored	102 (2.68 per match)
Attendance	1,545,791 (40,679 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mario Kempes (6 goals)

The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, quadrennial international football world championship tournament, was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.

Official Logo

The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team (after Uruguay, Italy, England and West Germany), to be both hosts and world champions. Argentina, the Netherlands and Brazil were the gold, silver and bronze medalists respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the finals.

The official match ball was the Adidas Tango.

Argentina was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London, England on 6 July 1966. Mexico withdrew from the bidding process after having been awarded the 1970 competition two years earlier.

England failed to qualify for the second World Cup in succession, losing out to Italy. European champions Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union also failed to qualify for the finals. Uruguay failed to qualify for the first time since 1958. Newcomers to the finals were Iran and Tunisia; Austria qualified for the first time since 1958, while France, Spain and Hungary were back for the first time since 1966. For the first time, more than 100 nations entered the competition.

A controversial fact surrounding the 1978 World Cup was that Argentina had suffered a military coup only two years before the cup, a coup known as the National Reorganization Process. Less than a year before the World Cup, in September 1977, Interior Minister General Albano Harguindeguy, stated that 5,618 people had recently disappeared. The infamous Naval Mechanics School (known by its acronym ESMA) held concentration camp prisoners of the Dirty War and those held captive reportedly could hear the roars of the crowd during matches held at River Plate's Monumental Stadium, located only a mile away; prompting echoes of Hitler's manipulation of sports during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.Because of the political turmoil, some countries, most notably the Netherlands, considered publicly whether they should participate in the event. Despite this, all teams eventually took part without restrictions. Allegations that Dutch star Johan Cruyff refused to participate because of political convictions were denied by him 30 years later. More controversy surrounded the host, Argentina, as all of their games in the first round kicked off at night, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group. This issue would arise again in Spain 1982, which prompted FIFA to change the rules so that the final two group games in subsequent World Cups would be played simultaneously.

Further accusations surround the game Argentina and Peru played in the second round of the tournament. Argentina needed to win by a margin of four goals to proceed to the final and did so by defeating Peru by 6–0. However, claims that the Argentine military dictatorship interfered to ensure Argentina would defeat Peru, were denied by the Peruvian captain and several Peruvian players. Some accusations originated in the Brazilian media and pointed to the fact that the Peruvian goalkeeper had been born in Argentina. There is also an alleged deal, reported by the British media as an anonymous rumour, that involved the delivery of a large grain shipment to Peru by Argentina and the unfreezing of a Peruvian bank account that was held by the Argentine Central Bank. Another alleged deal, published by a Colombian drug lord in a controversial book, involved the Peruvian team being bribed without any political implications. A third alleged deal, claimed by a Peruvian leftist politician, encompassed sending 13 Peruvian dissidents exiled in Argentina back to Peru. On top of the contradictions between stories, no evidence is shown in any case.

Three months before the World Cup, Argentina had beaten Peru 3–1 in Lima, head to head record was 15–3 in favour of the hosting nation and Peru had never beaten Argentina away from home. However, Peru had conceded only 6 goals in their previous 5 games in the World Cup. During the first half, Peru hit the post twice after two counters when the game was 0–0. Argentina managed to get ahead 2–0 before the end of the first 45 minutes. During the second half, Argentina was ahead 4–0 when Peru had another clear chance. Argentina kept attacking and scored twice more, making it 6–0 and surpassing the needed margin.

Winner: Argentina