History of World Cup 1970

Winners: Brazil
Teams: 16
Teams in qualifiers: 75
Number of matches: 32

Notable absentees Argentina, France, Portugal, Spain

Surprises Morocco, the first African qualifiers since World War II

Golden Boot: Gerd Muller (Germany) - 10

Stats
A total of 95 goals were scored (2.97 per match), including five penalties and one own goal; Brazil (19) scored the most; 54 individual players scored, while Pelé and Uwe Seeler scored in their fourth World Cup tournament

Format
Four groups of four in the qualifying stage, with the top two from each group into the quarter-finals

Innovations
• This was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe
• It was the first to be televised in colour
• Substitutes were allowed for the first time (two per team)
• Red and yellow cards were introduced, although no player was sent off during the tournament
• Fair Play Award introduced
• Teams level on points at the end of the group stage were separated by goal difference (replacing play-offs and goal average).

Controversies
• Before the event, England's captain, Bobby Moore, was arrested and held in Colombia on charges of theft. He was released on the eve of the competition after England had travelled on without him
• To fit in with European viewing schedules, some matches kicked off at noon. This was unpopular with many players and managers because of the intense heat in Mexico at that time of day
• On the eve of the England-Brazil match, Brazilian fans gathered outside the England hotel and chanted and sang all night in a deliberate bid to disrupt the team's sleep.

Trivia
• Zambia and Sudan both won 4-2 at home in their qualifying play-off matches. Sudan went through because of a quickly-scrapped rule that the team scoring more goals in the second match would win. However, they finished bottom of their final qualification group and did not reach the finals
• Rioting marred qualifying matches between El Salvador and neighbours Honduras, and in July 1969 war broke out between the two in what historians dubbed "The War of Soccer"
• Brazilian Mário Zagallo became the first man to win the tournament as a player (1958) and coach.
• Pelé became the first man to play in three World Cup-winning teams
• During the post-final celebrations, the lid of the trophy went missing. Brazilian reserve Davio retrieved it from a young spectator at the stadium exit.

Overview
As with 1966, images of this tournament remain at the forefront of the football fan's memory. This was the first tournament to be televised in colour and the football played was similarly vivid. It is remembered as Brazil's finest and defining hour.

Following the woes of 1966, after which Pelé had said he would never play in a World Cup again, the Brazilians took this event very seriously indeed. Coach Joao Saldanha wanted his team to play a flowing brand of football but this was to be coupled with a hard-edged physical approach, brought about by months spent in a spartan training camp. Although Saldanha would be supplanted by Mário Zagallo just prior to the tournament, the team continued to play in Saldanha's chosen image and won the trophy in the manner he desired.

Pelé was tempted out of exile and was joined by thrilling wingers Jairzinho and Rivelino, balding playmaker Gérson, the nascent talent of midfielder Clodoaldo and skipper Carlos Alberto, a superb exponent of the art of the attacking full-back. Centre-forward Tostao was there, too, his career saved by an eye operation. Together they formed the World Cup's most thrilling attacking force.

The tournament's location was the subject of much consternation from the European teams, who worried about the 50 degree heat and the breathing problems associated with high altitude. Nevertheless, the West Germans, English and Italians were involved in some of the best matches.

In the group stage, England faced the Brazilians in Guadalajara in a game many envisaged as a dress rehearsal for the eventual final. Jairzinho grabbed the goal that won it for Brazil but the game is best remembered for Gordon Banks' save from Pelé's bullet-header - and a late miss by Jeff Astle. Despite that defeat, England joined Brazil in the knock-out stages.

But, in a re-staging of the 1966 final, the Germans got their revenge over England, when, with Alf Ramsey's side leading 2-0 and having taken off Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters to rest them for the next round, stand-in keeper Peter Bonetti fumbled a long-range shot from Franz Beckenbauer and then allowed Uwe Seeler to back-head the equaliser. England wilted in the heat of Leon and Ramsey's team, run ragged by a far fitter German side, succumbed in extra-time when Gerd Müller, scorer of ten goals in Mexico, scored a typically predatory winner.

Brazil, meanwhile, rolled over the unsung Peruvians, led by the mercurial Teófilo Cubillas, and now faced old enemy Uruguay in the semis. An early goal from Uruguay's Luis Cubilla saw the Brazilians rocked but a pep talk from Pelé and a fantastic strike from Clodoaldo brought them level. The samba football soon returned and Jairzinho and Rivelino's late strikes planted them in the final.

Germany, exhausted by their efforts in Leon, now faced Italy, then fully in the bloom of the catenaccio era. But when Karl Schellinger cancelled out a Roberto Boninsegna goal in the very last minute, luck looked to be with the Germans. However, Beckenbauer injured his shoulder and, though he played on with one arm in a sling, the Italians won out. The score changed no less than five times in extra-time before Gianni Rivera, the golden boy of Italian football, scored a 112th-minute winner.

The superhuman efforts in the last four perhaps did for Italy as Brazil overpowered them in the final. Pelé pulled the strings for the South Americans as first he leapt, in the proverbial fashion of a salmon, to head in a Rivelino cross on 19 minutes. Italy got back in the game when Boninsegna seized on a mistake from Clodoaldo to beat keeper and sometime clown Felix, and the crowd, almost all of them cheering for the Brazilians, began to worry. But up stepped chain-smoking midfielder Gérson to clatter in a goal from the edge of the penalty area.

Twenty minutes from the end, Pelé headed a Gérson cross back for Jairzinho to bundle in and complete his record of having scored in every game. But the coup de grâce was added in the very last minute as Brazil took the ball the length of the field to score the fourth. Clodoaldo, rejuvenated after his early mistake, beat a couple of players and the ball reached Pelé. He, as ever, used his vision to play in Carlos Alberto, whose low drive drilled past Albertosi into the Italian goal. As a sign off for a great side, it has never been surpassed, just as the Brazilian team of 1970 is unlikely to ever be surpassed.

For their three wins in 12 years, the Jules Rimet Trophy that Carlos Alberto lifted was to remain in Brazil permanently. Or, at least, until it was stolen in 1983 from the Brazilian Confederation HQ in 1983.

History of World Cup 1966

Winners: England

Teams: 16

Teams in qualifiers: 70
Notable absentees None
Surprises North Korea
Golden Boot Eusébio (Portugal) - 9
Stats A total of 89 goals were scored (2.78 per match); Portugal (17) scored the most
Format Four groups of four, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals
Number of matches 32

Innovations
• Doping controls were introduced
• FIFA banned the naturalisation of players

Controversies
• Sixteen African nations boycotted the tournament in protest at a 1964 ruling that required the champion team from the African zone to enter a play-off round against the winners of either the Asian or the Oceanian zone

Trivia
• The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a public display three months before the tournament and found under a hedge a week later by a mongrel dog called Pickles
• The draw was the first to be televised
• World Cup Willie was the first World Cup mascot
• One match between Uruguay and France was played at London's White City, not a traditional football venue, because there was greyhound racing scheduled for Wembley and the owners refused to cancel it
• The opening match between England and Uruguay was delayed because several of the England players left their ID cards at the team hotel. A police motorcyclist was sent to collect them
• As a security measure, the FA had a replica of the Jules Rimet Trophy made for post-match celebrations. It was bought by FIFA at auction in 1997 for £254,500

No prizes for knowing the outcome of this World Cup. Even Alf Ramsey knew the final result when in 1963 he proclaimed that England would win the tournament they were set to host. But, beforehand, the outcome was anything but a forgone conclusion. Brazil possessed many of the stars of 1962, Portugal had their greatest-ever team featuring Eusébio, José Torres and Mário Coluna, and both the Germans and Russians had their best teams in a generation.

England, whose status as host was chiefly down to Sir Stanley Rous' presidency of FIFA, were also given the slightly unfair boon of being able to play all their home games at Wembley. Nevertheless, they initially struggled, with Uruguay providing solid opposition in a dour 0-0 opening draw. Ramsey was still looking for the right combination in attack and midfield and he also lost predator supreme Jimmy Greaves to a nasty gash on his shin in a 2-0 win over Mexico in the second match.

Ramsey was soon to abandon wide attackers, thus creating the legend of his 'wingless wonders', in a formation that gave full-backs George Cohen and Ray Wilson licence to bomb forward and provide service to his strike force. Against a decent France side, it was Liverpool's Roger Hunt who benefitted twice from the new system as England again won 2-0 to qualify for the quarter-final stage.

The last eight brought the challenge of Argentina, who had qualified from a group also containing a West Germany side that, in Franz Beckenbauer, had a young player of incredible talent.

But the most exciting group was that featuring champions Brazil, a resurgent Hungary and the glittering Portugese, featuring many of the Benfica side that had been one of the best teams in European club football for half a decade. Bulgaria made up the numbers but played a crucial role in Pelé's tournament. In the group's opening game, the Bulgarians took it in turns to foul Pelé and he was eventually carried from the pitch. The sight of him stricken, covered in a blanket on the touchline, remains one of that tournament's enduring images.

The following game saw Hungary rip the Brazilians apart, with Flórián Albert and winger Ferenc Bene shining. Brazil's first defeat in the competition since 1954 blew the destiny of the trophy wide open in many observers' eyes. In the following game, Portugal's Eusébio eclipsed Pelé, who again came in for harsh treatment from opposing defenders. A 3-1 Portugal win sent Brazil home and Pelé swore never to play in a World Cup again.

Italy, meanwhile, were another side whose clubs were dominating Europe, and they would suffer an even greater upset than Brazil. Despite having been beaten by a crack Russian outfit, they seemed in little danger from their last group opponents, North Korea, but Pak Doo-Ik is a name guaranteed to wake Azzurri fans in a cold sweat and his goal sent the Italians home to a volley of rotten tomatoes.

And a similar fate seemed likely to befall the Portuguese when, after 22 minutes of their quarter-final, the Koreans found themselves 3-0 up. But Eusébio again grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and scored a record four goals in just over half an hour. Though the Koreans would remain men of mystery, their impact on the tournament will never be forgotten.

West Germany made worryingly short work of the Uruguayans in a 4-0 win while the Russians got the better of Hungary in a 2-1 win. England's clash with Argentina, meanwhile, would become notorious. Though Geoff Hurst, Greaves' eventual replacement, scored a header from a superbly executed Martin Peters cross, the English were held back by some South American-style spoiling, with referee Kreitlein a constant target for abuse from Argentina captain Antonio Rattín.

Rattín eventually paid the price and was dismissed and, after ten minutes, the game was restarted and Hurst grabbed his goal. Ramsey refused to let his team swap shirts with their opponents after victory was secured and labelled Argentina 'animals'. It was not to be the last infamous World Cup incident between the two countries.

Portugal were the next opponents but, in England's best display of the tournament, they, and especially Bobby Charlton, were too much for a team for whom Torres and Eusébio again excelled.

In the other game, Russia's Lev Yashin, a goalkeeper regarded as the world's best and previously playing superbly, made a calamitous error to let Helmut Haller score as a nine-man Soviet outfit were well beaten.

The final hinged on two moments. England had, after the early setback of a Haller goal, looked likely to win the game through Martin Peters' 78th-minute strike. But in the last minute, Weber equalised after England failed to clear a free-kick. Ramsey's famous stated belief in his pre-extra-time pep-talk that the Germans were 'finished' proved to be correct. Alan Ball's outstanding running put the tired Germans to the sword.

Hurst's second goal remains much disputed. Did it cross the line or didn't it? Russian (actually from Azerbaijan but this was a time of the Soviet Union) linesman Bakhramov, the man who said 'yes', remains a legend in English football. Hurst, of course, completed his hat-trick with a blistering goal in the last minute and the cup was England's.

The tone was set for 44 years of remininiscing and Scottish disquiet.

History of World Cup 1958

Winners: Brazil

Teams: 16

Teams in qualifiers: 45
Notable absentees Italy, Uruguay
Surprises Wales, Northern Ireland
Golden Boot Just Fontaine (France) - 13
Stats A total of 126 goals were scored (3.60 per match); France (23) scored the most
Format Four groups of four, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals

Number of matches 35

Innovations
• If teams tied for second and third in the group stages, there would be a replay
• A record of 12 cities hosted matches

Controversies
• Israel qualified because teams refused to play them, but FIFA intervened and insisted they play at least once in order to progress to the finals. Wales, non-qualified runners-up in their UEFA group, were chosen and won 2-0 home and away to qualify instead
• Turkey withdrew from qualifying after refusing to be included in the Asian group
• Only 2,823 spectators watched the play-off game between Hungary and Wales. People boycotted the match to show sympathy with Imre Nagy, the Prime Minister of Hungary at the time of the Russian invasion in 1956, who had been executed the previous day. The official attendance, which FIFA still endorses, was 20,000
• The semi-final between Sweden and West Germany was almost abandoned because the president of the German football association threatened to withdraw his team unless the Swedes stopped refusing to seat some of the German fans. The organisers relented

Trivia
• Brazil's Pelé was 17 when he played in the final, the youngest person to do so
• Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals for France, remains the record holder for one tournament
• The Northern Irish FA told their squad that it was against Irish law to play two of their first-round matches on a Sunday. After player protests, the FA relented
• Hungary only retained three players from their 1954 final squad, many of the others choosing to flee the country after the Russian invasion of 1956
• This was the only occasion all four UK 'home nations' qualified together
• Argentina, who finished bottom of their group, were pelted with rubbish on their return home to Buenos Aires

If 1954 saw the final hurrah of Hungary, one of football's greatest ever teams, 1958 was the beginning of another team's dominance of the World Cup. Brazil and the World Cup are inextricably linked and it was in Sweden that the bond was formed.

The presence of international television cameras for the first time made this tournament a watershed and, in a 17-year-old Brazilian, the game had its first and probably greatest star. Pelé was not in the Brazilian side at the beginning of the tournament but, by its conclusion, football had its first international pin-up.

Another facet of this tournament was the appearance of all four home nations as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all qualified and, of the four, it was the two smaller nations who most impressed. The Irish were managed by Peter Doherty, who had a superb lieutenant on the field in Danny Blanchflower. Together, Doherty and Blanchflower gave the world the free-kick wall as their team reached the quarter-final stage before falling to the French. The Welsh, led by the amazing talents of John Charles, reached the same stage only to lose out to Brazil and, more pertinently, Pelé.

Scotland's campaign was as disastrous as that four years previously while England, considerably weakened by the loss of Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne in the Munich air disaster and with the still traumatised Bobby Charlton a non-playing member of the squad, lost out in a play-off to the Soviet Union.

An English presence in the tournament was retained by George Raynor, the Yorkshire-born coach of Sweden. He led a team featuring Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Gren, both veterans of their country's victory in the 1948 Olympics but now stars of the lucrative Italian league.

Brazil, playing a revolutionary 4-2-4 system, already had a mercurial midfield talent in Didi, a line-leading, goalscoring centre-forward in Vavá and two legendary half-backs in Djalma and Nilton Santos. But with the addition in later games of Pelé and Garrincha, an amazing winger with dribbling skills comparable to Stanley Matthews, they were undoubtedly the team to beat.

In the group stage, they were prolific in front of goal and, although England held them to a goalless draw, they were heavily fancied to thrash Wales in the last eight. But the Welsh, sadly lacking the injured John Charles, made them fight all the way. Pelé, starting only his second game, and, at 17 years old, the youngest player to grace the finals tournament, scored a deflected goal past superb keeper Jack Kelsey. Pelé himself would describe it as the most important goal he would ever score.

The semi-finals saw them face France, who for once had put up a performance befitting their status as tournament founders. Just Fontaine was their record-breaking striker, scoring 13 goals in the tournament, even if four of the goals came in the third-place game.

His bullets were supplied by Raymond Kopa, an inside-forward who plied his trade for Real Madrid and who, until Michel Platini, was regarded as France's greatest-ever player. But with Pelé now into his stride, the French had no answer as the young star scored a hat-trick in an easy 5-2 win.

So the final would be a battle of South American style and the best that the far more athletic European game had to offer. Before the game, George Raynor predicted that if the Brazilians were to go a goal behind then they would "panic all over the show".

His prediction was to be tested, and it failed. Liedholm put the Swedes a goal up after four minutes but, five minutes later, Vavá headed in a Garrincha cross. The trick was repeated on the half-hour. And, after half-time, Pelé grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck. The goal that truly created the Pelé legend came on 55 minutes. A lofted ball was chested down, hooked over a defender and projected into the bottom left corner by an unerring volley. The trophy's destination was confirmed after right-winger Zagallo followed up his own corner to make it four after 68 minutes. Simonsson grabbed a consolation before Pelé headed in a Zagallo cross.

The Jules Rimet Trophy was Brazil's. Records had been smashed in the tournament - Fontaine's goal haul, Pelé's youth and a team from the Americas winning on foreign soil. And in Pelé, who shed tears of joy as the Brazilians carried the trophy and national flag around the pitch, world football had found its biggest star.