World Cup holders Brazil got off to a poor start;
drawing (0:0) to Yugoslavia and Scotland before beating Zaire (3:0).
Quick Links
West Germany 1974 - First Round, Final Round, Third place, 1974 World
Cup Final.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Munich: Poland vs Brazil (1:0)
1974 World Cup
Final
7th July:
West Germany vs Holland (2:1)
Munich.
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