1978 World Cup Argentina

1978 World Cup was held in Argentina who won it by beating the Netherlands 3-1in the final,  making it two final defeats in a row for the Dutch.  Argentina had suffered a military coup two years before the cup and this led to some countries, most notably Holland, considered if they should take part.  Eventually all teams participated as normal.

The competition format was retained from 1974 with the16 teams initially in four groups of four.  The two top teams from each group would go through to the second round of two groups of four. The group winners would play each other in the finals.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding Argentina's final second round game against Peru.  Goal difference criteria meant Argentina needed to beat Peru by at least four goals to qualify to the finals instead of Brazil who had beaten Poland 3-1 earlier in the day.  The Peruvian goalkeeper, Ramón Quiroga, had been born in Argentina and had before the fame only conceded six goals in five matches. Argentina had only scored six goals in the competition so far but went on to beat Peru 6-0 and went through to the final.  Players of both sides still deny any favouritism towards Argentina and there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

In the final, held in the River Plate at Buenos Aires with a crowd of over71,000, Argentina proved worthy winners.  after taking a first half lead Argentina were forced into extra time by a Dutch equaliser but went on to win 3-1.

Top Scorer

6 Goals - Mario Kempes (Argentina)

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