#16 Argentina 1978
Whenever football and international politics mix there seems to be trouble, and the 1978 World Cup was no different as Argentina had suffered a military coup in 1976 and people – largely left-wing activists – were disappearing in astonishing numbers in the country in an act of state terrorism. It meant that some teams were reluctant to attend (although nobody pulled out) and Dutch legend Johan Cruyff refused to join up with the Netherlands squad despite arguably being the world’s best player at the time.
Controversy also surrounded Argentina’s march to the final, which they won over the Netherlands 3-1. In the first group stage, their games were staged later than the others in the group, giving them the advantage of knowing the results of their rivals.
And in the second round – another group stage, with two groups of four and the winners advancing to the final – Argentina needed to beat Peru by at least four goals to advance ahead of Brazil. Rumours of pressure from the Argentine military on the Peru side still persist today as the Peruvians capitulated and lost 6-0.
Despite Mario Kempes – who scored six goals for Argentina including a brace in the final – becoming a superstar at this tournament, due to the controversy and situation surrounding the hosts (reminiscent of the Italian wins in the 1930s), it’s impossible to rank this one overly high.
#15 Switzerland 1954
For the first time the World Cup resembled almost a modern format – a 16-team tournament with four groups of four and the winners and runners-up advancing to the knockout stage, but it was still strangely organised – each group contained two seeded sides and two non-seeded, and only four games were played – the seeded sides didn’t face each other. Extra-time was also used in the group stages although draws were permitted after 120 minutes. Weird indeed!
A lot of records from this tournament still stand, too, including the most goals scored by any side (Hungary’s legendary Puskas-powered team scored 27) and the most average goals per game (5.38). A lot of the games were hugely one-sided though, particularly the Hungarian games which included a 9-0 win over South Korea and an 8-3 victory over West Germany.
The final was equally curious. A replay of Hungary vs. West Germany, the Hungarians were heavy favourites after the result in the group stage, but despite going 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes, the Germans came back to win 3-2, equalising on 18 minutes before scoring the winner in the 84th. Doping allegations have since come to the forefront, though – the Germans seemed fresher in the second half and a 2010 study suggested they’d used methamphetamine at half-time!
Overall this was a strange – but mostly entertaining – one.
