1978 World Cup Soccer / Football
Dutch Johan Cruyff and German Franz Beckenbauer were missing from this world cup with Beckenbauer retiring from International Soccer/Football and Cruyff not showing up with the Dutch squad, which came as a surprise to everyone.
Great soccer was enjoyed by thousands of people and many goals were scored, 2.7 goals average every game.
Argentina was the finalist in the very first world cup held in Uruguay, back in 1930. They played against host Uruguay and lost.
Now 48 years later Argentina finally reached the final again, this time Argentina won their first World Cup Title by beating Netherlands in the final 3:1.
Diego Armando Maradona was also starting to get noticed as a world class soccer player in the making, however Coach Menotti excluded him from this world cup squad because of inexperience. Maradona was only 17 at the time.
Mario Kempes, the only foreign based player in Argentina's squad was the key player in beating Netherlands during the final where he scored twice to help Argentina win the game and the title against the Dutch.
Kempes would also won the golden shoe in this 1978 world cup, scoring 6 goals in total during this tournament.
Teams that participated in 1978 FIFA World Cup were:
Tunisia, Iran, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru.
1978 World Cup in Argentina - CHAMPIONS
1978 Champions: Argentina
1978 Runner Up: Netherlands
1978 Third Place: Brazil
1978 Fourth Place: Italy
1978 World Cup in Argentina - TOP GOALSCORERS
| Mario KEMPES (ARG) | 6 |
| Teofilo CUBILLAS (PER) | 5 |
| Rob RENSENBRINK (NED) | 5 |
| Leopoldo LUQUE (ARG) | 4 |
| Hans KRANKL (AUT) | 4 |
1978 World Cup in Argentina - STATISTICS
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Number of games | 38 |
| Total Goals scored | 102 |
| Average per game | 2,7 |
| Total attendance | 1,545,791 |
| Average attendance | 40,250 |
| Final attendance | 53,000 |
| Golden shoe | Mario KEMPES(ARG) |
| Best young player | Antonio CABRINI (ITA) |
| Fair play award | Argentina |
1978 World Cup in Argentina - Group 1
| Italy vs France | 2-1 |
| Argentina vs Hungary | 2-1 |
| Italy vs Hungary | 3-1 |
| Argentina vs France | 2-1 |
| France vs Hungary | 3-1 |
| Italy vs Argentina | 1-0 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Italy | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| Argentina | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Hungary | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
1978 World Cup in Argentina - Group 2
| Germany FR vs Poland | 0-0 |
| Tunisia vs Mexico | 3-1 |
| Poland vs Tunisia | 1-0 |
| Germany vs Mexico | 6-0 |
| Germany vs Tunisia | 0-0 |
| Poland vs Mexico | 3-1 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Poland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Germany FR | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Tunisia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Mexico | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
1978 World Cup in Argentina - Group 3
| Sweden vs Brazil | 1-1 |
| Austria vs Spain | 2-1 |
| Austria vs Sweden | 1-0 |
| Brazil vs Spain | 0-0 |
| Brazil vs Austria | 1-0 |
| Spain vs Sweden | 1-0 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Austria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Brazil | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Sweden | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
1978 World Cup in Argentina - Group 4
| Netherlands vs Iran | 3-0 |
| Peru vs Scotland | 3-1 |
| Scotland vs Iran | 1-1 |
| Neherlands vs Iran | 0-0 |
| Scotland vs Netherlands | 3-2 |
| Peru vs Iran | 4-1 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Peru | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Scotland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Iran | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
SECOND ROUND
1978 Soccer World Cup in Argentina - Group A
| Germany FR vs Italy | 0-0 |
| Netherlands vs Austria | 5-1 |
| Italy vs Austria | 1-0 |
| Germany FR vs Netherlands | 2-2 |
| Netherlands vs Italy | 2-1 |
| Austria vs Germany FR | 3-2 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Germany FR | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Austria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
1978 Football World Cup in Argentina - Group B
| Brazil vs Peru | 3-0 |
| Argentina vs Poland | 2-0 |
| Poland vs Peru | 1-0 |
| Argentina vs Brazil | 0-0 |
| Brazil vs Poland | 3-1 |
| Argentina vs Peru | 6-0 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Argentina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Poland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Peru | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
1978 Fifa World Cup in Argentina - Third Place
| Brazil vs Italy | 2-1 |
1978 Soccer World Cup in Argentina - Final
| Argentina vs Netherlands | 3-1 (after extra time) |
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