RLD OMENTS CUP
Four years after the good displays in Argentina, Italy, still led by Enzo Bearzot, defied the odds and after a slow start defeated Argentina, Brazil, Poland and West Germany to return to the top of the world after a 44-year wait.
The tournament featured the first ever penalty shoot-out in World Cup competition, and in the first round of Group 3, Hungary defeated El Salvador 10–1, equalling the largest margin of victory ever recorded in the finals (Hungary over South Korea 9–0 in 1954, and Yugoslavia over Zaire 9–0 in 1974).
FIFA had been warned in 1978 that final group games should be played at the same time to ensure fairness.
Four years later in Spain, one of the most controversial World Cup matches took place when West Germany played Austria in the “Disgrace of Gijon.” Similar to earlier circumstances when Argentina routed Peru 60 to make it to the World Cup final, both teams took the field of play knowing the stakes.
In the latter case, the two teams knew that a 1-0 win for West Germany would be enough for both to progress to the next round because they both had superior goal differences compared to Algeria, which had won its final group game against Chile the day before.
After West Germany took an early lead through a goal by Horst Hrubesch, neither team did much to try to score the rest of the way. There were 40-yard back passes to the goalkeeper and endless passages of play involving sideward moves.
The crowd, which included fans of Algeria, grew restless. The final minutes of the match were particularly drab.
Though there is no indication that it was fixed, the match has gone down as one of the most cynical ever to be played. Algeria’s fans waved banknotes to illustrate their fury at what had taken place on the field.
For the first time the competition was expanded to 24 nations. Italy qualified from the group with three drab draws against Poland, Peru and Cameroon. The format included four three-team semifinal groups.
Italy, Argentina and Brazil were pitted in the same group, with West Germany England and hosts Spain in another. England obtained two scoreless draws and West Germany defeated Spain to join the last four.
Italy defeated champions Argentina 2-1 in the first match and Brazil defeated Argentina 3-1. For Brazil a draw was enough against Italy at the Stadio Sarria in Barcelona. But the Azzurri hit peak form at the right moment, defeating Brazil 3-2 with Paolo Rossi scoring a hat-trick.
The Italian striker had just served a reduced suspension sentence after a bribery scandal had rocked the Italian football scene. Rossi was now unstoppable to finish as top scorer of the tournament. Rossi scored a brace against Poland in the semi-final and the opener against West Germany in the final.