Why Germany won’t underestimate Argentina: Four big World Cup final upsets
With this Sunday’s World Cup final fast approaching, the narrative from many observers is one that claims Germany should walk away with the game. The 7-1 German obliteration of Brazil, coupled by Argentina’s inconsistency and the Albiceleste’s additional energy expelled in extra time against Holland means many claim the European side will waltz to victory. Joachim Low won’t think that however. The Germany coach will be more than aware the World Cup has a habit of throwing up upsets in the final. talkSPORT looks at four of the big ones…
Uruguay 2-1 Brazil (1950 World Cup)
The upset so big it has its own name, the Maracanazo is etched in the memory of any Uruguayan or Brazilian football fan for very different reasons. Though not technically a final (the tournament was decided on a round robin basis that year) the game did prove decisive in the destination of the trophy, and it literally couldn’t have been a bigger occasion, with the estimated 200,000 capacity crowd at the Maracana said to be the biggest ever assembled for a football game.
As reigning South American champions Brazil were favourites, while Uruguay’s victory at the first World Cup was 20 years in the past. Several Brazilian newspapers arrogantly proclaimed the host-nation champions on the morning of the game, but Uruguay had different ideas. After going a goal down, they went all-out attack, and 21 minutes into the second half, Juan Alberto Schiaffino fired home an equaliser. The ropey Brazilian defence couldn’t cope with the onslaught, and 34 minutes into the second half, Uruguay struck the fatal blow, with Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia scoring the winner. Brazil took the defeat so badly they never wore a white kit again, while the members of the team were constantly reminded of the loss throughout the rest of their lives.
West Germany 3-2 Hungary (1954 World Cup)
Germany have a very good reason to be wary of upsets, as they’ve delivered a couple themselves. It’s hard to believe now, but back in 1954 the Germans (and in this instance, West Germany) had never won a World Cup, and going into the final Hungary were overwhelming favourites. Led by captain Ferenc Puskas, one of the best players on the planet, the Hungarians had gone unbeaten in the five years prior to the tournament, including beating England 6-3 at Wembley. At the tournament proper, meanwhile, they had already hammered West Germany 8-3 in the group stage, then progressed past Brazil and Uruguay in the knockout stage.
West Germany, on the other hand, had a more complicated path to the final. Finishing Group 2 level on points with Turkey, they only made it to the knockout stage thanks to a 7-2 play-off win over the Turks. In the next round they gradually found form, beating Yugoslavia then Austria to book their place in the final. Regardless, few expected them to win.
When Ferenc Puskas put Hungary ahead with six minutes played in the final it looked like everything would go according to the pre-match script, and even more so when Zoltan Czibor doubled the lead two minutes later. Yet West Germany defied the odds, fighting back in the 10th minute though Max Morlock, then equalising through Helmut Rahn in the 18th. Late in the second half, Rahn struck the fatal blow, and a half fit Puskas could only watch in despair as what he thought was an equaliser was ruled out for offside.
Netherlands 1-2 West Germany (1974 Final)
It was supposed to be the crowning moment of the Clockwork Orange, the day Total Football asserted its authority on the world. Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands were expected to lift their first ever World Cup in Munich’s Olympiastadion on July 7, 1974, but their opponents changed the course of history, and once again, it was those pesky Germans doing the damage.
Initially, everything was going to plan for the Dutch. Cruyff won an early penalty with a surging run into the German area, and Johan Neeskens converted to put the Oranje ahead. Yet a penalty at the other end just over 20 minutes later gave the host-nation a life line, and Paul Breitner made no mistake in drawing his nation level. The game was ultimately wrapped up within the first 45 minutes when the inimitable Gerd Muller popped up two minutes before the break. The Dutch huffed and puffed, but couldn’t find an equaliser, and in the end it was Franz Beckenbauer, not Johan Cruyff, who lifted the trophy in a moment of glory. Cruyff has never been able to shake that moment, nor Beckenbauer.
Brazil 0-3 France (1998 World Cup final)
France may have been host nation, but a rampant Brazil side featuring the likes of Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Bebeto and Roberto Carlos were clear favourites to win the final contested between the two nations on July 12, 1998. A certain Zinedine Zidane conspired to make sure that didn’t happen, however.
Though they took a while to get going, the Brazilians really found their form in the knockout stage of the tournament, thumping Chile 4-1 in the last 16, beating Denmark 3-2 in the quarter-finals, then eliminating the Netherlands following a semi-final stage penalty shootout. France, for their part, had slowly and steadily gathered pace, eliminating Paraguay from the last 16 with a Laurent Blanc golden goal, upsetting Italy in the quarter-finals following penalties, then coming back to beat Croatia 2-1 in the semi-finals. A valiant effort, but few thought Les Bleus could contain Ronaldo in the final.
In the end they didn’t need to worry about that, with the striker barely making the game following a mysterious illness. The number nine was a shadow of his usual self, and the night belonged to Zinedine Zidane instead, with the then-Juventus midfielder scoring two headers from corners before the first half was over. Emmanuel Petit wrapped the game up in added time, and when the whistle went the Brazilians could barely believe what had happened. France claimed their first, and to date, only World Cup.