1974 FIFA World Cup

1974 FIFA World Cup

Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 1974 (German)
Tournament details
Host country	West Germany
Dates	13 June – 7 July
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	9 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	West Germany (2nd title)
Runners-up	Netherlands
Third place	Poland
Fourth place	Brazil
Tournament statistics
Matches played	38
Goals scored	97 (2.55 per match)
Attendance	1,865,762 (49,099 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Grzegorz Lato (7 goals)
Best young player	Władysław Żmuda[1]
Fair play award	West Germany[1]
← 1970 1978 →

The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded. The previous trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, had been won for the third time by Brazil in 1970 and awarded permanently to the Brazilians. This was the first out of three World Cups to feature two rounds of group stages.

West Germany won the title, beating the Netherlands 2–1 in the final at the Olympiastadion in Munich. This was the second victory for West Germany, who had also won in 1954. Australia, East Germany, Haiti and Zaire made their first appearances at the final stage, with the latter two also making their only appearance, and East Germany making their only appearance before Germany was reunified in 1990. Brazil, the defending champions, were eliminated in the second round, though they would play in the third-place match but lose to Poland.