YOKOHAMA, Japan, 29 June — Brazil have won four of the six previous World Cup finals in which they have appeared. Tomorrow’s match here between Germany and Brazil is their first ever meeting.
Given below are details of all previous finals:
France 1998:
France 3 (Zidane-2 and Petit) Brazil 0: Zinedine Zidane made the final his own as he scored twice to give France their first World Cup and sparked a million-strong party on Paris’ Champs-Elysees. The mystery of Brazilian striker Ronaldo’s zombie-like performance has never been fully explained. He is rumored to have suffered a fit on the morning of the final but played anyway. Zidane headed France’s opening goal from an Emmanuel Petit corner and repeated the trick when he nodded in Youri Djorkaeff’s corner. Petit ran through to slot the ball under Claudio Taffarel for the third and the Stade de France was awash with red, white and blue joy.
United States 1994:
Brazil 0 Italy 0 (Brazil won penalty shootout): A tragic day for Italian maestro Roberto Baggio under the Californian sun. The ‘Ponytail’ admitted he had leaned back, causing him to blast the decisive penalty over the crossbar and hand the cup to Brazil in Los Angeles. Two skillful sides canceled each other out in a match of few chances and a shootout always looked the possible outcome. When Daniele Massaro missed his spot-kick, Baggio was put in a terrible situation. He woefully missed his shot to the joy of the Brazilians, who lifted the trophy after a 24-year gap and for a record fourth time.
Italy 1990:
West Germany 1 (Brehme) Argentina 0: Arguably the worst final ever seen. A sterile 90 minutes in Rome’s Olympic Stadium was settled by a penalty from Andreas Brehme after a certain Rudi Voeller was brought down by Nestor Sensini. Argentinian protests over the penalty were ignored. The match was remarkable for the disappointing performance of Diego Maradona, who finished the final in tears after hardly making his mark. Argentina had two players sent off and had reached the final despite scoring only five goals in total. The Franz Beckenbauer-coached Germans could not have cared less — they had won their third title.
Mexico 1986:
Argentina 3 (Brown, Valdano, Burruchaga) West Germany 2 (Rummenigge and Voeller): Diego Maradona had almost single-handedly carried Argentina to the final, his infamous goal, when he punched the ball into the net, and a spectacular solo effort killing off England in the last eight and he produced more magic to see off Belgium in the semifinals. West Germany beat France in the semifinals but in the final at the Azteca they were quickly 2-0 down to Argentina, Jose Luis Brown and Jorge Valdano scoring. The Germans recovered with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Rudi Voeller netting in the closing stages to force extra time, only for Maradona, inevitably, to send Jorge Burruchaga through for the winner. Not since Pele in 1970 had one man so inspired a team to glory.
Spain 1982:
Italy 3 (Rossi, Tardelli and Altobelli) West Germany 1 (Breitner): Italian striker Paolo Rossi capped a spectacular finals by scoring twice as West Germany, exhausted after overcoming France in the match of the tournament in the semifinal, ran out of energy and ideas at the Bernabeu. Rossi had served a two-year ban from football for his alleged involvement in a match-fixing scandal but entered the pantheon of Italian footballing heroes with his performances in Spain. Italy were inspired, as Rossi headed past Toni Schumacher for the opener before Marco Tardelli’s athletic effort killed off the Germans and Alessandro Altobelli connected sweetly to put the match beyond doubt. Only Paul Breitner scored a consolation goal.
Argentina 1978:
Argentina 3 (Kempes-2, Bertoni) Holland 1 (Nanninga): Just as four years earlier, the home nation was swept to victory. Holland thrashed the Austrians 5-1 to reach the final for the second successive year, but, crucially, were without their inspiration Johan Cruyff, who had stayed at home. To the delight of the 77,260 crowd in Buenos Aires, Argentina took the lead through Mario Kempes after 37 minutes before substitute Dirk Nanninga equalized late on. In extra time Kempes restored Argentina’s lead with a surging run past three defenders and a neat shot and Daniel Bertoni made it 3-1, leaving captain Daniel Passarella to lift Argentina’s first World Cup.
West Germany 1974:
West Germany 2 (Breitner and Muller) Netherlands 1 (Neeskens): The Dutch were a delight as they romped into the second stage, and victories over East Germany, Argentina and Brazil secured them a place in the final against West Germany, who had seen off an impressive Poland in the other group. Barely a minute from the start the Dutch went ahead when Johan Cruyff won a penalty, scored by Johan Neeskens. Holland toyed with the Germans for a while, then suddenly lost their grip and the injured Rob Rensenbrink was substituted. Paul Breitner equalized after 25 minutes and just before half-time Gerd Muller scored the clincher.
Mexico 1970:
Brazil 4 Italy 1 (Pele, Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto) Italy 1 (Boninsegna): Pele’s victory in every way. Italy never stood a chance in the final as the South Americans gave a virtuous exhibition of “the beautiful game” in Mexico City. Pele, Gerson, Jairzinho and, gloriously, Carlos Alberto scored in a 4-1 rout of the Italians in Mexico City, and Brazil were allowed to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy having won it three times. Pele headed superbly home to open the scoring and was involved in the fourth goal that summed up Brazil’s superb run. Pele laid the ball to his right for the on-rushing Carlos Alberto to blast it into the net. The Brazilian players were lost in a sea of fans on the pitch after the final whistle.
England 1966:
England 4 (Hurst-3 and Peters) West Germany 2 (Haller and Weber) after extra-time: England’s one and only World Cup win and it came on home soil at Wembley. Helmut Haller put the Germans ahead but Geoff Hurst equalized before half-time. Martin Peters looked to have clinched victory for the hosts until Wolfgang Weber snatched a dramatic late equalizer to force extra time in a final for only the second time in history. Hurst grabbed two more goals in the additional period to become the first player to score a World Cup final hat trick. His second goal was highly controversial, bouncing down off the crossbar and, according to a Russian linesman, over the line.
Chile 1962:
Brazil 3 (Amarildo, Zito and Vava) Czechoslovakia 1 (Masopust): Czechoslovakia had reached the final thanks to the incredible performances of their bald and elastic-limbed goalkeeper Wilhelm Schroiff. But Schroiff blundered when it mattered most, helping Brazil to victory. Vava scored for the second final running, knocking in after the goalkeeper dropped a high shot, with Zito and Amarildo also on target to give Brazil their second successive trophy.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil 5 (Vava-2, Pele-2 and Zagalo) Sweden 2 (Liedholm and Simonsson): Sweden, coached by Englishman George Raynor, rode the support of the home fans into the final by beating holders West Germany in the last four. But in the final they too were undone by the boys from Brazil, Pele and Vava grabbing two apiece in a 5-2 demolition job. At the end of the match, the Swedish crowd rose to salute the Brazilians, and in particular their young prodigy Pele, who was writing the first of many glorious chapters in World Cup history.
Switzerland 1954:
Germany 3 (Morlock and Rahn-2) Hyngary 2 (Puskas and Czibor): Ferenc Puskas’ Hungary team seemed clear favorites to beat West Germany on the final after thrashing them 8-3 in the first round. It was not to be. West Germany, captained by the late Fritz Walter, were soon 2-0 ahead through Puskas and Zoltan Czibor and seemingly cruising to victory, but they reckoned without the determination of the West Germans, who were level within ten minutes. The German winner came five minutes from the end when Helmut Rahn scored his second goal to clinch their first World Cup triumph.
Brazil 1950:
Uruguay 2 (Schiaffino and Ghiggia) Brazil 1 (Friaca): The first World Cup for 12 years threw up a surprise as Uruguay shocked Brazil before a world record crowd of 193,850 at the cavernous Maracana. Albino Cardosa Friaca put Brazil ahead two minutes after half-time, but they seemed to lose their momentum. Goals by Alcides Ghiggia and top scorer Juan Schiaffino maintained Uruguay’s unbeaten record and crowned them world champions for the second time.
France 1938:
Italy 4 (Colaussi-2 and Piola-2) Hungary 2 (Titkos and Sarosi): Having edged Brazil 2-1 in the semis, Italy, under disciplinarian coach Vittorio Pozzo, lifted the trophy for the second year in succession, defeating Hungary 4-2 in the final at Colombes. The Hungarians had reached the final by demolishing Sweden 5-1, despite conceding a goal after only 30 seconds. Just as four years earlier, Italy captain Giuseppe Meazza was the star of the host team, while Brazil’s black diamond Leonidas da Silva finished top scorer with eight goals, including four in an astonishing 6-5 victory over Poland.
Italy 1934:
Italy 2 (Orsi, Schiavio) Czechoslovakia 1 (Puc) after extra time: Played in the shadow of growing tensions in Europe, the host nation took the spoils for the second successive year. Under the approving gaze of Mussolini, the Italians saw off Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the final, though only after extra time. The Czechs silenced the partisan 50,000 crowd when Antonin Puc scored with just 20 minutes of the match remaining and almost added a second when the ball struck a post before Argentine-born Raimundo Orsi scored a brilliant late equalizer. Then Angelo Schiavo scored the match-winner in the seventh minute of extra-time.
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay 4 (Dorado, Cea, Iriarte and Castro) Argentina 2 (Peucelle and Stabile): Montevideo staged the first-ever World Cup final, and indeed the entire tournament. A partisan crowd of 90,000 in the Centenario Stadium willed Uruguay to a 4-2 victory over the Argentines after being 2-1 down at half-time. A public holiday was declared in Uruguay, but in Buenos Aires hostile fans attacked the Uruguayan Embassy.
