1974 FIFA World Cup Final

The 1974 FIFA World Cup Final was the final match of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the 10th FIFA World Cup, a competition to determine the world champion among national men's football sides. The match was contested by the Netherlands and FR Germany, with the Federal Germans winning 2–1. The Netherlands opened the scoring via a Johan Neeskens penalty in the second minute, only for Paul Breitner to equalise with another penalty in the 25th minute before Gerd Müller scored the winning goal in the 43rd minute, claiming West Germany's second FIFA World Cup.[1]

1974 FIFA World Cup Final
Germany's Gerd Müller (far left) watches Netherlands' Johan Cruyff (centre) playing against team-mates Berti Vogts (2nd left) and Uli Hoeneß (right)
Event1974 FIFA World Cup
Netherlands FR Germany
1 2
Date7 July 1974
VenueOlympiastadion, Munich
RefereeJack Taylor (England)
Attendance75,200

Five German players (Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, Wolfgang Overath, Jürgen Grabowski, Horst-Dieter Höttges) became the first men in history who have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the FIFA World Cup.

Route to the final
Netherlands Round FR Germany
Opponent Result First round Opponent Result
 Uruguay 2–0 Match 1  Chile 1–0
 Sweden 0–0 Match 2  Australia 3–0
 Bulgaria 4–1 Match 3  DR Germany 0–1
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Netherlands 321061+55
 Sweden 312030+34
 Bulgaria 302125-32
 Uruguay 301216−51
 Final standing
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 DR Germany 321041+35
 FR Germany 320141+34
 Chile 302112−12
 Australia 301205−61
Opponent Result Second round Opponent Result
 Argentina 4–0 Match 1  Yugoslavia 2–0
 DR Germany 2–0 Match 2  Sweden 4–2
 Brazil 2–0 Match 3  Poland 1–0
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Netherlands 330080+86
 Brazil 32013304
 DR Germany 301214−31
 Argentina 301227−51
 Final standing
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 FR Germany 330072+56
 Poland 320132+14
 Sweden 310246−22
 Yugoslavia 300326−40

Match

Summary
Franz Beckenbauer (left) and Johan Cruyff, keyplayers of Germany and Netherlands respectively

West Germany was led by Franz Beckenbauer, while the Dutch had their star Johan Cruyff, and their Total Football system which had dazzled the competition. The start of the match was delayed as the ground staff at the stadium had removed the corner flags for the tournament's closing ceremony (which preceded the final) but then forgot to put them back. With just a minute gone on the clock, following a solo run, Cruyff was brought down by Uli Hoeneß in the German penalty area, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing penalty by Johan Neeskens before any German player had even touched the ball. West Germany struggled to recover, but they were awarded a penalty of their own in the 25th minute after Bernd Hölzenbein was fouled within the Dutch area. Paul Breitner took responsibility for the kick, and scored. These two penalties were the first to be awarded in a World Cup Final. West Germany now pushed for a winner, which eventually came in the 43rd minute through Gerd Müller.[2]

It turned out to be Müller's last goal for the West German team, as he retired from international football after the tournament. As the teams walked off the pitch at half-time, Cruyff was booked for arguing with the referee.[3]

The second half saw chances for both sides. Müller thought he had scored when he put the ball in the net, only to be denied by the linesman flagging for offside. In the 85th minute, Hölzenbein fell to ground in the Dutch penalty area again, but referee Taylor did not believe it was a foul. When the final whistle went, West Germany were crowned world champions for 1974, in addition to their European title from 1972. This was the only case of the reigning European champions winning the World Cup until Spain accomplished the feat in 2010,[4] although France have also held both trophies at the same time by winning the 1998 World Cup followed by Euro 2000.[5]

The Brazilian João Havelange (former FIFA President from 1974 to 1998) made an unsubstantiated claim that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed so that England and West Germany would win respectively.[6]

Berti Vogts, back then playing for West Germany, declared in 1997 that the penalty awarded to West Germany was unjustified. However, he remains the only one in the team who wants to comment on it.[7]

Details
Netherlands 1–2 FR Germany
Neeskens  2' (pen.) Report Breitner  25' (pen.)
Müller  43'
Attendance: 75,200
Referee: Jack Taylor (England)

Netherlands
West Germany
GK8Jan Jongbloed
RB20Wim Suurbier
CB17Wim Rijsbergen 69'
CB2Arie Haan
LB12Ruud Krol
DM6Wim Jansen
CM13Johan Neeskens 40'
CM3Willem van Hanegem 23'
RW16Johnny Rep
LW15Rob Rensenbrink 46'
CF14Johan Cruyff (c) 45'
Substitutes:
GK18Piet Schrijvers
DF5Rinus Israël
MF7Theo de Jong 69'
MF10René van de Kerkhof 46'
FW9Piet Keizer
Manager:
Rinus Michels
GK1Sepp Maier
RB2Berti Vogts 4'
CB5Franz Beckenbauer (c)
CB4Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck
LB3Paul Breitner
CM16Rainer Bonhof
CM12Wolfgang Overath
AM14Uli Hoeneß
RW9Jürgen Grabowski
LW17Bernd Hölzenbein
CF13Gerd Müller
Substitutes:
GK21Norbert Nigbur
DF6Horst-Dieter Höttges
MF8Bernhard Cullmann
MF15Heinz Flohe
FW11Jupp Heynckes
Manager:
Helmut Schön

Linesmen:
Ramón Barreto (Uruguay)
Alfonso González Archundia (Mexico)

Match rules:

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Replay on 9 July if scores still level
  • Five substitutes named, of which two may be used

See also

References
  1. "World Cup history - West Germany 1974". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  2. "The greatest World Cup tragedies: Holland 1974". The Score. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  3. "West Germans on top of the World". Glasgow Herald (Page 4). 8 July 1974. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. "Spain make history in Johannesburg". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  5. "France win Euro 2000". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 July 2000. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  6. "1966 & 1974 World Cups Were Fixed - Former FIFA President". Goal.com. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  7. "Strafschop voor Duits elftal in WK-finale 1974 was 'vergissing'". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 2 January 1997. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
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