1978 FIFA World Cup Group 1

Group 1 of the 1978 FIFA World Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The group's first round of matches began on 2 June and its last matches were played on 10 June. All six group matches were played either at Estadio José María Minella in Mar del Plata, or Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. The group consisted of Argentina (the host of the tournament) as well as Italy, France and Hungary.

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 6 Advance to second round
2  Argentina 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 4
3  France 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 2
4  Hungary 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0
Source: FIFA

Matches

Italy vs France

The first game in Group 1 pitted Italy against France. Italy were favored to win but had been victims of plenty of dull and unexciting performances leading up, while a rejuvenated French team were making their first appearance since the 1966 world cup. The first goal came with under a minute as goalkeeper Bertrand-Demanes passed the ball to Didier Six who ran down the entire length of the pitch before delivering a good cross that Bernard Lacombe headed past Dino Zoff to score the first goal of the tournament. Italy controlled the rest of the match and equalized half way through the first half when after the ball pinged around the area it glanced off the unsuspecting Paolo Rossi and into the goal. It would be the first of 9 goals Rossi would score at the finals. Shortly after the beginning of the second half substitute Renato Zaccarelli's shot went in. The Italians saw out the rest of the match, which saw little chances except for Maxime Bossis's shot that flew just wide of Zoff's post. Despite it being an unremarkable match it featured the emergence of two teams that would dazzle the world four years later at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Italy 2–1 France
Rossi  29'
Zaccarelli  54'		 Report Lacombe  1'
Attendance: 38,100
Italy
GK1Dino Zoff (c)
DF2Mauro Bellugi
DF3Antonio Cabrini
DF5Claudio Gentile
DF8Gaetano Scirea
MF9Giancarlo Antognoni 46'
MF10Romeo Benetti
MF14Marco Tardelli 35'
MF16Franco Causio
CF18Roberto Bettega
CF21Paolo Rossi
Substitutions:
MF15Renato Zaccarelli 46'
Manager:
Enzo Bearzot
GK21Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes
DF3Maxime Bossis
DF4Gerard Janvion
DF7Patrice Rio
DF8Marius Tresor (c)
MF10Jean-Marc Guillou
MF11Henri Michel 81'
MF15Michel Platini 60'
FW16Christian Dalger
FW17Bernard Lacombe 74'
FW19Didier Six 76'
Substitutions:
MF14Marc Berdoll 74'
FW20Olivier Rouyer 76'
Manager:
Michel Hidalgo

Argentina vs Hungary
Argentina 2–1 Hungary
Luque  14'
Bertoni  83'		 Report Csapó  9'
Attendance: 71,615
Referee: Antonio Garrido (Portugal)
Argentina
Hungary
GK5Ubaldo Fillol
RB15Jorge Olguín
CB7Luis Galván
CB19Daniel Passarella (c) 77'
LB20Alberto Tarantini
DM6Américo Gallego
CM2Osvaldo Ardiles
AM10Mario Kempes
FW21José Daniel Valencia 75'
CF14Leopoldo Luque
FW9René Houseman 67'
Substitutions:
FW4Daniel Bertoni 67'
AM1Norberto Alonso 75'
Manager:
César Luis Menotti
GK1Sándor Gujdár
DF2Péter Török 46'
DF3István Kocsis
DF6Zoltán Kereki (c)
DF4József Tóth
MF5Sándor Zombori
MF18László Nagy
MF13Károly Csapó
FW10Sándor Pintér
FW8Tibor Nyilasi 21' 89'
FW9András Törőcsik 48' 88'
Substitutions:
DF12Győző Martos 46'
Manager:
Lajos Baróti

Italy vs Hungary

Italy once again had an uncertain start against Hungary in their second group game and appeared nervy early on, and Hungary had several good chances to score. But just after the half-hour mark Paolo Rossi made it two goals in two games by firing home after a shot had deflected into his path. Just a minute later Roberto Bettega took advantage of some poor defending to make it two goals in two minutes. Mid way through the second half Romeo Benetti fired in a superb shot and Italy had the victory all but secure. It could have been so much more as the Italians hit the crossbar a total of three times in the game. Late on Hungary won a penalty kick, which was dispatched by substitute András Tóth but it was just consolation as Hungary were eliminated and Italy confirmed their spot in the second round.

Italy 3–1 Hungary
Rossi  34'
Bettega  35'
Benetti  61'		 Report A. Tóth  81' (pen.)
Attendance: 26,533
Italy
Hungary
GK1Dino Zoff (c)
DF2Mauro Bellugi
DF3Antonio Cabrini 79'
DF5Claudio Gentile
DF8Gaetano Scirea
MF9Giancarlo Antognoni
MF10Romeo Benetti
MF14Marco Tardelli
MF16Franco Causio
CF18Roberto Bettega 84'
CF21Paolo Rossi
Substitutions:
MF4Antonello Cuccureddu 79'
FW19Francesco Graziani 84'
Manager:
Enzo Bearzot
GK21Ferenc Mészáros
DF3István Kocsis
DF6Zoltán Kereki (c)
DF4József Tóth
DF12Győző Martos 64'
MF5Sándor Zombori 26'
MF18László Nagy 46'
MF13Károly Csapó
FW10Sándor Pintér
FW7László Fazekas 46'
FW17László Pusztai
Substitutions:
MF16István Halász 46'
FW19András Tóth 46'
Manager:
Lajos Baróti

Argentina vs France
Argentina 2–1 France
Passarella  45' (pen.)
Luque  73'		 Report Platini  60'
Attendance: 71,666
Argentina
France
GK5Ubaldo Fillol
RB15Jorge Olguín
CB7Luis Galván
CB19Daniel Passarella (c)
LB20Alberto Tarantini
DM6Américo Gallego
CM2Osvaldo Ardiles
AM10Mario Kempes
CF14Leopoldo Luque
WF9René Houseman
WF21José Daniel Valencia 64'
Substitutions:
AM1Norberto Alonso 64' 71'
WF16Oscar Ortiz 71'
Manager:
César Luis Menotti
GK21Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes 55'
DF3Maxime Bossis
DF6Christian Lopez
DF8Marius Tresor (c)
DF9Dominique Bathenay
DF2Patrick Battiston
MF11Henri Michel
MF15Michel Platini
FW18Dominique Rocheteau
FW17Bernard Lacombe
FW19Didier Six 88'
Substitutions:
GK1Dominique Baratelli 55'
Manager:
Michel Hidalgo

France vs Hungary

Both teams arrived to the match with white shirts, and France was forced to borrow green-striped shirts from local club Kimberley de Mar del Plata.[1]

France 3–1 Hungary
Lopez  23'
Berdoll  38'
Rocheteau  42'		 Report Zombori  41'
Attendance: 23,127
France
Hungary
GK22Dominique Dropsy
DF4Gerard Janvion
DF5François Bracci
DF6Christian Lopez
DF8Marius Tresor (c)
MF9Dominique Bathenay
MF12Claude Papi 46'
MF13Jean Petit
MF14Marc Berdoll
FW18Dominique Rocheteau 75'
FW20Olivier Rouyer
Substitutions:
MF15Michel Platini 46'
FW19Didier Six 75'
Manager:
Michel Hidalgo
GK1Sándor Gujdár
DF4József Tóth
DF6Zoltán Kereki (c)
DF14László Bálint
DF12Győző Martos
MF5Sándor Zombori
MF18László Nagy 46'
FW17László Pusztai
FW10Sándor Pintér
FW8Tibor Nyilasi
FW9András Törőcsik
Substitutions:
MF13Károly Csapó 46'
Manager:
Lajos Baróti

Argentina vs Italy
Argentina 0–1 Italy
Report Bettega  67'
Attendance: 71,712
Argentina
Italy
GK5Ubaldo Fillol
RB15Jorge Olguín
CB7Luis Galván
CB19Daniel Passarella (c)
LB20Alberto Tarantini
DF6Américo Gallego
CM2Osvaldo Ardiles
AM10Mario Kempes
WF21José Daniel Valencia
CF4Daniel Bertoni
WF16Oscar Ortiz 72'
Substitutions:
WF9René Houseman 72'
Manager:
César Luis Menotti
GK1Dino Zoff (c)
DF2Mauro Bellugi 6'
DF3Antonio Cabrini
DF5Claudio Gentile
DF8Gaetano Scirea
MF9Giancarlo Antognoni 73'
MF10Romeo Benetti 60'
MF14Marco Tardelli
MF16Franco Causio
CF18Roberto Bettega
CF21Paolo Rossi
Substitutions:
MF4Antonello Cuccureddu 6'
MF15Renato Zaccarelli 73'
Manager:
Enzo Bearzot

References
  1. Kimberley shirts for the outfield players were only numbered from 2 to 11 and 13 to 16. Therefore, some players wore numbers not corresponding to the FIFA official ones: Dominique Rocheteau wore shirt number 7 instead of 18, Olivier Rouyer wore 11 instead of 20, Claude Papi 10 instead of 12, substitute Didier Six wore 6 instead of 19. For these players, the right FIFA numbers were shown on the shorts.
  2. Initially scheduled at 13:45, the match was delayed as both teams were wearing white shirts.
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