SEASON

1974 FIFA World Cup

Overview

The 1974 FIFA World Cup was hosted by West Germany. West Germany won the tournament, Netherlands finished runners-up, Poland placed third and Brazil fourth. Footballopedia links this edition to its decisive matches, leading scorer, champion manager and the wider World Cup knowledge graph.

Key facts

Host: West Germany
Champion: West Germany
Runner-up: Netherlands
Third place: Poland
Fourth place: Brazil
Format: First group stage followed by two second-round groups; group winners advanced to the final
Top scorer: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) - 7 goals
Winning manager: Helmut Schön
Matches: 38
Goals: 97
Current season: 1974
Teams: 16

1974 FIFA World Cup — 1974 world cup.png — Wikimedia Commons contributors — CC BY-SA 3.0/GFDL · source/license · edition-context image; match-specific audit pending

Records

ChampionValue: West Germany

Runner-upValue: Netherlands

Third placeValue: Poland

Top scorerValue: Grzegorz Lato (Poland) - 7 goals

TeamsValue: 16

MatchesValue: 38

GoalsValue: 97

Matches

West Germany 1-0 ChileDate: 1974-06-14 · City: Berlin · Stage: Group A · Home Team: West Germany

East Germany 2-0 AustraliaDate: 1974-06-14 · City: Hamburg · Stage: Group A · Home Team: East Germany

Chile 1-1 East GermanyDate: 1974-06-18 · City: Berlin · Stage: Group A · Home Team: Chile

Australia 0-3 West GermanyDate: 1974-06-18 · City: Hamburg · Stage: Group A · Home Team: Australia

Australia 0-0 ChileDate: 1974-06-22 · City: Berlin · Stage: Group A · Home Team: Australia

East Germany 1-0 West GermanyDate: 1974-06-22 · City: Hamburg · Stage: Group A · Home Team: East Germany

Brazil 0-0 YugoslaviaDate: 1974-06-13 · City: Frankfurt · Stage: Group B · Home Team: Brazil

Zaire 0-2 ScotlandDate: 1974-06-14 · City: Dortmund · Stage: Group B · Home Team: Zaire

Yugoslavia 9-0 ZaireDate: 1974-06-18 · City: Gelsenkirchen · Stage: Group B · Home Team: Yugoslavia

Scotland 0-0 BrazilDate: 1974-06-18 · City: Frankfurt · Stage: Group B · Home Team: Scotland

Zaire 0-3 BrazilDate: 1974-06-22 · City: Gelsenkirchen · Stage: Group B · Home Team: Zaire

Scotland 1-1 YugoslaviaDate: 1974-06-22 · City: Frankfurt · Stage: Group B · Home Team: Scotland

Sweden 0-0 BulgariaDate: 1974-06-15 · City: Düsseldorf · Stage: Group C · Home Team: Sweden

Uruguay 0-2 NetherlandsDate: 1974-06-15 · City: Hannover · Stage: Group C · Home Team: Uruguay

Netherlands 0-0 SwedenDate: 1974-06-19 · City: Dortmund · Stage: Group C · Home Team: Netherlands

Bulgaria 1-1 UruguayDate: 1974-06-19 · City: Hannover · Stage: Group C · Home Team: Bulgaria

Bulgaria 1-4 NetherlandsDate: 1974-06-23 · City: Dortmund · Stage: Group C · Home Team: Bulgaria

Sweden 3-0 UruguayDate: 1974-06-23 · City: Düsseldorf · Stage: Group C · Home Team: Sweden

Italy 3-1 HaitiDate: 1974-06-15 · City: Munich · Stage: Group D · Home Team: Italy

Poland 3-2 ArgentinaDate: 1974-06-15 · City: Stuttgart · Stage: Group D · Home Team: Poland

Haiti 0-7 PolandDate: 1974-06-19 · City: Munich · Stage: Group D · Home Team: Haiti

Argentina 1-1 ItalyDate: 1974-06-19 · City: Stuttgart · Stage: Group D · Home Team: Argentina

Argentina 4-1 HaitiDate: 1974-06-23 · City: Munich · Stage: Group D · Home Team: Argentina

Poland 2-1 ItalyDate: 1974-06-23 · City: Stuttgart · Stage: Group D · Home Team: Poland

Netherlands 4-0 ArgentinaDate: 1974-06-26 · City: Gelsenkirchen · Stage: Second phase Group I · Home Team: Netherlands

Brazil 1-0 East GermanyDate: 1974-06-26 · City: Hannover · Stage: Second phase Group I · Home Team: Brazil

East Germany 0-2 NetherlandsDate: 1974-06-30 · City: Gelsenkirchen · Stage: Second phase Group I · Home Team: East Germany

Argentina 1-2 BrazilDate: 1974-06-30 · City: Hannover · Stage: Second phase Group I · Home Team: Argentina

Netherlands 2-0 BrazilDate: 1974-07-03 · City: Dortmund · Stage: Second phase Group I · Home Team: Netherlands

Argentina 1-1 East GermanyDate: 1974-07-03 · City: Gelsenkirchen · Stage: Second phase Group I · Home Team: Argentina

Yugoslavia 0-2 West GermanyDate: 1974-06-26 · City: Düsseldorf · Stage: Second phase Group II · Home Team: Yugoslavia

Sweden 0-1 PolandDate: 1974-06-26 · City: Stuttgart · Stage: Second phase Group II · Home Team: Sweden

Poland 2-1 YugoslaviaDate: 1974-06-30 · City: Frankfurt · Stage: Second phase Group II · Home Team: Poland

West Germany 4-2 SwedenDate: 1974-06-30 · City: Düsseldorf · Stage: Second phase Group II · Home Team: West Germany

Poland 0-1 West GermanyDate: 1974-07-03 · City: Frankfurt · Stage: Second phase Group II · Home Team: Poland

Sweden 2-1 YugoslaviaDate: 1974-07-03 · City: Düsseldorf · Stage: Second phase Group II · Home Team: Sweden

Poland 1-0 BrazilDate: 1974-07-06 · City: Munich · Stage: Third-place match · Home Team: Poland

West Germany 2-1 NetherlandsDate: 1974-07-07 · City: Munich · Stage: Final · Home Team: West Germany

Tournament story

The Netherlands' Total Football became one of the tournament's defining stories.

West Germany recovered from conceding a penalty before touching the ball in the final to win 2-1.

Grzegorz Lato led the scoring with seven goals.

Final / decisive match

Home: West Germany
Away: Netherlands
Home Score: 2
Away Score: 1
Venue: Olympiastadion
City: Munich
Date: 1974-07-07

Third-place match

Home: Poland
Away: Brazil
Home Score: 1
Away Score: 0
Venue: Olympiastadion
City: Munich
Date: 1974-07-06