 Germany'sGerd Müller (far left) watches Netherlands'Johan Cruyff (centre) playing against team-matesBerti Vogts (2nd left) andUli Hoeneß (right) | |||||||
| Event | 1974 FIFA World Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 7 July 1974 | ||||||
| Venue | Olympiastadion,Munich | ||||||
| Referee | Jack Taylor (England) | ||||||
| Attendance | 75,200 | ||||||
←1970 1978 → | |||||||
The1974 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the1974 FIFA World Cup held inMunich,Germany (formerlyWest Germany) on 7 July. It was the 10thFIFA World Cup competition, held to determine the world champion among national men'sfootball sides. The match was contested by theNetherlands andWest Germany, with West Germany winning 2–1. The Netherlands opened the scoring via aJohan Neeskens penalty in the second minute, only forPaul Breitner to equalise with another penalty in the 25th minute beforeGerd Müller scored the winning goal in the 43rd minute, claiming West Germany's second FIFA World Cup.[1]
Five German players (Sepp Maier,Franz Beckenbauer,Wolfgang Overath,Jürgen Grabowski andHorst-Dieter Höttges) became the first in history to have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the FIFA World Cup.
| Netherlands | Round | West 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 |  East Germany | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final standings |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Second round | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Argentina | 4–0 | Match 1 |  Yugoslavia | 2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Germany | 2–0 | Match 2 | Sweden | 4–2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Brazil | 2–0 | Match 3 |  Poland | 1–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final standings |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Germany was led byFranz Beckenbauer, while the Dutch had their starJohan Cruyff and theirTotal 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, Cruyff was brought down byUli Hoeneß in the Germanpenalty area following a solo run, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuingpenalty byJohan 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 afterBernd 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 throughGerd 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 thelinesman flagging foroffside. 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]
João Havelange, 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]
West German defenderBerti Vogts declared in 1997 that the penalty awarded to West Germany was unjustified. However, he remains the only player who wanted to comment on it.[7]
Netherlands  | 1–2 |  West Germany |
|---|---|---|
Neeskens 2' (pen.) | Breitner 25' (pen.) Müller 43' |
          Netherlands |    West Germany |
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Linesmen: | Match rules:
|
1974 FIFA World Cup finalists | |
|---|---|
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Third place | |
| Fourth place | |
| Second group stage | |
| First group stage | |
Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) | |
| Tournaments |
|
| Qualification | |
| Finals | |
| Squads | |
| Final draw | |
| Broadcasters | |
| Bids | |
| Officials | |
| Team appearances | |
| Other records |
|
| Miscellaneous | |
