Football World Cup 1958

1958 FIFA World Cup
Fotboll VM Sverige 1958
Number of nations	16  (of 52 applicants)
World Champion	Brazil (1st title)
venue	Sweden
Opening game	June 8, 1958
Endgame	June 29, 1958 ( Solna )
Games	35
Gates	126  (⌀: 3.6 per game)
spectator	819,810  (⌀: 23,423 per game)
Top scorer	Just Fontaine 13 goals
References	3  (⌀: 0.09 per game)

The final round of the FIFA World Cup 1958 was the sixth playout this important tournament for football - national teams and was held in from 8 to 29 June 1958 Sweden instead.

The Brazilian national team won their first world title with the then 17-year-old future world star Pelé with a 5-2 win over the host's team. 16 national teams played for the title in four preliminary round groups, each with four teams. The defending champion Germany, meanwhile strengthened by the accession of the Saarland, was defeated by the hosts in the hard-fought semi-finals and France in the game for third place. Vice world champion Hungary was eliminated in the preliminary round, as well - and without a win - Austria. Switzerland and the GDR team did not qualify. The previous world champions Uruguay and Italy weren't there either.

126 goals were scored in the 35 games. The top scorer was the Frenchman Just Fontaine , who shot his country to third place with 13 successes and with the most goals during the same World Cup set a record unmatched to this day.

Award

Although it would have been a South American country's turn after the 1954 tournament in Switzerland, Sweden was the only applicant to host this World Cup. After the end of the Second World War, only a few countries were able to organize the hosting of a major sporting event, which is why the decision of the FIFA Congress at the meeting on June 23, 1950 in Rio de Janeiro was made for Sweden, which was neutral in the war.

Venues

The World Cup games were played in twelve stadiums in twelve different cities in southern Sweden. The largest stadiums were the Råsundastadion in Solna and the Ullevi in Gothenburg, each with almost 50,000 seats. The northernmost stadium ever to host a World Cup match was the Jernvallen stadium in the small town of Sandviken.

Uddevalla ( Rimnersvallen )	Gothenburg Halmstad Borås Eskilstuna Norrkoping Solna Malmo Uddevalla Örebro Sandviken Helsingborg Västerås Venues in 1958 in Sweden	Sandviken ( Jernvallen )
Gothenburg ( Ullevi )		Västerås ( Arosvallen )
Borås ( Ryavallen )		Örebro ( Eyravallen )
Halmstad ( Örjans vall )		Eskilstuna ( Tunavallen )
Helsingborg ( Olympic Stadium )		Solna ( Råsunda Stadium )
Malmö ( Malmö Stadium )		Norrkoping ( Idrottspark )

statistics

City (stadium)	Games	Total number of viewers	cut	Play with the most viewers	Play with the fewest spectators
Uddevalla ( Rimnersvallen )	1	17,788	17,788	Brazil - Austria (preliminary round)
Sandviken ( Jernvallen )	2	28,643	14,322	Hungary - Wales (preliminary round) 15,343	Hungary - Mexico (preliminary round) 13,300
Gothenburg ( Ullevi )	7th	272.230	38,890	Brazil - Soviet Union (preliminary round) 50,928	Soviet Union - England (preliminary round playoff for second place) 23,182
Västerås ( Arosvallen )	2	21,808	10,904	Yugoslavia - France (preliminary round) 12,217	Yugoslavia - Scotland (preliminary round) 9,591
Borås ( Ryavallen )	2	37.111	18,556	Soviet Union - Austria (preliminary round) 21,239	England - Austria (preliminary round) 15,872
Örebro ( Eyravallen )	1	13,554	13,554	France - Scotland (preliminary round)
Halmstad ( Örjans vall )	2	24,821	12,411	Argentina - Northern Ireland (preliminary round) 14,174	Northern Ireland - Czechoslovakia (preliminary round) 10,647
Eskilstuna ( Tunavallen )	1	13,103	13,103	Paraguay - Yugoslavia (preliminary round)
Helsingborg ( Olympic Stadium )	2	41,418	20,709	Federal Republic of Germany - Czechoslovakia (preliminary round) 25,000	Czechoslovakia - Argentina (preliminary round) 16,418
Solna ( Råsunda Stadium )	8th	229,954	28,744	Brazil v Sweden (final) 49,737	Wales - Hungary (Preliminary Round Playoff for 2nd Place) 2,823
Malmö ( Malmö Stadium )	4th	79,397	19,849	Argentina - Federal Republic of Germany (preliminary round) 31,156	Northern Ireland - Czechoslovakia (preliminary round playoff for second place) 6,196
Norrkoping ( Idrottspark )	3	39,983	13,328	France - Paraguay (preliminary round) 16,518	Paraguay v Scotland (preliminary round) 11,665

qualification

Main article: Qualifying for the 1958 World Cup

Of the total of 52 registered teams, 14 qualified. Hosts Sweden and Germany as defending champions were automatically qualified. The biggest surprise was the failure of two-time world champions Italy, who were eliminated from the previously insignificant team from Northern Ireland, and Uruguay, which had to give way to the Paraguayan team in South America Group 2. Spain, whose clubs dominated the European cup competitions at the time, missed the qualification against Scotland. The team from Wales took part in the tournament as representatives of Asia and Africa, as all Islamic countries in Africa and Asia refused to play against Israel. Therefore, with Wales, a group runner-up in the European qualification was drawn, who was able to prevail against Israel. The national teams of Northern Ireland, the Soviet Union and Wales took part in a finals for the first time. The United Kingdom was completely represented for the first time and so far for the last time with its four associations England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Attendees

12 from Europe	BR Germany	England	France	Yugoslavia
	Northern Ireland	Austria	Scotland	Sweden
	Soviet Union	Czechoslovakia	Hungary	Wales
3 from South America	Brazil	Argentina	Paraguay
1 from North, Central America and the Caribbean	Mexico

World map of the participants

draw

Determination of the game plan at the draw

The teams were divided according to geographic location. A team was drawn freely from each of the four pots to each group. It was decided beforehand that the group would play with Sweden in Solna near Stockholm.

The "geographical" group classification contradicted FIFA regulations, but the organizing committee had taken the decision to partially set the group with a clear majority. The ÖFB raised a protest against it and demanded a new draw, but it was clear from the start that this would be useless.

Pot 1:	Western Europe	Federal Republic of Germany • France • Austria • Sweden
Pot 2:	America	Argentina • Brazil • Mexico • Paraguay
Pot 3:	Great Britain	England • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales
Pot 4:	Eastern Europe	Yugoslavia • Soviet Union • Czechoslovakia • Hungary

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
BR Germany	France	Sweden	Austria
Argentina	Paraguay	Mexico	Brazil
Northern Ireland	Scotland	Wales	England
Czechoslovakia	Yugoslavia	Hungary	Soviet Union

For information on the individual groups and squads of the teams, click on the respective link.

mode

The 16 participants competed in four preliminary groups with four teams each. In contrast to the previous tournament in Switzerland, there was no seeding list, so that everyone in the individual groups had to play against everyone again. The first two of the group qualified for the quarter-finals, if two or more teams were tied, playoffs were scheduled, the composition of which would have changed depending on the scenario. With two teams tied in places 2 and 3, a playoff was played between these two teams. This was also the only scenario that occurred at the finals. In the event that places 2 to 4 would have finished tied, the team with the worst goal difference would have been eliminated, while the remaining two teams would have led the play-off. If places 1 to 3 had been tied, the team with the best goal difference would have reached the quarter-finals, while the remaining two teams would have played the playoff. The last option was that all four teams would have finished the group tied. Then two playoffs would have been scheduled, the opponents of which would have been determined by lot from all four teams. From the quarter-finals onwards, the tournament was played in the knockout system .

Preliminary round

In Group 1, Germany prevailed thanks to two draws and a victory over Argentina, which only finished fourth. France placed in Group 2 just ahead of Yugoslavia. Just Fontaine , who came as a substitute, scored six goals. Sweden and Brazil became group winners after convincing opening wins.

There were playoffs for second place in three groups. England was subject to the newcomer to the World Cup, the Soviet Union. Of the four British teams, only Wales and Northern Ireland, originally rated as weaker, reached the next round. Austria was unlucky to have been drawn into the strongest group and, as expected, was eliminated after a draw with England.

Group 1

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	BR Germany	3	1	2	0	007: 500	+2	04: 20
2.	Northern Ireland	3	1	1	1	004: 500	−1	03: 30
3.	Czechoslovakia	3	1	1	1	008: 400	+4	03: 30
4th	Argentina	3	1	0	2	005:100	−5	02: 40
Northern Ireland runners-up by playoff

June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Malmö
Argentina	-	BR Germany	1: 3 (1: 2)
June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Halmstad
Northern Ireland	-	Czechoslovakia	1: 0 (1: 0)
June 11, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Helsingborg
BR Germany	-	Czechoslovakia	2: 2 (0: 2)
June 11, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Halmstad
Argentina	-	Northern Ireland	3: 1 (1: 1)
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Malmö
BR Germany	-	Northern Ireland	2: 2 (1: 1)
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Helsingborg
Czechoslovakia	-	Argentina	6: 1 (3: 0)

Decision game for 2nd place

June 17, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Malmö
Northern Ireland	-	Czechoslovakia	2: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1)

Group 2

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	France	3	2	0	1	011: 700	+4	04: 20
2.	Yugoslavia	3	1	2	0	007: 600	+1	04: 20
3.	Paraguay	3	1	1	1	009:120	−3	03: 30
4th	Scotland	3	0	1	2	004: 600	−2	01: 50

June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Norrköping
France	-	Paraguay	7: 3 (2: 2)
June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Västerås
Yugoslavia	-	Scotland	1: 1 (1: 0)
June 11, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Västerås
Yugoslavia	-	France	3: 2 (1: 1)
June 11, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Norrköping
Paraguay	-	Scotland	3: 2 (2: 1)
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Örebro
France	-	Scotland	2: 1 (2: 0)
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Eskilstuna
Paraguay	-	Yugoslavia	3: 3 (2: 1)

Group 3

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sweden	3	2	1	0	005: 100	+4	05: 10
2.	Wales	3	0	3	0	002: 200	± 0	03: 30
3.	Hungary	3	1	1	1	006: 300	+3	03: 30
4th	Mexico	3	0	1	2	001: 800	−7	01: 50
Wales runners-up by playoff

Sweden's Liedholm scores a goal in the group game against Mexico .

June 8, 1958, 2 p.m. in Solna
Sweden	-	Mexico	3: 0 (1: 0)
June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Sandviken
Hungary	-	Wales	1: 1 (1: 1)
June 11, 1958, 7 p.m. in Solna
Mexico	-	Wales	1: 1 (0: 1)
June 12, 1958, 7 p.m. in Solna
Sweden	-	Hungary	2: 1 (1: 0)
June 15, 1958, 2 p.m. in Solna
Sweden	-	Wales	0-0
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Sandviken
Hungary	-	Mexico	4: 0 (1: 0)

Decision game for 2nd place

June 17, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Solna
Wales	-	Hungary	2: 1 (0: 1)

Group 4

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Brazil	3	2	1	0	005-000	+5	05: 10
2.	Soviet Union	3	1	1	1	004: 400	± 0	03: 30
3.	England	3	0	3	0	004: 400	± 0	03: 30
4th	Austria	3	0	1	2	002: 700	−5	01: 50
Soviet Union runners-up through playoff

June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Uddevalla
Brazil	-	Austria	3: 0 (1: 0)
June 8, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
Soviet Union	-	England	2: 2 (1: 0)
June 11, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
Brazil	-	England	0-0
June 11, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Borås
Soviet Union	-	Austria	2: 0 (1: 0)
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
Brazil	-	Soviet Union	2: 0 (1: 0)
June 15, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Borås
England	-	Austria	2: 2 (0: 1)

Decision game for 2nd place

June 17, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
Soviet Union	-	England	1: 0 (0: 0)

Final round

game schedule

	Quarter finals				Semifinals				final
	BR Germany	1
	Yugoslavia	0
					BR Germany	1
					Sweden	3
	Sweden	2
	Soviet Union	0
									Sweden	2
									Brazil	5
	France	4th
	Northern Ireland	0
					France	2			Game for third place
					Brazil	5
	Brazil	1							BR Germany	3
	Wales	0							France	6th

Quarter finals

June 19, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Malmö
BR Germany	-	Yugoslavia	1: 0 (1: 0)
June 19, 1958, 7 p.m. in Norrköping
France	-	Northern Ireland	4: 0 (1: 0)
June 19, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Solna
Sweden	-	Soviet Union	2: 0 (0: 0)
June 19, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
Brazil	-	Wales	1: 0 (0: 0)

Northern Ireland, Wales and the Soviet Union had to play playoffs to reach the quarterfinals and had less than 48 hours for regeneration and relocation. As expected, they had no chance in the next round - Brazil, France and Sweden scored easy victories.

With Yugoslavia, Germany had a much more difficult opponent to overcome because it was more rested and was able to save an early leadership by Helmut Rahn with difficulty over time.

Semifinals

June 24, 1958, 7:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
Sweden	-	BR Germany	3: 1 (1: 1)
June 24, 1958, 7 p.m. in Solna
France	-	Brazil	2: 5 (1: 2)

The German team had to deal with hosts Sweden in Gothenburg, which was set at short notice. The mood of the audience was problematic; whipers equipped with megaphones created a hostile atmosphere towards the German team. After an even game it was 1: 1 at halftime. Then Erich Juskowiak was sent off for a revenge foul on Italian pro Kurt Hamrin . After Fritz Walter was injured , the Swedes won 3-1. The sporting relations between the two nations remained disrupted for several years after this " Battle of Gothenburg ".

The second semi-final match between France and Brazil was level for a long time. Only when the French captain Robert Jonquet broke his leg after half an hour at a score of 1: 1 (and could not be replaced according to the applicable regulations), the South Americans gained the upper hand and won with a clear 5: 2. To date, it is Brazil's only victory over France at a World Cup, after which France won three times (1986, 1998 and 2006).

3rd place match

June 28, 1958, 5:00 p.m. in Gothenburg
BR Germany	-	France	3: 6 (1: 3)

Endgame

Sweden		Brazil		Lineup
	June 29, 1958 at 3 p.m. in Solna near Stockholm ( Råsundastadion ) Result: 2: 5 (1: 2) Spectators: 49,737 Referee: Maurice Guigue ( France )   Match report
	Kalle Svensson - Orvar Bergmark , Sven Axbom - Reino Börjesson , Bengt Gustavsson , Sigvard Parling - Kurt Hamrin , Gunnar Gren , Agne Simonsson , Nils Liedholm , Lennart Skoglund Trainer: George Raynor	Gilmar - Djalma Santos , Hilderaldo Bellini , Orlando Peçanha , Nílton Santos - Zito , Didí - Garrincha , Vavá , Pelé , Zagallo Trainer: Vicente Feola
	1: 0 Liedholm (4th) 2: 4 A. Simonsson (80th)	1: 1 Vavá (9th) 1: 2 Vavá (32nd) 1: 3 Pelé (55th) 1: 4 Zagallo (68th) 2: 5 Pelé (90th)
	At 35 years, 8 months and 21 days, Liedholm is the oldest goalscorer in a World Cup final	At 17 years, 8 months and six days, Pelé is the youngest goalscorer in a World Cup final

Pelé in the final in a duel with three Swedish defenders

Despite their home advantage, the Swedes had no chance against the strong Brazilians. After a 0-1 deficit, the South Americans scored four goals in a row. With the artistically perfect 3: 1, the seventeen-year-old Pelé once again drew attention to himself, who finally became the big star of this World Cup.

Honors of the placed

Raymond Kopa was voted Europe's Footballer of the Year , Helmut Rahn and Just Fontaine took second and third place. Orvar Bergmark was awarded the Guldbollen as the best Swedish footballer of the year and Maurice Lafont France's footballer of the year . At that time there was no such award in Brazil or Germany.

Best goal scorers

rank player Gates 1  Just Fontaine 13 2  Helmut Rahn 6th  Pelé 6th 4th  Peter McParland 5  Vavá 5 6th  Kurt Hamrin 4th  Agne Simonsson 4th  Lajos Tichy 4th  Zdeněk Zikán 4th 10  Oreste Corbatta 3  Raymond Kopa 3  Roger Piantoni 3  Hans Schäfer 3  Todor Veselinović 3

rank player Gates 15th  Jorgelino Romero 2  José Altafini 2  Jose Parodi 2  Juan Bautista Aguero 2  Václav Hovorka 2  Florencio Amarilla 2  Alexander Petaković 2  Derek Kevan 2  Milan Dvořák 2  Anatoly Ilyin 2  Ivor Allchurch 2  Uwe Seeler 2  Nils Liedholm 2  Maryan Wisnieski 2

In addition, there were 32 players with a hit.

The top scorer of the entire competition was also the Frenchman Just Fontaine with his 13 goals from the finals.

The best players of the tournament

The following players were named the top players of the tournament by the European and South American press:

goalkeeper	defender	Middle runner	Outrunner	Half-striker	Winger	Center Forward
Gregg Yashin Gilmar	Djalma Santos Bergmark Juskowiak Nílton Santos	Gustavsson Zebec	Woinow Szymaniak Blanchflower Penverne	Kopa Didi Pelé Fritz Walter Gren Piantoni	Garrincha Skoglund Rahn Zagalo McParland Corbatta	Fontaine Vavá

TV and the World Cup

The 1958 World Cup was the first to be televised to all continents. The live games, however, were determined by FIFA. In the Federal Republic one saw u. a. the preliminary round matches against Argentina and Northern Ireland as well as a quarter-final and a semi-final match original. The third place match and the final were also broadcast live on television. Since the transmission of all German World Cup games was not guaranteed, the curious situation arose on June 24th that football fans in Germany saw the semi-final match between Brazil and France on the screen at 7:00 p.m. and the dramatic one on the radio at the same time Game between Germany and Sweden listened to, which was commented on by Rudi Michel (1st half) and Herbert Zimmermann (2nd half).

Moving images of the entire World Cup finals (including the German semi-finals against Sweden) did not appear in cinemas until July 4, 1958, when the World Cup documentary Hinein! was shown. The film was produced by the UfA and Consul General Hans Schubert. Sammy Drechsel was the chief reporter. Other speakers for the documentation were Heribert Meisel, Herbert Zimmermann and Heinz Gottschalk.

Others

After the defeat in the semi-finals against Sweden, there were riots against Swedish tourists in Germany. In Hamburg, tires were stabbed by Swedish cars and the very popular Schwedenplatte disappeared from the menus of restaurants. From the point of view of part of the German public, the trigger was the behavior of some Swedish fans during the game, who, encouraged by the entertainment staff, caused a supposedly hostile atmosphere in the Gothenburg stadium, and the expulsion of Erich Juskowiak .

With England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, all four British associations took part in a final for the only time so far. Of these, only the weaker teams from Northern Ireland and Wales reached the quarter-finals. After all, England were the only team that hadn't lost to eventual world champions Brazil; But she could not win any of her three group games and was eliminated after a playoff against the USSR.

The final was the first World Cup final in which teams from Europe and South America faced each other. With this victory, Brazil succeeded for the first and so far only time as a South American country to win a World Cup tournament in Europe. It was also the first World Cup title for a country that only played against teams from other confederations during the tournament. Only Brazil succeeded in doing this again in 1994 and 2002, with the difference that Brazil only played against European teams in 1958, but also against African, Central and North American teams in 1994 and 2002. It is also the only final to date in which the hosts lost. In 1950, as hosts, Brazil lost the last game against Uruguay, but this was not a final.

The 1958 World Cup was the subject of the fictional documentary film Konspiration 58 by the Swedish director Johan Löfstedt from 2002. It claims that there is a group of the same name that is convinced that the World Cup never took place, but was staged as a television event similar to the moon landing . A large amount of alleged evidence is provided for this. Actually, as a mockumentary, the film was supposed to encourage viewers to question media reports more critically. However, the movie's claims spread as a conspiracy theory .

literature

• Friedebert Becker : Football World Cup 1958. Copress, Munich 1958 (license issue for Bertelsmann Lesering)
• Werner Skrentny: Football World Cup 1958 Sweden. AGON, Kassel 2002 ISBN 3-89784-192-4
• Süddeutsche Zeitung WM library: 1958 Sweden. Munich 2005 ISBN 3-86615-157-8

See also

• Soccer World Cup / Records

Web links

Commons : Football World Cup 1958  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Official website of FIFA for the 1958 World Cup
• All details on Fussballdaten.de
• Spiegel article about the World Cup from 1958

Notes and evidence

1. ↑ World Cup review: Just Fontaine still holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup tournament. In: guinnessworldrecords.de. June 6, 2014, accessed September 7, 2015 . 
2. ↑ The ÖFB demands a new draw . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 13, 1958, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
3. ^ Football tips for the theorists , in Rems-Zeitung of June 2, 1958, p. 8
4. ↑ ^{a b} fifa.com: "Countdown: Only 35 days left"
5. ↑ Becker, p. 13f.
6. ↑ A gigantic conspiracy around the 1958 World Cup. In: Soccer Warriors. January 13, 2009, accessed December 3, 2019 . 
7. ^ Conspiracy '58. Stavro Filmproduktion, 2013, accessed December 3, 2019 (published on Vimeo ).