Kathmandu. West Germany hosted the World Cup for the first time. In 1972, in view of the Munich terror attack at the Olympics, a large security arrangement was made.
The 1974 World Cup was held in 9 cities in West Germany, including West Berlin.
Teams like England, Spain, Mexico and Portugal could not pass the long selection process. East Germany played the World Cup only once, while Australia, Haiti, Zaire (currently the Dominican Republic of Congo) qualified for the first time.
Brazil’s golden generation left its mark on the world stage for a long time. They had their own samba style of football and played as a legend.
Brazil’s 1974 team played a different brand of football and the Netherlands succeeded in replacing Brazil in crowd-pleasing fashion. Under the leadership of Johan Cruyff, the Dutch team used ‘total football’. Where every outfield player could take any role apart from his position.
The Netherlands were undefeated until the final. In the final, they competed against former European champions and host West Germany.
With no German player touching the ball, Cruyff won a penalty in the first minute and scored to give the Netherlands the lead.
In the 25th minute, Germany equalized through a penalty. Gerd Müller scored before the first half and that goal was enough to give Germany the World Cup for the second time.
In this World Cup, the ‘Total Football’ style of the Netherlands captivated the audience.
A new World Cup trophy was created. 18 carat gold was used in the FIFA World Cup trophy.
Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa were represented in the World Cup for the first time by this edition. East and West Germany played against each other in the group stage. East Germany won the match 1-0.
It was the last World Cup for Dutch great Johan Cruyff and Germany’s Gerd Muller.
