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BRAZIL!
The World Cup stayed in Europe. Sweden
hosted it and for the first time, the tournament received
international television coverage. None was to be disappointed
as the tournament turned out to be the best so far. The format
of the competition changed yet again. The 16 teams were split
into four groups as in 1954, but now all the teams in the
group played eachother. If teams tied for second and third
place, the outcome was decided by a play-off. Thankfully,
extra-time was not played in pool matches this time. The top
two of each group progressed to the quarterfinals, and from
then on it was knock-out competition. The teams were not
seeded as in 1954, but each of the four groups contained one
team from Western Europe, one from Eastern Europe, one from
the United Kingdom and one from Latin America. England found
themselves in a nightmare group with Brazil, Russia
and 1954 bronze medalists, Austria. Hungary were no longer the
force they were four years earlier. Leading players like
Puskas, Kocsis and Czibor all left the country in 1956 when
the Soviet Union invaded their country. The Soviets, on the
other hand, entered the World Cup for their first time and
were installed as one of the favourites.
This World Cup saw the emergence of the great Pelé. Brazil
started the tournament without him though, but he was brought
into the side after Brazil's match against England which ended
0-0. That was by the way the first ever goalless draw in a
World Cup match! Brazil were the clear favourites to win the
World Cup. they brought with them the innovative 4-2-4 system.
It didn't take long until the rest of the soccer world
employed the same formation.
Remarkable was the way Frenchman Juste Fontaine banged in
goals. France scored 11 goals in the groupstage and
qualified easily for the quarterfinals. Host nation Sweden
qualified as did Hungary from their group. Four British teams
participated in this cup, and few would have expected that the
two qualifying for the quarterfinals were Northern Ireland and
Wales. England disappointingly and Scotland had to book the
earliest possible flight home.
The quarterfinals saw no surprises, the Germans predictably
knocked out Yugoslavia, the hosts eliminated the Soviets,
France with a sparkling Fontaine trashed a brave Irish team,
while Pelé scored his first ever World Cup goal when Brazil
beat Wales by a single goal.
It was goals galore in the latest stage of the cup. The last
four games in the cup saw 27 goals! Sweden beat West Germany
in a tight semifinal, when the Germans were one man short the
last 30 mins. Brazil finally stopped Fontaine & Co when
Pelé scored a superb hat-trick in the 5-2 win. Fontaine added
4 more goals in the Bronzematch to take his tally to 13, the
highest ever in World Cup history. Pelé and Brazil went on to
beat the hosts in the final by 5-2. Read more about that match
under the "Final" link in the left column.
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