Hosts: Mexico
Winners: Brazil
Competing teams: 16
Where were England: Knocked out in the quarter-finals
Arguably the most iconic of all World Cup finals, Mexico ’70 didn’t have the most promising of starts when the hosts played out a goalless draw with the Soviet Union. However, after that it was, mostly, non-stop action.
Much of the focus in the group stages was on reigning champions England and their mouthwatering showdown with Brazil. And it didn’t disappoint.
Despite only providing a single goal, a cracker from Jairzinho, the match contained two of the World Cup's most memorable moments - Gordon Banks’ incredible save from Pele’s header and the dual between the Brazilian superstar and England skipper Bobby Moore.
Both sides eventually made it to the quarter-finals with Pele a different player from the one who failed to shine four years earlier.
Despite their dull opening game, Mexico and the USSR had more than enough to make it out of Group A while, despite three below-par performances, Italy sailed into the last eight alongside Uruguay. West Germany and Peru were the final quarter-finalists and, as the knockout stages begun, the competition hit top gear.
England faced old rivals West Germany in the last eight and looked set for the semi-finals, when they held a two-goal lead late in the second half.
Mindful of the heat and the next game, Sir Alf Ramsey took off Bobby Charlton and the rest is history. The Germans scored two late goals to take the game into extra-time, where Gerd Muller scored the goal which sent England home.
Brazil again showed their enormous talent with a 4-0 hammering of Peru, while Italy suddenly burst into life as they ended Mexico’s run with a 4-1 win in Toluca. The last quarter-final saw Uruguay edge past the Soviet Union 1-0 in a game played in a near empty Azteca Stadium.
Italy and West Germany served up a classic in the first semi-final with the Italians running out 4-3 winners in extra-time, after the game had finished 1-1 following 90 minutes. They were inevitably joined in the final by Brazil, who came from behind to beat Uruguay 3-1.
The final provided a final glimpse of a Brazilian side at the peak of their powers before their long decline in the 1970s. Pele opened the scoring with a headed goal, which was Brazil’s 100th in World Cup history.
Roberto Boninsegna had the audacity to equalise for Italy, nonetheless in the second half nothing could halt Brazil’s charge as they plundered three more goals, including Carlos Alberto’s famous strike, to seal a third World Cup victory.
Did you know? This was the first World Cup where substitutions were allowed.
