1978 FIFA World Cup final

1978 FIFA World Cup Final

The Estadio Monumental held the final
Event	1978 FIFA World Cup
Argentina Netherlands 3 1
After extra time
Date	25 June 1978
Venue	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
Referee	Sergio Gonella (Italy)
Attendance	71,483

The 1978 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match played to determine the winner of the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The match was contested by hosts Argentina and the Netherlands. The match was won by the Argentines in extra time by a score of 3–1. Mario Kempes, who finished as the tournament's top scorer, was named the man of the match. The Netherlands lost their second World Cup final in a row, both times to the host nation, after losing to West Germany in 1974.

Match summary

The start of the final was mired in some controversy, as the Dutch accused the Argentines of using stalling tactics to delay the match, that allowed tension to build in front of a hostile Buenos Aires crowd. In the first instance, the host team came out five minutes later after the audience was whipped into a frenzy. The Argentines also questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof's wrist, despite him having worn it in earlier games without objections which caused the Dutch to threaten to walk off the pitch. Ending up the Italian referee Sergio Gonella upheld the complaints and forced van de Kerkhof to apply extra bandage. The Netherlands refused to attend the post-match ceremonies after the match ended.

Route to the final

Argentina		Round	Netherlands
Opponent	Result	First round	Opponent	Result
Hungary	2–1	Match 1	Iran	3–0
France	2–1	Match 2	Peru	0–0
Italy	0–1	Match 3	Scotland	2–3
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Italy 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 6 Argentina 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 4 France 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 2 Hungary 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0		Final standing	Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Peru 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 5 Netherlands 3 1 1 1 5 3 +2 3 Scotland 3 1 1 1 5 6 −1 3 Iran 3 0 1 2 2 8 −6 1
Opponent	Result	Second round	Opponent	Result
Poland	2–0	Match 1	Austria	5–1
Brazil	0–0	Match 2	West Germany	2–2
Peru	6–0	Match 2	Italy	2–1
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Argentina 3 2 1 0 8 0 +8 5 Brazil 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 5 Poland 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 2 Peru 3 0 0 3 0 10 −10 0		Final standing	Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Netherlands 3 2 1 0 9 4 +5 5 Italy 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 3 West Germany 3 0 2 1 4 5 −1 2 Austria 3 1 0 2 4 8 −4 2

Match details

25 June 1978

15:00 UTC−3

Argentina	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Netherlands
Kempes 38', 105' Bertoni 115'	Report	Nanninga 82'

Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 71,483

Referee: Sergio Gonella (Italy)

Argentina

Netherlands

GK 5 Ubaldo Fillol RB 15 Jorge Olguín CB 7 Luis Galván CB 19 Daniel Passarella (c) LB 20 Alberto Tarantini DM 6 Américo Gallego CM 2 Osvaldo Ardiles  40'  66' AM 10 Mario Kempes RW 4 Daniel Bertoni LW 16 Oscar Alberto Ortiz  75' CF 14 Leopoldo Luque Substitutes: MF 1 Norberto Alonso GK 3 Héctor Baley MF 8 Rubén Galván MF 9 René Houseman  75' MF 12 Omar Larrosa  93'  66' Manager: César Luis Menotti

GK 8 Jan Jongbloed SW 5 Ruud Krol (c)  15' RB 6 Wim Jansen  75' CB 22 Ernie Brandts LB 2 Jan Poortvliet  96' RM 13 Johan Neeskens CM 9 Arie Haan LM 11 Willy van de Kerkhof RF 10 René van de Kerkhof CF 16 Johnny Rep  58' LF 12 Rob Rensenbrink Substitutes: DF 4 Adrie van Kraay DF 17 Wim Rijsbergen FW 18 Dick Nanninga  58' GK 19 Pim Doesburg DF 20 Wim Suurbier  94'  75' Manager: Ernst Happel

Assistant referees: Ramón Barreto (Uruguay) Erich Linemayr (Austria)

Match rules: 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if scores level Replay on 27 June if scores still level Five substitutes named, maximum of two used

External links

• 1978 FIFA World Cup Final holland78.net