1974 FIFA World Cup Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
1974 FIFA World Cup
Tournament details
Host country	West Germany
Dates	13 June – 7 July
Teams	16
Venue(s)	9 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	West Germany (2nd title)
Runners-up	Netherlands
Third place	Poland
Fourth place	Brazil
Tournament statistics
Matches played	38
Goals scored	97 (2.55 per match)
Attendance	1,774,022 (46,685 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Grzegorz Lato (7 goals)
Best player	Johan Cruyff
← 1970 1978 →

The 1974 FIFA World Cup was a big international football tournament. It was the 10th time this exciting event was held. The games took place in West Germany (including West Berlin) from June 13 to July 7. The host country, West Germany, played against the Netherlands in the final match. West Germany won, earning their second World Cup title!

About the 1974 World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is a global football competition. Teams from all over the world compete to see who is the best. In 1974, 16 national teams played in the tournament. They played a total of 38 matches. Many goals were scored, 97 in total! The top scorer was Grzegorz Lato from Poland, who scored 7 goals. Johan Cruyff from the Netherlands was named the best player of the tournament.

Teams That Played

Many countries sent their best football teams to compete in the 1974 World Cup. Here are the teams that qualified from different parts of the world:

Teams from Africa

Zaire

Teams from Asia

Australia

Teams from Europe

Teams from North and Central America

Haiti

Teams from South America

How the Tournament Worked

The 1974 World Cup had two main stages. First, there was Round 1, where teams played in groups. Then, the best teams moved on to Round 2, which also had groups. Finally, the top teams from Round 2 played in the Third Place match and the Final.

Round 1 Matches

In Round 1, the 16 teams were divided into four groups (Group A, B, C, and D). Each team played against the other teams in their group. The top two teams from each group moved on to Round 2.

Group A Results

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
East Germany	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	5
West Germany	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3	4
Chile	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
Australia	3	0	1	2	0	5	−5	1


14 June 1974
West Germany	1 – 0	Chile
East Germany	2 – 0	Australia
18 June 1974
Australia	0 – 3	West Germany
Chile	1 – 1	East Germany
22 June 1974
Australia	0 – 0	Chile
East Germany	1 – 0	West Germany

Group B Results

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Yugoslavia	3	1	2	0	10	1	+9	4
Brazil	3	1	2	0	3	0	+3	4
Scotland	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	4
Zaire	3	0	1	2	0	14	−14	0


13 June 1974
Brazil	0 – 0	Yugoslavia
14 June 1974
Zaire	0 – 2	Scotland
18 June 1974
Yugoslavia	9 – 0	Zaire
Scotland	0 – 0	Brazil
22 June 1974
Scotland	1 – 1	Yugoslavia
Zaire	0 – 3	Brazil

Group C Results

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	2	1	0	6	1	+9	4
Sweden	3	1	2	0	3	0	+3	4
Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	5	−3	4
Uruguay	3	0	1	2	1	6	−5	0


15 June 1974
Uruguay	0 – 2	Netherlands
Sweden	0 – 0	Bulgaria
19 June 1974
Uruguay	1 – 1	Bulgaria
Netherlands	0 – 0	Sweden
23 June 1974
Netherlands	4 – 1	Bulgaria
Sweden	3 – 0	Uruguay

Group D Results

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Poland	3	3	0	0	12	3	+9	6
Argentina	3	1	1	1	7	5	+2	3
Italy	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	3
Haiti	3	0	0	3	2	14	−12	0


15 June 1974
Italy	3 – 1	Haiti
Poland	3 – 2	Argentina
19 June 1974
Argentina	1 – 1	Italy
Haiti	0 – 7	Poland
23 June 1974
Argentina	4 – 1	Haiti
Poland	2 – 1	Italy

Round 2 Matches

The eight teams that made it through Round 1 were placed into two new groups for Round 2. The winners of these groups would play in the Final. The second-place teams would play for third place.

Group A Round 2 Results

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	3	0	0	8	0	+8	6
Brazil	3	2	0	1	3	3	0	4
East Germany	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1
Argentina	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1


26 June 1974
Netherlands	4 – 0	Argentina
Brazil	1 – 0	East Germany
30 June 1974
Argentina	1 – 2	Brazil
East Germany	0 – 2	Netherlands
3 July 1974
Argentina	1 – 1	East Germany
Netherlands	2 – 0	Brazil

Group B Round 2 Results

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
West Germany	3	3	0	7	2	+5	6
Poland	3	2	1	3	2	+1	4
Sweden	3	1	2	4	6	−2	2
Yugoslavia	3	0	3	2	6	−4	0


26 June 1974
Yugoslavia	0 – 2	West Germany
Sweden	0 – 1	Poland
30 June 1974
Poland	2 – 1	Yugoslavia
West Germany	4 – 2	Sweden
3 July 1974
Poland	0 – 1	West Germany
Sweden	2 – 1	Yugoslavia

Third Place Match

The teams that came second in their Round 2 groups played for third place. This match was between Brazil and Poland.

6 July 1974 16:00 CET	Brazil	0 – 1	Poland	Olympiastadion, Munich Attendance: 74,100 Referee: Aurelio Angonese (Italy)
		Report	Lato 76'

Poland won this match 1-0, securing third place in the tournament.

The Final Match

The final game was played between the Netherlands and West Germany. It was a very exciting match!

7 July 1974 16:00 CET	Netherlands	1 – 2	West Germany	Olympiastadion, Munich Attendance: 75,200 Referee: Jack Taylor (England)
	Neeskens 2' (pen.)	Report	Breitner 25' (pen.) Müller 43'

West Germany won the final 2-1, becoming the champions of the 1974 FIFA World Cup!

1974 FIFA World Cup Winners
West Germany 2nd title

Images for kids

Countries qualified for World Cup Country failed to qualify Countries that did not enter World Cup Country not a FIFA member
Results of finalists
One of two official match footballs of the FIFA World Cup 1974 – the Adidas Telstar durlast. The other was the all-white Adidas Chile durlast.
The East German team line-up before their game against Australia.
Jairzinho scores a goal for Brazil against Zaire.
Capello (No.8) is brought down during the match against Haiti.
Joachim Streich scores for East Germany against Argentina.