Qualifying rounds
GROUP
A
Northern Ireland
Czechoslovakia
West Germany
Argentina
GROUP
B
Yugoslavia
Scotland
France
Paraguay
GROUP
C
Sweden
Mexico
Hungary
Wales
GROUP
D
Brazil
Austria
England
Soviet Union
QUARTERFINALS
|
1
0 |
West Germany
Yugoslavia |
2
0 |
Sweden
Soviet Union |
4
0 |
France
Northern Ireland |
1
0 |
Brazil
Wales |
SEMIFINALS
|
3
1 |
Sweden
West Germany |
5
2 |
Brazil
France |
BRONZEMATCH
|
6
3 |
France
West Germany |
FINAL
|
5
2 |
Brazil
Sweden |
|
PELÉ MAKES
HIS ENTRANCE
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 Wales 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.
TOPSCORERS
Just Fontaine (FRA) 13 goals
Pelé (BRA) 6 goals
Helmut Rahn (GER) 6 goals
Peter McParland (NIR) 5 goals
Vava (BRA) 5 goals
OTHER STATISTICS
Number of games 35
Total Goals scored 126
Average per game 3,60
Expulsions 3
Own goals 1
Total attendance 868,000
Average attendance 24,800
WORLD CUP 1958 STANDINGS
P W D L Goals Pts
1.Brazil C 6 5 1 0 16- 4 11
2.Sweden F 6 4 1 1 12- 7 9
3.France SF 6 4 0 2 23-15 8
4.West Germany SF 6 2 2 2 12-14 6
5.Yugoslavia QF 4 1 2 1 7- 7 4
6.Wales QF 5* 1 3 1 4- 4 5
7.Soviet Union QF 5* 2 1 2 5- 6 5
8.North. Ireland QF 5* 2 1 2 6-10 5
9.Czechoslovakia 1R 4* 1 1 2 9- 6 3
10.Hungary 1R 4* 1 1 2 7- 5 3
11.England 1R 4* 0 3 1 4- 5 3
12.Paraguay 1R 3 1 1 1 9-12 3
13.Argentina 1R 3 1 0 2 5-10 2
14.Scotland 1R 3 0 1 2 4- 6 1
15.Austria 1R 3 0 1 2 2- 7 1
16.Mexico 1R 3 0 1 2 1- 8 1
* These teams needed play-offs to get
out of the group stage. They all had 3 pts in
their respective groups. Yugoslavia had 4 and is
therefore above them in the standings. The points
obtained in the play-off matches do not count on
the table.
*The pointsystem used from 1930 to 1990 was
2 pts for a win and 1 pt for a draw.
Qualifying
Competition 1958
Everything about the route to this World Cup
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[HOME]
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Pelé
- took the world by surprise as a virtually unknown 17 year old. He played
in Brazil's last four matches and scored 6 goals, two of them in the final. |
BACKGROUND
Info on how
the World Cup was founded and about the trophy as well. |
THE
WORLD CUPS
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on every match in every tournament. |
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Interesting columns about the past, present and future of the World Cup. |
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with appearances in the World Cup. Detailed info on every country. |
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of many of the most influential players in history. |
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of strange and different stories in World Cup history. |
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of various statistics and records. |
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since it was introduced in 1966. |
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10 RANKINGS
Rankings of
lots of stuff. For instance Best Goals, Best Players and Best Matches. |
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of links to other soccer sites with World Cup connection. |
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A little information
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