At the 1956 FIFA congress in Lisbon, three nations formally applied to host the 1962 World Cup - Argentina, Chile and West Germany. It was generally agreed that the tournament couldn't be held in Europe for the third successive time, so the Germans application was rejected. Argentina had better cards on their hands, because of their footballing heritage, larger stadiums and a tremendous interest in the game amongst its people. They were the hot favourites, but in May 1960 Chile was rocked by dreadful earthquakes which claimed 5000 lives. This tragedy, one would have thought, would have made Argentina even stronger candidates, but powerful pleading by the Chilean FA president, Carlos Dittborn, won the sympathy of FIFA and Chile were declared hosts for the 1962 tournament. Dittborn said: "We have nothing - that is why we must have the World Cup."

     The Chileans set about building new stadiums and the magnificent National Stadium in Santiago was completed in time for the start of the tournament. For a poor nation, Chile did not disappoint FIFA as World Cup hosts. But the organizers could do little about the football.

     This World Cup in Chile brought us little new, only one surprise and that was in the qualification. Sweden who were runners-up four years earlier failed to qualify. Brazil came to Chile with a team very much like the one who won in 1958. Only one major addition, Amarildo, who would take over after Pelé who got injured already in the second match. June 2nd was a black day in World Cup history. Chile met Italy in front of nearly 70.000 spectators in Santiago. They were witnessing discraceful scenes on the field as Latin temperament took over. Only two players were sent off, both Italians, but it should have been a lot more. The English referee Aston said the match was uncontrollable as the players were punching and kicking eachother. The teams needed the police to get escorted off the field safely. The hosts won the football match 2-0.

     In the quarterfinals Yugoslavia and West Germany met again for the third time running. On both the previous occasions, the Germans had ended up winning. This time a Radakovic goal three minutes before time sent Yugoslavia through. Brazil with a sparkling Garrincha beat England, the Czechs beat Hungary and Chile surprisingly beat the Soviet Union and now found themselves in the semifinal.

     There they met Brazil who looked unstoppable and Garrincha and Vava scored two goals each to send Brazil to yet another final. Czechoslovakia won the other semifinal against Yugoslavia. Chile captured the bronzemedals with a winning goal which was the last kick on the ball in the match. It was a great achievement for Chile who didn't expect their team to go this far. Garrincha who was sent off in the semifinal eventually was allowed to play in the final. Even though Czechoslovakia took the lead early on, Brazil looked like the better team and came back and won the final 3-1. Even without Pelé for most of the tournament, Brazil managed to defend their title. Read more about this final, by clicking on the "Final" link in the left column.
 
 

TOPSCORERS
Garrincha (BRA)              4 goals
Valentin Ivanov (SOV)        4 goals
Leonel Sanchez (CHI)         4 goals
Vava (BRA)                   4 goals
Florian Albert (HUN)         4 goals
Drazan Jerkovic (YUG)        4 goals



OTHER STATISTICS
Number of games                   32
Total Goals scored                89
Average per game                2,78
Expulsions                         6
Own goals                       none
Total attendance             776,000
Average attendance            24,250



WORLD CUP 1962 STANDINGS

                       P   W  D  L   Goals  Pts
 1.Brazil          C   6   5  1  0   14- 5   11
 2.Czechoslovakia  F   6   3  1  2    7- 7    7
 3.Chile           SF  6   4  0  2   10- 8    8
 4.Yugoslavia      SF  6   3  0  3   10- 7    6
 5.Hungary         QF  4   2  1  1    8- 3    5
 6.Soviet Union    QF  4   2  1  1    9- 7    5
 7.West Germany    QF  4   2  1  1    4- 2    5
 8.England         QF  4   1  1  2    5- 6    3
 9.Italy           1R  3   1  1  1    3- 2    3
10.Argentina       1R  3   1  1  1    2- 3    3
11.Mexico          1R  3   1  0  2    3- 4    2
12.Spain           1R  3   1  0  2    2- 3    2
13.Uruguay         1R  3   1  0  2    4- 6    2
14.Colombia        1R  3   0  1  2    5-11    1
15.Bulgaria        1R  3   0  1  2    1- 7    1
16.Switzerland     1R  3   0  0  3    2- 8    0

*The pointsystem used from 1930 to 1990 was
2 pts for a win and 1 pt for a draw.