In this series that we review the history of the World Cups today we will talk about the one held in 1962 in Chile. This was the seventh World Cup held in all history, and brought many details to comment, among other things Pelé’s injury in the middle of the tournament and the tough match between Chile and Italy, which was baptized as the Battle of Santiago.
As we mentioned, the venue took place in Chile, in the summer. The favorite candidate to host the World Cup was Argentina, but after a speech by Chilean Ernesto Alvear, he managed to convince the organizers. The tournament was about to change venues in 1960 after a very serious earthquake in 1960 left 2,000 dead and much damage to infrastructure. Finally 1962 arrived and everything went without incident and everyone was delighted with the Chilean organization of the event.
The World Cup would take place in full tension of the Cold War. That same year, the USSR, which would participate in the World Cup, placed missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba, a few kilometers from the border with the United States, which led to an escalation of tension that was about to cause a military conflict on a scale world. Luckily this did not happen, but this did not prevent the tension from politically affecting the countries under the influence of one country and another.
The matches of this edition would be distributed in only four venues in the Latin American country. In the first place, how could it be otherwise, would be Santiago de Chile, where the host would play, in the Chilean National Stadiumwith capacity for 75,000 spectators.
The rest of the venues would be Arica, Viña del Mar and Rancagua, whose stadiums would be the Charles Dittborn, Sausalito and the Braden Copper Stadiumrespectively.
In this World Cup there were 16 teams that would face each other in a first group stage of four teams. The countries classified for the edition were: Chile, Federal Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Hungary, Italy, England, Mexico, Switzerland, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Uruguay.
The favorite would be the Brazil of Pelé and Garrincha, since they were the defending champions and they brought an attractive and almost unstoppable football.
In the group stage there were many surprises, but without a doubt we must talk about the Battle of Santiago. The match between Chile and Italy was going to be decisive and the tension was palpable in the atmosphere. The encounter was very aggressive, criminal kicks flew, to the point that it also came to blows. There were two expelled that day, the police entered to take Ferrini, a whole Dantesque spectacle, which ended with the victory of the Chileans and their pass to the quarterfinals. Federal Germany would pass in that same group, which would be the leader of the table.
The other classifieds were Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union in group A. Brazil and Czechoslovakia would be chosen in group C, and in group D Hungary and England would go through.
In quarters we would have several interesting meetings. The Brazil of a Pelé already injured in the group stage comfortably defeated England 3-1 and would be the first semi-finalist. On the other hand, the hosts would give the surprise by beating Yasin’s Soviet Union in the quarterfinals, a team that was considered part of the favorites.
Czechoslovakia would beat Hungary by the minimum, while Yugoslavia would give the surprise and do the same against West Germany, being defined the semifinals.
After a great tournament, Chile had to face Brazil in the semifinals, which did not fail and with a great Garrincha, they managed to win 4-2. For its part, Czechoslovakia would qualify for its first World Cup final by beating Yugoslavia 3-1. In the match for third place, Chile would beat Yugoslavia, this being the best result of the Latin Americans in a World Cup.
In the final, Brazil would make history again by winning their second World Cup in a row and proving that they were a legendary team. The match was not easy, but neither did it present a great challenge to the Cariocas, who won 3-1.
Champion: Brazil
Runner-up: Czechoslovakia
Third place: Chili
Fourth place: Yugoslavia
In this edition, there would be several players who would tie at 4 goals.
Florian Albert: 4 goals (Hungary)
Garrincha: 4 goals (Brazil)
Vava: 4 goals (Brazil)
Leonel Sánchez: 4 goals (Chile)
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