FIFA World Cup 1978
Two years before the tournament was due to be held, Argentina's democratic government was overthrown in a military coup prompting several national federations to consider a boycott but in the event none withdrew.
The format remained unchanged from 1974 but a penalty shootout would now be used to decide the result of the third place match and final if the scores were level after extra time.
FIFA's new president, João Havelange, had secured the financial support of Adidas and Coca Cola as primary sponsors of FIFA tournaments. The revenue was used to build a new headquarters in Zurich, recruit a full-time staff and fund "development" in the emerging nations.
There have been persistent allegations that Argentina's military government entered into a corrupt deal with the government of Peru to ensure that Argentina reached the final. To date these allegations remain unproven and FIFA has refused to investigate them.
Much of the detail for the graphics in this section has been sourced from switchimageproject.com.
Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Final Group Stage
1974 | World Cup Index | 1982