Despite a series of earthquakes that had ravaged the country, Chile was chosen to stage the 1962 World Cup.
Foul play was a feature of the finals, with the most notable victim being Pele, who hobbled out of the tournament in only Brazil's second match.
Europe's teams were copying the defensive "catenaccio" style of Inter Milan, and the result was a series of violent encounters, none more so than when hosts Chile faced Italy.
The match became known as the Battle of Santiago, with two Italians sent off and police required to restore order as players took it in turns to kick and punch lumps out of each other.
Brazil replaced Pele with Amarildo and still had Garrincha. The 'Little Bird' bamboozled England in the quarter-finals and then scored twice in the semi-final win against Chile before getting himself sent off.
In the final Brazil faced Czechoslovakia, who had reached that stage largely on the back of outstanding performances by their goalkeeper Jilhelm Schroiff.
Ironically it was Schroiff's blunders in the final that helped Brazil to a 3-1 victory. Vava scored for the second final running, with Zito and Amarildo also on target to give Brazil their second successive trophy.
1962 WORLD CUP LEGENDS
GARRINCHA
Brazil: b. 1933, d. 1983
His nickname, derived from hunting small birds -- garrinchinhas -- was appropriate for a flying winger.
Star of the 1958 World Cup where the players demanded he be included on the right wing after he was left out of the first two games. Brazil were a different team with Garrincha and in the final he set up the first two goals, going round his man and centring for Vava. Sweden put two men on him in the second half, only to expose their own right flank.
But Garrincha showed what a great player he was in 1962 when he took matters in his own hands after Pele was injured.
He roamed all over the field, shooting from any angle and distance.
Garrincha scored two, the first a marvellous header when he outjumped the defence, and made the third for Vava in the quarter-final win against England. He grabbed another two in the semi-final against Chile and produced another fine display against Czechoslovakia in the final.
He scored a spectacular free-kick against Bulgaria in the 1966 World Cup but the rest of his career was an anti-climax.
GILMAR
Brazil: b. 1930
Transmitted his imposing calm to the rest of the side. No matter what goalkeeping mistakes he made these would not worry him, the next ball being the more important.
Great tournament in the 1958 World Cup but was surprisingly sold by Corinthians to Santos in 1961. That move led to his most successful period and culminated in the 1962 World Cup where he made the best save of his life in a crucial match against Spain.
Conceded only 95 goals in 100 internationals for Brazil, being on the losing side only 14 times.
Josef MASOPUST
Czechoslovakia: b. 1931
Attacking half-back. A natural dribbler, adept at one-twos and a stabbing through pass for team-mates to run on to. Scored many goals by dribbling round defenders and goalkeeper or popping up unexpectedly to pop the ball home. Never renowned for his tackling or heading. His instinctive sense of anticipation enabled him to intercept many passes in midfield. Always made himself available to team-mates.
His 11 goals for Czechoslovakia included the one in the 1962 World Cup final that put them 1-0 ahead of Brazil.
1962 WORLD CUP SCORERS
Valentin Ivanov (USSR) 4
Leonel Sanchez (CHI) 4
Garrincha (BRA) 4
Vava (BRA) 4
Florian Albert (HUN) 4
Drazan Jerkovic (YUG) 4
1962 WORLD CUP TRIVA
- FIFA ruled for the first time that all the teams would play all their matches at one venue only.
- England were the only British nation to qualify and they were based at Rancagua in Group Four.
- This was the first tournament to apply the goal difference ruling which would count in the event of two nations being equal on points in the first round games.
- The Soviet Union, winner of the inaugural European Nations Cup in 1960, beat Yugoslavia in their first match. Their right-back Dubinski had his leg badly broken during the match and later died from his injuries.
- Defences dominated -- even Brazil modifed their attacking 4-2-4 formation to 4-3-3 -- and there were only 89 goals scored in the entire tournament compared with 126 in 1958 and 140 in 1954.
- The holders Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 in Vina Del Mar in Group Three. In this game the Mexican goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal became the first player to appear in four consecutive Finals.
- Ferenc Puskas became the first European to play for two different countries in the finals when he appeared for Spain against Czechoslovakia. He had previously played for Hungary in 1954. The Czechs won 1-0.
- Brazil won their final match in Group Three beating Spain 2-1. Both goals were scored by Amarildo who was making his debut standing in for the injured Pele.
- Brazil became the first South American country to win the World Cup in consecutive Finals when they beat the Czechs 3-1 in Santiago. Vava became the first player to score in consecutive Finals.
- Brazil created a World Cup record by using only 12 players throughout the whole tournament.
1962 WORLD CUP WINNING SQUAD
Brazil
Goalkeepers: Castilho, Gilmar
Defenders: Altair, Bellini, Marinho, Mauro (capt), Djalma Santos, Nilton Santos, Zozimo
Midfielders: Didi, Zequinha, Zito
Forwards: Amarildo, Coutinho, Garrincha, Germano, Jurandyr, Pele, Pepe, Vava, Zagalo
Coach: Moreira
Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 5 |
Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 4 |
Uruguay | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
Colombia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 1 |