World Cup Football

Germany, 1974

The USSR refused to play the second-leg play-off qualifying match in Chile in 1973, as thousands earlier in the year, thousands of supporters of the Marxist Chilean President Allende were killed in the National Stadium in Santiago. The match was 'played' without any Soviet players present. The Chilean players kicked off the game and scored into the Soviet net. Then the game was abandoned and awarded to Chile. Chile qualified for the 1974 finals.

The red and yellow card system was first used in the 1970 finals, though no players were sent-off in that finals - only yellow cards were shown in the 1970 finals. The first red card was given to Carlos Caszely of Chile on 14 June 1974.
The 1974 Final in Munich was delayed as the referee found that all the corner and centre-line flag-posts were missing as Holland and West Germany lined up for the kick-off. The officials had forgotten to put the flags back in after the opening ceremony.
The penalty goal by Holland's Johan Neeskens in the 1974 Final was unique in World Cup, as up to that point no German player had touched the ball. The penalty was awarded by the English referee Jack Taylor in the first minute of the Final on 7 July 1974. Before the Dutch player Johan Cruyff was brought down inside the penalty area, the ball had been passed by the Dutch players 15 times without a German player touching the ball.