Sweden 1958

Many of the real stars of modern football emerged from the 6th World Cup. Kopa, Fontaine, Charlton, Yashin, Garrincha, Vava and not least Pele, who at 17 scored 6 goals, including 2 in the Final when the Brazilians, at last, were crowned world champions. 

After Switzerland, Sweden was named host country for the 1958 World Cup. A Cup which, on 16 October 1956, lost its founding father when Jules Rimet died in Paris at the age of 83. The 6th World Cup was also to be marked by a record number of countries taking part (53). The qualifying rounds threw up some startling surprises: Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Uruguay and, most unexpectedly, Italy, all failed to qualify. The first round of the finals offered the public the chance to discover new footballing nations such as Wales, Northern Ireland, the USSR and Sweden. Most notably, however, it was the team from France which caught the public’s eye with its incisive attacking trio of Kopa, Piantoni and Fontaine. The “blues” were to garner a string of honours: Best Goalscorer (Just Fontaine-13 goals), Best Attack (23 goals) and Best Player, elected by an international panel, Raymond Kopa. France finished top of its group in the first round scoring 11 goals in 3 games. But the fairy-tale ended in the semi-finals against the competition favourites.

After consecutive disappointments in 1950 and 1954, the Brazilians set out to make amends. They finished on top of a difficult group which included Austria (3-0), England (0-0) and the USSR (2-0). In the quarter-finals against Wales Brazil pegged away for an hour before a stroke of brilliance by a young 17-year old made the difference. This was the first World Cup goal scored by Pele. A star was born. In the semis, Pele went on to devastate a French side which could do nothing to stop him scoring 

Once again Brazil had made it to the Final, this time against Sweden. The Swedes’ presence in the Final was astonishing in that it was a side built from scratch for the tournament, a great deal of debate having gone on before deciding whether to make professional players in the Italian league eligible for World Cup competition. Yet the Swedes proved to be a solid, well-built unit, beating West Germany, the defending Champions, (3-1) in the semi-finals. In the “mercenaries” vs “magicians” final, it was the former that started more strongly. For the first time in the competition the Brazilians were behind. Not for long, however: thanks to goals by Zagalo, Vava and above all Pele, who scored twice, Brazil won its first World Cup (5-1). When Arthur Drewry presented the gold statuette to the Brazilian captain, Bellini, a whole nation took to the streets. It was samba time!