1974 World Cup Final – Netherlands 1–2 West Germany (Munich)

Lore & Background

West Germany was led by Franz Beckenbauer, while the Dutch had their star Johan Cruyff and their Total Football system. The start of the match was delayed as the ground staff had removed the corner flags for the tournament's closing ceremony but then forgot to put them back. With just a minute gone, Cruyff was brought down by Uli Hoeneß in the German penalty area, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing penalty by Johan Neeskens before any German player had even touched the ball.

West Germany were awarded a penalty of their own in the 25th minute after Bernd Hölzenbein was fouled. Paul Breitner scored. These two penalties were the first to be awarded in a World Cup Final. West Germany pushed for a winner, which came in the 43rd minute through Gerd Müller.

It turned out to be Müller's last goal for the West German team, as he retired from international football after the tournament. As the teams walked off the pitch at half–time, Cruyff was booked for arguing with the referee. The second half saw chances for both sides. Müller thought he had scored when he put the ball in the net, only to be denied by the linesman flagging for offside.

In the 85th minute, Hölzenbein fell to ground in the Dutch penalty area again, but referee Taylor did not believe it was a foul. When the final whistle went, West Germany were crowned world champions.

Reader's Guide

The Netherlands finished atop Group 3, with two wins and one draw, before defeating Argentina, East Germany, and Brazil in Group A. West Germany finished second in Group 1, after which they beat Yugoslavia, Sweden, and Poland in Group B. The final was held at the Olympiastadion, a 80,000–capacity stadium, in Munich, West Germany. The match ball used was the Adidas Telstar.

Did You Know?

• Five German players (Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, Wolfgang Overath, Jürgen Grabowski and Horst-Dieter Höttges) became the first in history to have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the FIFA World Cup.
• João Havelange, FIFA President from 1974 to 1998, made an unsubstantiated claim that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed so that England and West Germany would win respectively.