World Cup history - Spain 1982

Rossi runs at the West Germany defence in the final

The star of the show was Paolo Rossi, who collected the Golden Boot as he helped Italy win their third World Cup.

Rossi had been banned in a match-fixing and bribery scandal, but he went from villain to hero as Italy beat West Germany 3-1 to lift the title.

Great Britain had three representatives in Spain and Northern Ireland stole the headlines with a sensational 1-0 win over the hosts in Valencia.

However, they crashed out in the second phase, along with an unbeaten England.

This was the first tournament with 24, rather than 16, teams and there were concerns before the event that many of the smaller nations would struggle to compete.

In the event most acquitted themselves admirably, particularly Northern Ireland.

The most bizarre incident, though, came when Kuwait walked off the pitch in their game against France in Valladolid after a row over whether the referee had blown his whistle to stop play.

They were ordered back on by Prince Fahid and France eventually won the match 4-1.

Scotland failed to reach the second stage and, although both Northern Ireland and England qualified, that was as far as either team went.

England, back for the first time in 12 years, topped their first phase group but trailed in behind West Germany after two goalless draws in the second phase.

Horror challenge

Northern Ireland finished bottom of their section which was topped by France, who had lost their opening match of the tournament to England with Bryan Robson scoring after just 27 seconds.

The Germans had suffered the ignominy of being on the wrong end of the shock of the tournament, going down 2-1 to Algeria in the opening round.

But they made it through to the second phase after victory over Austria and Chile and went on to meet the French in the last four in a match that produced one of the most controversial incidents in World Cup history.

With the scores level at 1-1, France were denied a likely goal when German keeper Harald Schumacher took out Patrick Battiston with an x-rated challenge.

The French midfielder was carried off on a stretcher but Schumacher escaped a red card.

France took a 3-1 lead but Germany fought back to level the scores, before winning the match in a penalty shoot-out.

In the other semi-final, Rossi scored both goals as Italy beat Poland 2-0, and he was on target again in the final.

After Antonio Cabrini had become the first man to miss a penalty in a World Cup final, Rossi put the Italians ahead.

Marco Tardelli and Alessandro Altobelli made the game safe for the Azzurri, and Paul Breitner's late reply was little consolation for the Germans.

RESULTS & STATISTICS

Group A

Italy 0-0 Poland Peru 0-0 Cameroon Italy 1-1 Peru

Poland 0-0 Cameroon Poland 5-1 Peru Italy 1-1 Cameroon

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Poland	3	1	2	0	5	1	4
Italy	3	0	3	0	2	2	3
Cameroon	3	0	3	0	1	1	3
Peru	3	0	2	1	2	6	2

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Group B

Algeria 2-1 West Germany Austria 1-0 Chile West Germany 4-1 Chile

Austria 2-0 Algeria Algeria 3-2 Chile West Germany 1-0 Austria

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
West Germany	3	2	0	1	6	3	4
Austria	3	2	0	1	3	1	4
Algeria	3	2	0	1	5	5	4
Chile	3	0	0	3	3	8	0

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Group C

Belgium 1-0 Argentina Hungary 10-1 El Salvador Argentina 4-1 Hungary

Belgium 1-0 El Salvador Belgium 1-1 Hungary Argentina 2-0 El Salvador

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Belgium	3	2	1	0	3	1	5
Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	2	4
Hungary	3	1	1	1	12	6	3
El Salvador	3	0	0	3	1	13	0

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Group D

England 3-1 France Czechoslovakia 1-1 Kuwait England 2-0 Czechoslovakia

France 4-1 Kuwait France 1-1 Czechoslovakia England 1-0 Kuwait

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
England	3	3	0	0	6	1	6
France	3	1	1	1	6	5	3
Czechoslovakia	3	0	2	1	2	4	2
Kuwait	3	0	1	2	2	6	1

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Group E

Spain 1-1 Honduras Yugoslavia 0-0 N Ireland Spain 2-1 Yugoslavia

Honduras 1-1 N Ireland Yugoslavia 1-0 Honduras N Ireland 1-0 Spain

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Northern Ireland	3	1	2	0	2	1	4
Spain	3	1	1	1	3	3	3
Yugoslavia	3	1	1	1	2	2	3
Honduras	3	0	2	1	2	3	2

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Group F

Brazil 2-1 USSR Scotland 5-2 New Zealand Brazil 4-1 Scotland

USSR 3-0 New Zealand USSR 2-2 Scotland Brazil 4-0 New Zealand

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Brazil	3	3	0	0	10	2	6
USSR	3	1	1	1	6	4	3
Scotland	3	1	1	1	8	8	3
New Zealand	3	0	0	3	2	12	0

---

Second phase

Group A
Poland 3-0 Belgium
USSR 1-0 Belgium
Poland 0-0 USSR

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Poland	2	1	1	0	3	0	3
USSR	2	1	1	0	1	0	3
Belgium	2	0	0	2	0	4	0

---

Group B
West Germany 0-0 England
West Germany 2-1 Spain
Spain 0-0 England

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
West Germany	2	1	1	0	2	1	3
England	2	0	2	0	0	0	2
Spain	2	0	1	1	1	2	1

---

Group C
Italy 2-1 Argentina
Brazil 3-1 Argentina
Italy 3-2 Brazil

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Italy	2	2	0	0	5	3	4
Brazil	2	1	0	1	5	4	2
Argentina	2	0	0	2	2	5	0

---

Group D
France 1-0 Austria
Austria 2-2 Northern Ireland
France 4-1 Northern Ireland

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
France	2	2	0	0	5	1	4
Austria	2	0	1	1	2	3	1
Northern Ireland	2	0	1	1	3	6	1

---

Semi-finals:
Italy 2-0 Poland
West Germany 3-3 France (aet)
(West Germany won 5-4 on penalties)

3rd/4th place play-off:
Poland 3-2 France

Final:
Italy 3-1 West Germany

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Leading scorers: Six goals: Paolo Rossi (Italy)