Campionato del Mondo World Cup SWEDEN 1958 Rimet Cup Vincitore / Winner: BRASIL

Nel 1954, a Berna, la FIFA scelse la Svezia come paese organizzatore dei mondiali del 1958. Fu un mondiale con tante assenze importanti, che finirono per favorire quella che poi si rivelerà, effettivamente, come la squadra migliore.
L'Italia, dopo le deludenti prestazioni in Brasile e in Svizzera, mancò addirittura l'appuntamento con la fase finale per la prima volta dal 1930. A beffarla fu l'Irlanda del Nord, che sconfisse gli azzurri per 2-1 nello spareggio di Belfast, e a rendere ancora più amara la pillola fu il fatto che a una prima gara disputata in precedenza e conclusasi sul 2-2 (risultato che avrebbe qualificato gli italiani), non fu attribuito carattere ufficiale su richiesta della stessa FIGC, che non approvò il fatto che ad arbitrare il match non fosse stato il direttore di gara designato dalla FIFA.
Cadde anche l'Uruguay, che si lasciò travolgere dal Paraguay mentre l'Ungheria, nonostante fosse regolarmente nel lotto delle qualificate, si ritrovava irrimediatamente provata dalla Rivoluzione dell'anno 1956. In Svezia approdarono sedici squadre, divise in quattro gironi all'italiana, per rappresentare solamente due continenti: quattro furono le nazionali americane e dodici le europee. Per la prima volta partecipò l'Unione Sovietica, debuttò anche il Galles che, con Irlanda del Nord, Scozia e Inghilterra, andò a completare il lotto delle squadre britanniche.
Il Brasile vinse senza faticare troppo: le avversarie più temibili, l'Inghilterra e la Germania Ovest se ne andarono una al primo turno, l'altra in semifinale contro la forte Svezia del trio Gre-No-Li (Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl e Nils Liedholm). La finale di Stoccolma vide i padroni di casa passare immediatamente in vantaggio, salvo poi essere sommersi di gol da Pelé (per la prima volta ai Mondiali, appena diciassettenne) e compagni, che alzarono per la prima volta al cielo la Coppa Rimet: furono la prima e, finora, unica squadra non europea a vincere un mondiale nel Vecchio Continente. Terza la Francia di Just Fontaine.

The format of the competition changed from 1954: 16 teams still competed in four groups of four, but this time each team played each of the other teams in its group at least once, without extra time in the event of a draw. Instead, if second and third place finished on the same points, then there would be a play-off with the winner going through. If a play-off resulted in a draw, then goal average from the group games would have been used to determine who went through to the next round. If the goal averages were equal then lots would have been drawn. If the first two teams finished on equal points then goal average would decide who was placed first and second. These arrangements had not been finalised by the time the tournament started and were still being debated as it progressed. The organizing committee even released press statements stating that goal average would be counted before resorting to playoffs. However this idea was eventually rejected.
In Group 4, Pelé did not play until the last of Brazil's group games, against the Soviet Union. He failed to score, but Brazil won the game 2-0 and the group by two points. In the same group, the Soviet Union and England went to a playoff game, in which Anatoli Ilyin scored in the 67th minute to knock England out, while Austria had already been eliminated. The English side had been weakened by the Munich Air Disaster which killed 3 internationals on the books of Manchester United, including England's young star Duncan Edwards.
Playoffs were also needed in Group 1 (Northern Ireland beat Czechoslovakia to join the defending champions West Germany in the quarter-finals) and Group 3 (Wales topped Hungary to advance with hosts Sweden). Hungary had become a spent force after their appearance in the final of the previous tournament. They had lost their best players two years before, when they fled in the wake of the failed uprising against the communist regime.
Of the British nations, it was arguably Scotland who had the toughest group, having to face Yugoslavia, Paraguay, and France. France topped Group 2, with Just Fontaine netting six goals. Yugoslavia finished second, while Scotland came in last.
The quarter-finals saw France's Just Fontaine continue in similar form to the group stage, managing another two goals as France triumphed over Northern Ireland. West Germany's Helmut Rahn put them into the semi-finals with a single goal against Yugoslavia, while Sweden went though at the expense of USSR. The other game in the quarter-finals saw Pelé score the only goal against Wales.
In the semi-finals, Sweden continued their strong run as they defeated West Germany 3-1 in a vicious game in which megaphones were used to orchestrate the home crowd shouting “Heja, Heja”. Tricky provocations which Swedish pros learned in the Italian league made the German Erich Juskowiak foul in retaliation for which he was sent off. German team captain Fritz Walter suffered a career-ending injury after a foul, which further weakened the German team (substitutes were first allowed in the 1970 FIFA World Cup).
While another goal from Fontaine of France added to his impressive tally, it was not enough to prevent Brazil thundering into the Final as a Pelé hat-trick gave them a 5-2 victory. The third place match saw Fontaine score four more goals as they beat the Germans 6-3. This brought his total to 13 goals in one competition, a record that still has not been broken.
The final was played in Solna, in the Råsunda Stadium, as 50,000 people watched in amazement as the Brazilians went a goal down after four minutes. The Brazilians were not dismayed, and Vavá equalised shortly afterwards and then put them a goal ahead before half time. In the second half Pelé outshone everyone, notching up two goals, including the first one where he lobbed the ball over a defender then followed it with a precise volley shot. Mário Zagallo added a goal in between, and Sweden managed a consolation goal. But the game really belonged to Pelé, and the Jules Rimet trophy belonged to Brazil - the World Cup winners.

MARCATORI / TOP SCORER

13 goal: Fontaine (Francia);
6 goal: Pelé (Brasile), Rahn (Germania Ovest;
5 goal: Vavá (Brasile), McParland (Irlanda del Nord);
4 goal: Zikan (Cecoslovacchia), Piantoni (Francia), Hamrin (Svezia), Tichy (Ungheria);
3 goal: Corbatta (Argentina, 2 rigori), Schäfer (Germania Ovest), Veselinovic (Jugoslavia), Simonsson (Svezia);
2 goal: Mazola (Brasile), Dvorak (1) e Hovorka (Cecoslovacchia), Kopa (1) e Wisnieski (Francia), Allchurch (Galles), Seeler (Germania Ovest), Kevan (Inghilterra), Petakovic (Jugoslavia), Aguero, Amarilla (1), Parodi e Romero (Paraguay), Liedholm (Svezia, 1), Iljin (Urss);
1 goal: Avio e Menendez (Argentina), Koller e Körner II (Austria), Didí, N. Santos e Zagallo (Brasile), Feureisl (Cecoslovacchia), Douis e Vincent (Francia), J. Charles e Medwin (Galles), Cieslarczyk (Germania Ovest), Finney (1) e Haynes (Inghilterra), Cush (Irlanda del Nord), Ognjanovic e Rajkov (Jugoslavia), Belmonte (Messico), Re (Paraguay), Baird, Collins, Mudie e Murray (Scozia), Gren e Skoglund (Svezia), Bencsics, Bozsik e Sandor (Ungheria), A. Ivanov, V. Ivanov e Simonjan (Urss)

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