The 1974 FIFA Football World Championship was hosted by West Germany. Fielding great players like Beckenbauer, Breitner, Müller and goalkeeper Maier, the hosts were the pre-tournament favourites. But it was the Dutch, coached by Rinus Michels, and featuring such players as Cruyff, Van Hanegem, and Neeskens, that took the tournament by storm with their 'total football' style of play. In the final against West Germany things went disastrously wrong, with the West Germans staging a fightback after going down a goal, and ending up lifting the cup after all.

Final Holland 1-2 West Germany 3rd place play-off Brazil 0-1 Poland Second Round
Group A			Group B
Holland 3 3 0 0 8-0 6 Brazil 3 2 0 1 3-3 4 East Germany 3 0 1 2 1-4 1 Argentina 3 0 1 2 2-7 1			West Germany 3 3 0 0 7-2 6 Poland 3 2 0 1 3-2 4 Sweden 3 1 0 2 4-6 2 Yugoslavia 3 0 0 3 2-6 0
Holland Argentina E Germany Argentina Brazil Holland	2-0 1-1 0-2 1-2 1-0 4-0	Brazil E Germany Holland Brazil E Germany Argentina	Sweden Poland W Germany Poland Sweden Yugoslavia	2-1 0-1 4-2 2-1 0-1 0-2	Yugoslavia W Germany Sweden Yugoslavia Poland W Germany
First Round
Group 1			Group 2
East Germany 3 2 1 0 4-1 5 West Germany 3 2 0 1 4-1 4 Chile 3 0 2 1 1-2 2 Australia 3 0 1 2 0-5 1			Yugoslavia 3 1 2 0 10-1 4 Brazil 3 1 2 0 3-0 4 Scotland 3 1 2 0 3-1 4 Zaire 3 0 0 3 0-14 0
E Germany Australia Chile Australia E Germany W Germany	1-0 0-0 1-1 0-3 2-0 1-0	W Germany Chile E Germany W Germany Australia Chile	Zaire Scotland Scotland Yugoslavia Zaire Brazil	0-3 1-1 0-0 9-0 0-2 0-0	Brazil Yugoslavia Brazil Zaire Scotland Yugoslavia
Group 3			Group 4
Holland 3 2 1 0 6-1 5 Sweden 3 1 2 0 3-0 4 Bulgaria 3 0 2 1 2-5 2 Uruguay 3 0 1 2 1-6 1			Poland 3 3 0 0 12-3 6 Argentina 3 1 1 1 7-5 3 Italy 3 1 1 1 5-4 3 Haiti 3 0 0 3 2-14 0
Sweden Holland Holland Uruguay Sweden Uruguay	3-0 4-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-2	Uruguay Bulgaria Sweden Bulgaria Bulgaria Holland	Poland Argentina Haiti Argentina Poland Italy	2-1 4-1 0-7 1-1 3-2 3-1	Italy Haiti Poland Italy Argentina Haiti