Czechoslovakian Josef Masopust in action against Brazil in the Final. (AFP)

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Host Country: Chile
Champions: Brazil
Runners Up: Czechoslovakia

Summary
The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. Chile was chosen as host by FIFA in June 1956, as the World Cup returned to the continent of South America after 12 years. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final.

The format of the competition stayed the same as 1958: 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. Four teams were seeded in the draw taking place in Santiago de Chile, on 18 January 1962: Brazil, England, Italy and Uruguay. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

As the competition began, a shift in strategy was imminent. Modern day defensive strategies began to take hold as the average goals/match dropped to 2.78, under 3 for the first time in competition history (the average has never been above 3 since).

The competition was marred by violence. This poisonous atmosphere culminated in the infamous first-round match between host Chile and Italy (2–0), known as the Battle of Santiago. Two Italian journalists had written unflattering articles about the host country. Although only two players (both of them Italian) were sent off by the English referee Ken Aston, the match saw repeated, deliberate attempts from players on both sides to harm opponents, and the Italian team needed police protection to leave the field in safety.

Santiago's Estadio Nacional served as the venue for the final itself, and after 15 minutes, Brazil again found themselves a goal behind in the World Cup final, as a long ball from Adolf Scherer was latched onto by Josef Masopust: 1–0 Czechoslovakia. However, just like the previous final four years earlier, Brazil soon hit back, equalising two minutes later through Amarildo after an error by the hitherto flawless Czechoslovak goalkeeper Schroijf. The Brazilians did not stop there and with goals from Zito and Vavá (another Schrojf error) mid-way through the second half, the Czechoslovaks just couldn't get back into the game. The match ended 3–1 to Brazil, a successful defence of the title for only the second time in the history of the competition in spite of the absence of their star player of 1958, Pelé.

Notable Facts
In May 1960, as the preparations were well under way, Chile suffered the largest earthquake ever recorded (9.5 magnitude), which caused enormous damage to the national infrastructure. In face of this, Carlos Dittborn, the president of the Organization Committee, coined the phrase "Because we don't have anything, we will do everything in our power to rebuild" which became the unofficial slogan of the tournament. Stadia and other infrastructure were rebuilt at record speed and the tournament occurred on schedule with no major organizational flaw. Sadly, Dittborn would not live to see the success of his tireless efforts, as he died one month before the start of the tournament. The World Cup venue at Arica was named Estadio Carlos Dittborn in his honor and bears his name to this day.

Golden Boot
Brazil’s Garrincha, Vavá, Chile’s Leonel Sánchez, Hungary’s Flórián Albert, Soviet Union’s Valentin Ivanov and Yugoslavia’s Dražan Jerkovic all scored 4 goals.
 

Brazilian captain Mauro receives the Jules Rimet Trophy for a second consecutive World Cup time in 1962.(AFP)