1978 FIFA World Cup Group A 1978 FIFA World Cup Group A Group A of the 1978 FIFA World Cup was one of two groups of nations competing for the De facto semifinals the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The group's first round of matches began on 14 June and its last matches were played on 21 June. All six group matches were played either at the Estadio Chateau Carreras in Córdoba, or the Estadio Monumental in the capital Buenos Aires. The group consisted of West Germany (the Defending Champions) as well as the Netherlands (the former runners up), Italy and Austria. The Netherlands advanced to the
1978 FIFA World Cup deliberately sabotaging the Minella stadium's pitch to weaken Brazil's chances of success. For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see "1978 FIFA World Cup squads". With six goals, Mario Kempes is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 102 goals were scored by 62 players, with three of them credited as own goals. In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1978 tournament were as follows: