1978 FIFA World Cup knockout stage 1978 FIFA World Cup knockout stage The knockout stage of 1978 FIFA World Cup was a single-elimination tournament involving the four teams that qualified from the second group stage of the tournament. There were two matches: a third place play-off contested by the group runners-up, and the final to decide the champions, contested by the group winners. The knockout stage began with the third place play-off on 24 June and ended with the final on 25 June 1978, both at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. Argentina won the tournament with a 3–1 victory over the Netherlands. "All times ART"
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: