1978 FIFA World Cup 1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, quadrennial international football world championship tournament, was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by the Argentine hosts, who defeated the Netherlands 3–1 in the final, after extra time. The final was held at River Plate's home stadium, Estadio Monumental, in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team (after Uruguay, Italy, England and West Germany) to be both hosts and world champions. Argentina, the
South American nations at the FIFA World Cup to a David Beckham free kick. During the second round, Brazil defeated Ghana 3–0, in a game which included Ronaldo's record 15th World Cup goal. Quarter-final Germany and Argentina ended 1–1 after extra time; the hosts edged out the Argentines 4–2 on penalties to go through to the semifinals (this was the first time Argentina had lost a World Cup penalty shootout: up until this match, both Argentina and Germany had participated in three penalty shootouts, winning all of them). Argentina scored first to grab a 0–1 lead. However, Michael Ballack's cross, flicked on by Tim Borowski, allowed Klose to