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West Germany - Italy

West Germany - Italy

Date: 17 June 1970
Stadium: Azteca Stadium
Those old enough to remember the 1970 FIFA World Cup TM semi-final will not have forgotten one of the most dramatic matches of all time - the epic clash of styles between the opportunism of 'Gigi' Riva's Squadra and the will to win of Kaiser Beckenbauer's Mannschaft.
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I Was There…

Gianni Rivera (Italy)
You have to put the game in context. We'd had the semi-final under control for 81 minutes following Boninsegna's goal. It was a fairly routine match but then Germany equalised right at the death. What happened after that was incredible, with six goals in 24 minutes. All of a sudden, what had been a normal encounter became legendary.

Did You Know?

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  • The 1970 semi-final was the highest-scoring of five meetings between the nations at the finals. Italy have won three and two were drawn.
  • The exhausted Germany FR team had to return to the Azteca just three days later for the third place match, where they beat Uruguay 1-0.
  • Italy reached the knock-out stage in 1970 despite scoring only one goal in the group phase. They then scored eight in the next two games.
  • Beckenbauer dislocated his shoulder with around 30 minutes of normal time to play. After extra-time he had played in agony for an hour.
  • No fewer than 19 FIFA World Cup finals™ matches have been played at the Azteca stadium and the 1970 semi-final yielded the most goals.

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