The 1974 FIFA World Cup was staged in West Germany and West Berlin – which did constitutionally become part of West Germany until the reunification of Germany in 1990 – between June 13 and July 7, 1974. The tournament format was unusual insofar as it consisted of two group stages, with the second stage replacing the quarter-finals and semi-finals that had become customary in previous years. The first group stage featured four groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the second stage. Thus, the second stage featured two groups of four teams, with the top team in each group progressing to the World Cup final and the second-placed team in each group progressing to the third-place playoff.
The eventual champions, the hosts, West Germany, won their first two group games, 1-0 against Chile at the Olympiastadion in West Berlin and 3-0 against Australia at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, but suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by East Germany, again at the Volksparkstadion, in their third. Consequently, East Germany topped Group 1 with five points and West Germany finished second with four.
Nevertheless, in the second group stage, West Germany won all three matches, beating Yugoslavia 2-0, Sweden 4-2 and Poland 1-0 to advance to the final with maximum points. Their opponents in the final, the Netherlands, captained by the legendary Johan Cruyff, similarly breezed through the other group, beating Argentina 4-0, East Germany 2-0 and Brazil 2-0.
The World Cup final, at the Olympiastadion in Munich on July 7, 1974, featured a penalty, conceded by West German forward Ulrich ‘Uli’ Hoeneß and converted by Dutch midfielder Johannes Neeskens, after just two minutes. Wesr German left-back Paul Breitner levelled the scores, again from the penalty spot, after 25 minutes. Both goalkeepers were called into action more than once in the remainder of the first half, but just before half-time Gerd Müller, playing what turned out to be his last game for his country, scuffed a shot past Jan Jongbloed from the edge of the six-yard box to score the winning goal.