Staged at six venues in Argentina between June 1 and June 25, 1978, the 1978 FIFA World Cup retained the tournament format introduced in 1974. The 16 qualifying teams, including the hosts, Argentina, and the holders, West Germany, were drawn in four groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a second group stage, which, in turn, determined the finalists.
Drawn in Group 1, alongside France, Hungary and Italy, the eventual champions, Argentina, played their first three matches at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, beating both Hungary and France 2-1, but losing 1-0 to Italy, such that they advanced to the second group stage as runners-up. At the newly-opened Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Argentina went on to beat Poland 2-0, with Mario Kempez scoring both goals, play out a goalless draw with Brazil and, controversially, beat Peru 6-0, when they needed to win by four goals or more to advance to the final at the expense of Brazil. Despite suspicion of collusion and external interference, including by Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, the result stood.
In any event, in the World Cup final at Estadio Monumental, Argentina met 1974 runners-up the Netherlands, who were without former captain Johan Cruyff, who had retired from international football in late 1977 as the result – as he revealed decades later – of a foiled kidnap attempt on him and his family. In the absence of Cruyff, sweeper Rudolf ‘Rudi’ Krol captained the side.
After 38 minutes of the first half, Mario Kempes managed to squeeze a shot underneath Dutch goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed from close range to give Argentina the lead. They maintained their lead until inside the last 10 minutes of normal time, when substitute Dutch striker Dirk ‘Dick’ Nanninga rose highest to power home a header and level the scores. Extra time followed, with Kempes scoring a second goal after 105 minutes and winger Daniel Bertoni adding a third 10 minutes later to win the tie 3-1 after extra time. Thus, Argentina became the fifth host country, after Uruguay, Italy, England and West Germany, to win the World Cup.