Blood on the Crossbar

The Dictatorship's World Cup

Rhys Richards

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801503334
• Year: 2022

Blood on the Crossbar: The Dictatorship's World Cup is the story of the most controversial football World Cup of all time. When Argentina both hosted and won the World Cup in 1978, just two years after the coup d'etat that ousted Isabel Peró n, it was against the backdrop of a brutal military dictatorship in the country. Under the leadership of General Jorge Videla, up to 30,000 citizens, categorised as subversives, 'disappeared'. Dogged by allegations of bribery, coercion and an historic failed drugs test, this is the story of Argentina's maiden World Cup triumph and the controversy that simmered behind it. This isn't exclusively a tale of footballers and generals, and the risks they took to succeed. It's a story of the people: Argentinean exiles, Parisian students, brave journalists, the marching mothers of Plaza de Mayo and their missing children - and Dutch stand-up comedians who led international boycotts from thousands of miles away.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• The Hosts
• El Flaco
• Group 1: Argentina, France, Italy and Poland
• Group 2: Mexico, Poland, Tunisia and West Germany
• Group 3: Austria, Brazil, Spain and Sweden
• Blood on the Crossbar
• Group 4: Iran, Netherlands, Scotland and Peru
• The Second Round – Group A: Austria, Italy, Netherlands and West Germany
• The Second Round – Group B: Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Poland
• Argentina vs Peru: 21 June 1978 – Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario
• The Campaign Against the Tournament
• Third-Place Play-Off: Brazil vs Italy, 24 June 1978 – Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
• The Final: Argentina vs Netherlands, 25 June 1978 – Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires
• Epilogue: The Legacy of 1978
• Photos