England’s failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, after the success of the previous eight years, was made all the more ignominious by the fact that they failed to win a home game.
Europe Group 5 had only 3 teams in it- England, Wales and Poland. The warning signs for England had been there when they were beaten in 1972 by a superb West German side in the European Championship quarter-final.
England, like Brazil and Italy, had found their respective game plans increasingly outmoded by the German teams, and by the emergence of the Netherlands and Poland.
A Wales team including John Toshack and the genial left winger Leighton James- one of the greatest British wingers of his time and a constant nightmare for England throughout the decade- held England to a 1-1 draw at Wembley thanks to a John Toshack goal.
England had won their opener in Wales, but this was to be their only win of the series. Two famous games against Poland followed- a 2-0 loss away and in a do-or-die game, a 1-1 draw where Jan Tomaszewski performed miracles to keep England out. They couldn’t believe it, and England didn’t qualify for another World Cup until 1982.
However, not winning a home game isn’t necessarily an obstacle to qualifying. The 1986 World Cup qualifiers in South America saw all 10 teams take part since none were either hosts or holders for the first time in 16 years. And this was a series featuring inevitably talent-packed teams.
Brazil, who had delighted the world in 1982 but coming short against Italy due to lack of quality strikers, found themselves drawn with Paraguay and Bolivia. With only four games to play, Brazil had to play their first two on the road and won each by the score of 2-0. Then they had to face the same teams at home and drew both 1-1. The results were enough to top the group and qualify once more.
Paraguay finished second and went on to beat Colombia and Chile in the play-offs to become the fourth South American side to qualify. (Colombia had finished third in Group 1, which had four teams whereas the other two groups had three.)
And what of the Brazil team used in the qualifiers? The lineup used in the final qualifier at home to Bolivia read as follows:
Carlos;
Edson, Oscar, Edinho, Junior;
Socrates, Cerezo, Zico;
Renato Gaucho, Careca, Eder
Not too much had changed from the 1982 team, except that this was perhaps an even more balanced team- a balance somewhat lacking in 1982. There was a quality striker in Careca, and Brazil had struggled to find a decent international striker ever since Pele and Tostao had gone. (Neither Reinaldo nor Serginho had been up to it.) There were two wingers in Renato Gaucho and Eder, the latter a star in 1982. Goalkeeping and defence was never a strong point of Brazil, but this wasn’t quite as bad as they would show in the World Cup itself.
However, the team that went to Mexico in 1986 was somewhat different. Zico only played in the knockout stages where Brazil swept Poland aside and only went out to France on penalties- a classic game that would be the final hurrah for Socrates and Zico.
Of course, it hasn’t been the same since. Brazil may have won two more World Cups, but neither of those teams ever came close to the 50s to 80s sides that defined Jogo Bonito.
And the rest of South America at the time? Argentina would win the World Cup with a good if not great team that relied on Maradona’s genius- but as always boasting a deep talent pool. Uruguay would perform well below their level of talent in 1986, and Paraguay had no problems getting out of their group before being swept by England.
Peru had their final hurrah in the 1986 qualifiers, narrowly failing to qualify after Daniel Passarella scored a late equaliser for Argentina, and then losing out in the play-offs to neighbours and arch-rivals Chile. Colombia were showing signs of a revival in that campaign.
Similarly, Ecuador and Bolivia finished bottom of their respective groups but showcased genuine talent, especially since Ecuador were packed with players who could score plenty in their domestic league. Even minnows Venezuela gave Argentina a fright at home, and unearthed one outstanding talent.
Those really were the days, that’s for sure!
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