Voting on the third place playoff has now closed: congratulations to Netherlands 1974 for claiming the bronze medal.
And now the big one… In my opinion, it’s the “right” final as, according to the entirely unofficial COG World Rankings, these are the two greatest international teams of all time.
I’m sure everyone has read up on the two finalists by now; in summary, the Magical Magyars lost just one game out of sixty nine played in a six-year period, and it’s widely agreed that the West Germans (who Hungary had beaten 8-3 in the group stage) were the recipients of some generous decisions in the final; Brazil 1970 dazzled everyone with their flair and attacking élan and brought their silky skills to a global audience through the modern miracle of television. They romped through the Mexico tournament, winning all six of their games with an aggregate score of 19-7.
I would hope that the TAN membership isn’t lowbrow enough to reduce it to a “Puskas v Pele” clash, which is what the media would almost certainly do, but The Galloping Major is credited with 806 goals in 793 competitive games, including 84 in 85 appearances for Hungary; Pele scored 732 goals in 792 career appearances, of which 77 came in 92 matches for his country.
The greatest match in the history of football kicks off now…
- Hungary 1954
- Brazil 1970
0 voters
I’ll close the voting at 19:00 on Monday.