The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title (after 1934 and 1938), Italy drew level with Brazil as the most successful nations at the World Cup. This tournament was marked by a series of great matches and is widely regarded as the second-best ever...
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The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title (after 1934 and 1938), Italy drew level with Brazil as the most successful nations at the World Cup. This tournament was marked by a series of great matches and is widely regarded as the second-best ever after the 1970 tournament. This was also the first World Cup to feature 24 teams, an expansion from at most 16 in the previous tournaments.
The most surprising absentees from the finals were those of 1974 and 1978 runners-up Netherlands (eliminated by Belgium and France), North America's power Mexico (eliminated by El Salvador), and to a lesser extent 1974 and 1978 participant Sweden (eliminated by Scotland and Northern Ireland). England, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and the Soviet Union were back in the Finals after a 12-year absence. Yugoslavia...
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