Brazil at the 1978 FIFA World Cup

Matches of the Brazil national football team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup

The Brazil national football team played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, and continued to maintained their record of being the only team to enter every World Cup Finals.

Brazil finished in third place, having failed to top their group in the second group phase.

## Qualifying

[edit]

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL Group 1)

* February 20, 1977, Bogotá, Colombia \-  Colombia 0 - 0  Brazil
* March 9, 1977, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -  Brazil 6 - 0  Colombia
* March 13, 1977, Asunción, Paraguay \-  Paraguay 0 - 1  Brazil
* March 20, 1977, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -  Brazil 1 - 1  Paraguay

Rank  | Team  | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD

|
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1 |  Brazil | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7
2 |  Paraguay | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0
3 |  Colombia | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7

Brazil advanced to the final round.

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (Final round)

* July 10, 1977, Cali, Colombia \-  Brazil 1 - 0  Peru
* July 14, 1977, Cali, Colombia \-  Brazil 8 - 0  Bolivia

Rank  | Team  | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD

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1 |  Brazil | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9
2 |  Peru | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | +4
3 |  Bolivia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | −13

Brazil and Peru qualified.

## The Cup

[edit]

### First round

[edit]

Group 3
Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts

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Austria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4
Brazil | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4
Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3
Sweden | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1

3 June 1978

13:45 ART

Brazil | 1 – 1|  Sweden

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|

Reinaldo 45' | Report | Sjöberg 37'

Estadio José Maria Minella, Mar del Plata

Attendance: 32,569

Referee: Clive Thomas (Wales)

* * *

7 June 1978

13:45 ART

Brazil | 0 – 0|  Spain

|
|

| Report |

Estadio José Maria Minella, Mar del Plata

Attendance: 34,771

Referee: Sergio Gonella (Italy)

* * *

11 June 1978

13:45 ART

Brazil | 1 – 0|  Austria

|
|

Roberto Dinamite 40' | Report |

Estadio José Maria Minella, Mar del Plata

Attendance: 35,221

Referee: Robert Wurtz (France)

### Second round

[edit]

Group B
Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts

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Argentina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 5
Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 5
Poland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 2
Peru | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 0

Argentina qualified for the final match, and Brazil qualified for the third place match.

14 June 1978

16:45 ART

Peru | 0 – 3|  Brazil

|
|

| Report | Dirceu 15', 27'
Zico 72' (pen.)

Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Mendoza

Attendance: 31,278

Referee: Nicolae Rainea (Romania)

* * *

18 June 1978

19:15 ART

Argentina | 0 – 0|  Brazil

|
|

| Report |

Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario

Attendance: 37,326

Referee: Károly Palotai (Hungary)

* * *

21 June 1978

16:45 ART

Poland | 1 – 3|  Brazil

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Lato 45' | Report | Nelinho 13'
Roberto Dinamite 58', 63'

Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Mendoza

Attendance: 39,586

Referee: Juan Silvagno Cavanna (Chile)

### Third-place match

[edit]

24 June 1978

15:00 ART

Brazil | 2 – 1|  Italy

|
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Nelinho 64'
Dirceu 71' | Report | Causio 38'

Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 69,659

Referee: Abraham Klein (Israel)

## Starting 11

[edit]

| No.
| Pos.
| Nat.
|  Name
| MS | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

1  | GK |  | Leão | 7  |
16  | RB |  | Neto | 4  | Nelinho had three starts
3  | CB |  | Oscar | 7  |
4  | CB |  | Amaral | 7  |
2  | LB |  | Toninho | 6  | Edinho had two starts
19  | RM |  | Mendonça | 4  | Zico had three starts
17  | CM |  | Batista | 7  |
5  | CM |  | Cerezo | 7  |
11  | LM |  | Dirceu | 6  | Rivellino had one start
18  | CF |  | Gil | 6  |
20  | CF |  | Dinamite | 5  | Reinaldo had two starts

Leão

Oscar

Amaral

Neto

Toninho

Cerezo

Batista

Mendonça

Dirceu

Dinamite

Gil

## Scorers

[edit]

3 goals

* Dirceu
* Roberto Dinamite

2 goals

* Nelinho

1 goal

* Reinaldo
* Zico

## External links

[edit]

* 1978 FIFA World Cup on FIFA.com
* Details at RSSSF
* History of the World Cup-1978
* Planet World Cup - Argentina 1978

* v
* t
* e

Brazil at the FIFA World Cup

* Uruguay 1930
* Italy 1934
* France 1938
* Brazil 1950
* Switzerland 1954
* Sweden 1958
* Chile 1962
* England 1966
* Mexico 1970
* West Germany 1974
* Argentina 1978
* Spain 1982
* Mexico 1986
* Italy 1990
* United States 1994
* France 1998
* South Korea/Japan 2002
* Germany 2006
* South Africa 2010
* Brazil 2014
* Russia 2018
* Qatar 2022

* v
* t
* e

Countries at the FIFA World Cup by year

Mexico 1970|

* Brazil

West Germany 1974|

* Brazil

Argentina 1978|

* Brazil

Spain 1982|

* Brazil

Mexico 1986|

* Brazil

Italy 1990|

* Brazil

United States 1994|

* Brazil
* Colombia

France 1998|

* Brazil
* Croatia

Korea/Japan 2002|

* Brazil
* Germany

Germany 2006|

* Brazil

South Africa 2010|

* Brazil

Brazil 2014|

* Brazil
* Croatia

Russia 2018|

* Brazil
* Croatia

Qatar 2022|

* Brazil
* Tunisia

*[Pld]: Games played
*[W]: Games won
*[D]: Games drawn
*[L]: Games lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
*[No.]: Squad Number
*[Pos.]: Position
*[Nat.]: Nationality
*[ Name]: Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name)
*[MS]: Match Started
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template