Brazilian star Pele gets his hands on the World Cup

Once again the majestic Pele played a major part as Brazil dealt comfortably with Mexico's heat and altitude to lift the trophy for a third time.

Brazil boasted a 100% record and topped their group after beating England 1-0 and made serene progress to the final.

There they were rampant against Italy, winning 4-1 and that winning team is widely regarded as football's best XI.

Holders England had a difficult build-up to the tournament.

They were labelled "thieves and drunks" by the Mexican press and defensive lynchpin Bobby Morre was arrested on trumped-up shoplifting charges in Colombia.

He was bailed to play in the tournament and turned in his usual cool displays, but England's challenge ground to a halt in the quarter-finals against West Germany.

Portugal, Hungary, France, Spain and Argentina all failed to qualify, but Morocco became the first African nation in a post-war finals with Israel also making their debut.

In the group stages England lost 1-0 to Brazil in a match which saw Gordon Banks pull off a save from Pele that is rated as possibly the best ever seen in the World Cup.

Despite the defeat they qualified for the quarter-finals, where they faced a re-match against West Germany.

England had beaten the West Germans in the final four years earlier, but the tables were turned after manager Alf Ramsey made a tactical blunder.

At one point England led 2-0 but Ramsey took off Bobby Charlton and the Germans secured an extra-time winner.

West Germany came up against Italy in the last four, with Franz Beckenbauer forced to play with his arm in a sling.

His courage went unrewarded and the Italians ran out 3-2 winners in extra-time to earn their first final appearance for 32 years.

Both the Italians and Brazil, who had knocked out Peru in the quarter-finals and Uruguay in the semis, were chasing their third World Cup victory.

But, when it came to the match, there was only ever going to be one winner.

Brazil were unstoppable and stormed to victory with goals from Pele - in his third and final World Cup appearance - Gerson, Jairzinho and skipper Carlos Alberto.

Group A

Mexico 0-0 USSR Belgium 3-0 El Salvador USSR 4-1 Belgium

Mexico 4-0 El Salvador USSR 2-0 El Salvador Mexico 1-0 Belgium

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
USSR	3	2	1	0	6	1	5
Mexico	3	2	1	0	5	0	5
Belgium	3	1	0	2	4	5	2
El Salvador	3	0	0	3	0	9	0

Group B

Uruguay 2-0 Israel Italy 1-0 Sweden Uruguay 0-0 Italy

Sweden 1-1 Israel Sweden 1-0 Uruguay Italy 0-0 Israel

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Italy	3	1	2	0	1	0	4
Uruguay	3	1	1	1	2	1	3
Sweden	3	1	1	1	2	2	3
Israel	3	0	2	1	1	3	2

Group C

England 1-0 Romania Brazil 4-1 Czechoslovakia Romania 2-1 Czechoslovakia

Brazil 1-0 England Brazil 3-2 Romania England 1-0 Czechoslovakia

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Brazil	3	3	0	0	8	3	6
England	3	2	0	1	2	1	4
Romania	3	1	0	2	4	5	2
Czechoslovakia	3	0	0	3	2	7	0

Group D

Peru 3-2 Bulgaria West Germany 2-1 Morocco Peru 3-0 Morocco

West Germany 5-2 Bulgaria West Germany 3-1 Peru Bulgaria 1-1 Morocco

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
West Germany	3	3	0	0	10	4	6
Peru	3	2	0	1	7	5	4
Bulgaria	3	0	1	2	5	9	1
Morocco	3	0	1	2	2	6	1

Quarter-finals:
Brazil 4-2 Peru
West Germany 3-2 England (aet)
Uruguay 1-0 USSR (aet)
Italy 4-1 Mexico

Semi-finals:
Brazil 3-1 Uruguay
Italy 4-3 West Germany (aet)

3rd/4th place play-off:
West Germany 1-0 Uruguay

Final:
Brazil 4-1 Italy

Leading scorer: 10 goals: Gerd Muller (West Germany)