Argentina 6–0 Peru was a football match between Argentina and Peru that took place on 21 June 1978 during the 1978 FIFA World Cup within Group B. In order to advance to the final ahead of Brazil by goal difference, host nation Argentina needed to win by three or four goals, depending on the number of goals scored. The match ended in a 6–0 Argentine victory with two goals from Mario Kempes, two goals from Leopoldo Luque, one goal by Alberto Tarantini and one from René Houseman. The 1978 World Cup concluded with Argentina earning their first championship title after beating the Netherlands 3–1. The match remains one of the most controversial in World Cup history as it has been speculated that there was some collusion in favour of Argentina, due to the tournament taking place during the military dictatorship of the National Reorganization Process under Jorge Rafael Videla, which in turn led to suspicion that the World Cup was being used as an attempt to appease the international community in the face of human rights violations.

Over the years, players, journalists, and politicians have put forward a variety of interpretations regarding possible outside interference to benefit Argentina in the match, but none has gained widespread acceptance. The former Argentine Minister of Finance, Juan Alemann, claimed that a bomb detonated when Argentina scored the fourth goal needed to qualify. Peruvian players have given different versions of what happened, with some alleging that irregularities occurred before and during the match, such as Videla's visit to their locker room, while others deny any type of arrangement and claim that Argentina was simply vastly superior to Peru during the match.

FIFA arranged for the Brazil–Poland match to be played before Argentina–Peru, citing television and ticket sales issues. Match times had been agreed long before the start of the World Cup. Brazil, Argentina's arch-rival, objected to the measure, since Argentina would know in advance the number of goals they had to score. FIFA generally held the matches of the same group on different days or times, but it was not unusual for matches of the same group to be played simultaneously. After the Disgrace of Gijón at the next World Cup, the defining fixtures of each group have always been played simultaneously to remove any advantage that teams may get from playing at different times.

Background Argentina Argentina was runner-up in the 1930 FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay where the host country won the title 4–2. After that, the furthest Argentina had gone in a World Cup was the quarter-finals at the 1966 World Cup held in England when Argentina lost 0–1 against England when Antonio Ubaldo Rattín was sent off after insulting the referee despite the fact that he did not understand Spanish. Regardless, Argentina qualified in all World Cups except for the 1970 tournament in Mexico and declined to participate in 1938, 1950 and 1954. Due to being the hosts of the 1978 World Cup, Argentina did not have to qualify.

Argentina had also won the Copa América in 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957 and 1959 and the champions of the 1960 Panamerican Championship and runners-up in 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1959 extra (South American championship) and 1967. At the Olympic Games, the senior team achieved its greatest achievement at the 1928 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal (after losing the gold medal also for the Uruguay).

Peru

Peru participated in the 1930 World Cup but were eliminated in the first round. They wouldn't participate again until 1970 where they obtained the Fair Play Award and reached the quarter-finals, losing to the eventual champions Brazil 4–2. This would remain the furthest Peru has reached in a World Cup. In 1978, they qualified again for the World Cup finals, after failing to qualify for the 1974 edition.

Peru was crowned champion of the Copa América in 1939 and 1975.

Peruvian Qualification for the 1978 World Cup

RankTeam16422082+625421153+231401319−8

ScoreLocationStadiumAttendanceDate1–1QuitoAtahualpa39,576February 20, 19771–1SantiagoNacional67,983March 6, 19774–0LimaNacional43,319March 12, 19772–0LimaNacional62,000March 26, 1977

Peru advances to the final round.

In the final round of qualifications, Peru lost against Brazil by one goal but managed to beat Bolivia 5–0, allowing Peru to reach second place and successfully qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

RankTeam14220090+922210151+4302002013−13

ScoreLocationStadiumAttendanceDate1–0CaliPascual Guerrero50,345July 10, 19775–0CaliPascual Guerrero32,511July 17, 1977

Brazil and Peru qualified for the 1978 World Cup. Bolivia went to the intercontinental playoffs.

Recent Match History Between Argentina and Peru Matches prior to the World Cup stood out, with César Luis Menotti as technical director of Argentina. All of them ended in victory for the Argentines. These are four matches for the , a friendly tournament that was played between the two teams.

ScoreLocationDate1–3LimaOctober 28, 19761–0Buenos AiresNovember 10, 19762–1Buenos AiresMarch 19, 19781–3LimaMarch 23, 1978

1978 FIFA World Cup Qualification for Group B Argentina

Argentina qualified second in their group after beating Hungary and France by 2–1 goal margin. By the time of the third game, Argentina was already qualified together with Italy. The last game of the group was Italy-Argentina, which ended in a 1–0 victory for the Italians.

June 2, 1978 2–1 Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata 2–1 Estadio Monumental, Buenos AiresJune 6, 1978 3–1 Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata 2–1 Estadio Monumental, Buenos AiresJune 10, 1978 3–1 Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata 0–1 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires

Peru

Peru qualified first in their group by getting a 3–1 victory against Scotland, a 0–0 draw against the Netherlands and a 4–1 victory against Iran.

June 3, 1978 3–1 Estadio Chateau Carreras, Córdoba 3–0 Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, MendozaJune 7, 1978 1–1 Estadio Chateau Carreras, Córdoba 0–0 Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, MendozaJune 11, 1978 4–1 Estadio Chateau Carreras, Córdoba 3–2 Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Mendoza

Group B

Argentina had qualified for the second group stage after obtaining second place in Group 1 behind Italy while Brazil had also obtained the second position of Group 3 after Austria. Both Peru and Poland had achieved first place in Group 4 and Group 2 respectively. The headquarters of this group were Mendoza and Rosario.

The first game pitted Brazil against Peru, ending with a 3–0 victory for the Brazilians. Argentina also beat Poland 2–0 in Rosario with two goals from Mario Kempes. The victory of Poland over Peru by 1–0 and the goalless draw between Argentina and Brazil left a group close in which, with the exception of Peru, the other three teams had a chance to reach the final. Argentina and Brazil reached the last game with 3 points, although the Brazilians had a greater goal difference. Poland arrived with 2 points but with chances to win the group if, after their victory, Argentina lost or tied without surpassing it in goal difference.

The matches were not played at the same time but Brazil and Poland played first at 16:45 while Argentina and Peru did so later, at 19:15. Brazil won their match 3–1, with two goals from Roberto Dinamite and one from Nelinho. With this result they finished with 5 points and +5 goal difference. In order to reach the final, Argentina had to win with a margin of four goals since they had a goal difference of +2. Argentina managed to prevail over Peru by 6–0 and thus qualified for the final.

14 June 1978 0–3 Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Mendoza 2–0 Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario18 June 1978 0–1 Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Mendoza 0–0 Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario21 June 1978 1–3 Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza, Mendoza 6–0 Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario

Match

Details

GK 5 Ubaldo FillolRB 15 Jorge OlguínCB 7 Luis GalvánCB 19 Daniel Passarella (c)LB 20 Alberto TarantiniDM 6 Américo Gallego CM 12 Omar LarrosaAM 10 Mario KempesRW 4 Daniel Bertoni LW 16 Oscar OrtizCF 14 Leopoldo LuqueSubstitutions:RW 9 René Houseman DM 17 Miguel Oviedo Manager:César Luis Menotti GK 21 Ramón QuirogaRB 2 Jaime DuarteCB 3 Rodulfo ManzoCB 4 Héctor Chumpitaz (c)LB 22 Roberto RojasCM 17 Alfredo Quesada CM 6 José Velásquez CM 8 César CuetoFW 7 Juan José MuñanteFW 11 Juan Carlos OblitasFW 10 Teófilo CubillasSubstitutions:FW 16 Raúl Gorriti Manager:Marcos Calderón

Controversy

The final round of Group B games were played on June 21. The winner of the group would proceed to the World Cup Final against the winners of Group A. Brazil and Argentina were level on three points, but Brazil had a superior goal difference of +3 compared to +2 for Argentina, so Brazil were top of Group B leading into the final round.

The Brazil-Poland game was to be played first, with the Argentina-Peru starting nearly three hours later at 7.15pm. FIFA had decided prior to the tournament that Argentina would play its first and second round matches at 7:15 p.m. while the other matches, except for the opening match and the final, would be played at either 1:00 p.m. or 4:15 p.m. This was because FIFA feared that there would be low attendance at matches not involving Argentina if played simultaneously with Argentina's matches, as most tickets had been bought by locals. At the time, no one had opposed this measure, which was also granted to West Germany when they hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

When it came time for the decisive group matches however, the Brazilians pushed to play their game against Poland at the same time as Argentina v Peru, arguing that by playing second the Argentine team would have an advantage as they would know what result they needed to top the group. FIFA objected to Brazil's request, arguing that it was impossible to change schedules on television. Thus Brazil played its game first and won 3–1. Argentina subsequently started their match against Peru knowing they would need to win by at least four goals against Peru, who were bottom of group B with zero points. Minutes before the game, Argentinian President Jorge Rafael Videla visited the Peruvian locker room accompanied by former American Secretary of State and organiser of Operation Condor, Henry Kissinger and read a message to the players from the Peruvian dictator Francisco Morales Bermúdez on the Argentine-Peruvian brotherhood. Argentina subsequently won the match 6–0, rising above Brazil in the Group B table on goal difference, and advancing to the final against the Netherlands.