1958: The boycott
The Hungarian Revolution began in 1956. Less than two years later, the Soviets executed Imre Nagy, the Hungarian Prime Minister, to serve “a lesson to all other leaders in socialist countries.” The incident sent ripples around the world.
The following day, Hungary took on Wales in a playoff match at the 1958 World Cup, in Sweden. As a gesture of solidarity, the pro-Hungary Swedish decided to boycott the match. Only 2,823 people turned up — a count that most contemporary reports endorsed.
However, FIFA, keen to prove that everything was normal, recorded an attendance of 20,000.
1962: Battle of Santiago
Several matches at the 1962 World Cup, in Chile, turned outright violent. Two days into the tournament, there were, to quote The Guardian, ‘four red cards, three broken legs, a fractured ankle, and some cracked ribs.’ But all that paled in front of the clash between Italy and the hosts in the Chilean capital of Santiago.
The problem had started ahead of the World Cup. Two Italian newspapers, La Nazione and Corriere della Sera, had complained about the facilities in Santiago. They wrote that the population was prone to ‘malnutrition, illiteracy, alcoholism and poverty,’ and neighbourhoods were ‘given over to open prostitution.’
The Chilean press hit back, calling the Italians oversexed, drug-addicted fascist criminals. The Italian journalists fled Chile, but the animosity towards the Italians did not abandon the Chilean players or fans. The Italian footballers were banned from most public places, and practised only in front of armed guards.
The Chile-Italy clash was expected to be a bloodbath. The first foul took place in 12 seconds. The Chileans hit the Italians indiscriminately after that, often away from the ball. Ken Aston, the English referee, turned a blind eye, intervening only when the Italians retaliated. When Aston red-carded Giorgio Ferrini of Italy, the latter refused to leave. Police had to be summoned to take Ferrini away.
Leonel Sánchez of Chile, the son of a professional boxer, took things a step further. He punched Humberto Maschio and Mario David, yet got away scot-free. When David hit back, Aston red-carded David. Down to nine men, Italy caved in — but not without a fight. Chile won 2-0. Aston never officiated again in a World Cup match.
In the British daily, The Mirror, Frank McGhee urged parents, who wanted to watch the highlights, to “send the kids to bed first — it deserves a horror certificate!” On the BBC, David Coleman called it the ‘most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football in the history of the game.’
Violence continued to plague the Chile World Cup. Garrincha, the finest player of the tournament, was hit on the head by a missile during Brazil’s semi-final against Chile. An angry Garrincha committed a foul and was sent off. Thankfully, the Brazilian Football Association intervened, Garrincha played in the final, and Brazil won.
1966: Prelude and endgame
The 1966 World Cup, in England, is remembered mostly for Geoff Hurst’s disputed goal in the final, but the controversy began long before the tournament went under way. The trophy itself was stolen, only to be recovered in time — as we have discussed in these pages.
Back in 1964, FIFA had decided that of the 16 teams at the 1966 World Cup, 10 would be from Europe, four from South America, and one from North and central America. Asia, Africa, and Oceania would have to contest for the final spot.
This ridiculous suggestion obviously did not go down well with the Africans, who demanded a guaranteed slot. The readmission of apartheid South Africa to FIFA in 1963 only compounded matters. For the 1966 World Cup, FIFA pooled South Africans with the Asian teams to avoid them playing African nations.
The Confederations of Africa first threatened to boycott the World Cup. FIFA did not relent. The entire African continent — with the exception of South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola (the last two, being colonies, were part of Portugal) pulled out. The great Ghanaian side of the 1960s, thus, never played in the World Cup.
But the drama had just begun. With no African nation to compete against, North Korea easily qualified for the 16th spot. This posed a fresh problem, because the United Kingdom did not recognise socialist North Korea as a nation.
The UK foreign office tried their best to prevent the North Koreans, then to minimise their visibility. They prevented the national anthems in every match barring the tournament opener and the final. The authorities did not invite a North Korean representative at the draw. They tried to ban their national flag.
North Korea’s matches were scheduled in Middlesbrough, where they became immensely popular with the crowds. They drew 1-1 with Chile before stunning Italy 1-0 to qualify for the quarter-finals. There, they played “a thunderclap of dazzling, attacking football” to go 3-0 up inside 25 minutes, but the genius of Eusebio helped Portugal clinch the match 5-3.
The Mozambique-born Eusébio finished three goals clear of anyone else. FIFA’s attempts to keep Africa out of the tournament could not prevent an African from topping the charts. In 1970, Africa had a guaranteed spot.
Of course, the most-remembered incident of the 1966 edition is the “ghost goal” of the final, where Hurst’s kick hit the crossbar, bounced on the goal line, and was cleared — but England were rewarded a goal. They won 4-2 to win their first World Cup.
1970: Football war
The most significant controversy of the 1970 World Cup took place in the Qualifiers.
In 1969, bitter rivals Honduras and El Salvador met in a must-win match at the World Cup Qualifiers. When Honduras hosted El Salvador in Tegucigalpa, the local fans played loud music, beat barrels and cans, honked horns, and set off fireworks outside the hotel where the touring footballers had been put up.
Honduras beat the sleep-deprived tourists 1-0. Amelia Bolaños, an 18-year-old Salvadorian fan, shot herself fatally back home. The nation went into mourning. The funeral was televised. National president Fidel Sánchez Hernández himself escorted her coffin, which was draped in the national flag.
A week later, the Hondurans came to San Salvador for a volatile nation for the return match. The Salvadorians went a step further than their Honduran counterparts. They threw rotten eggs, dead rats, and stinking rags inside the hotel rooms. En route to the ground in armoured cars, the Honduran footballers were booed by fans carrying large posters of Bolaños.
The fans booed when the Honduran national anthem was played. Before kick-off, the Honduran flag was burnt and replaced by with a rag. El Salvador won 3-0. Soon after the Honduran players returned home, the border between the two nations was closed.
The media of the two nations had all but waged war on each other. In a playoff in neutral Mexico City, El Salvador beat Honduras 3-2 to qualify for the World Cup. During the match, Mexico deployed a 5,000-strong police force to keep the Honduran and Salvadorian fans separate.
El Salvador severed diplomatic ties with Honduras later that day. The Salvadorian expatriates in Honduras were subjected to horrible atrocities. The 100-hour war that followed killed 6,000, injured another 12,000, and uprooted at least 50,000.
The 1970 World Cup, in Mexico, attracted its share of controversies. England captain Bobby Moore was arrested in Colombia on bogus charges of theft, only to be released immediately before the World Cup. Most teams did not like the noon matches, played in hot, humid conditions.
But all that paled in front of the Hundred Hours’ War.
Throughout the 1960s, Honduras and El Salvador had been on bitter terms. But the spark of a war was ignited by football.