0:1 Johan Neeskens (1.) (Penalty)
1:1 Paul Breitner (25.) (Penalty)
2:1 Gerd Müller (43.)
The 1974 World Cup Final was the final match of the 10th FIFA World Cup, a competition to determine the best national men's football team over the previous four years. The match was contested by the Netherlands and West Germany, with the West Germans winning 2-1. The Netherlands opened the scoring via a Johan Neeskens penalty in the second minute, only for Paul Breitner to equalise with another penalty in the 25th minute before Gerd Müller scored the winning goal in the 43rd minute, claiming West Germany's second World Cup.
West Germany was led by Franz Beckenbauer, while the Dutch had their star Johan Cruijff, and their Total Football system which had dazzled the competition. With just a minute gone on the clock, following a solo run, Cruijff was brought down by Uli Hoeneß in the German penalty area, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing penalty by Johan Neeskens before any German player had even touched the ball. West Germany struggled to recover, but they were awarded a penalty of their own in the 25th minute after Bernd Hölzenbein fell within the Dutch area. Paul Breitner took responsibility for the kick, and scored. These two penalties were the first to be awarded in a World Cup Final. West Germany now pushed for a winner, which eventually came in the 43rd minute through Gerd Müller. It turned out to be Müller's last ever goal for the West German team, as he retired from international football after the tournament.
The second half saw chances for both sides. Müller thought he had scored when he put the ball in the net, only to be denied by the linesman flagging for offside. In the 85th minute, Hölzenbein fell to ground in the Dutch penalty area again, but referee Taylor did not believe it was a foul. When the final whistle went, West Germany were crowned world champions for 1974, in addition to their European title from 1972. This is the only case of the reigning European champions winning the World Cup, although France have also held both trophies at the same time by winning the 1998 World Cup followed by Euro 2000.
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