Italy World Cup Rewind: Humiliation at the Hands of North Korea, 1966

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 21, 2014

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Welcome back to Bleacher Report's series of Italy World Cup Rewinds, where we take a look back at the prestigious history of the Azzurri in the tournament's history—both in good times and in bad. Today, we'll be looking at another of the lower points—the shocking 1-0 loss at the hands of North Korea that knocked the team out of the 1966 tournament and went down as one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

 

The Tournament

The World Cup finally arrived in the land of the sport's birth in 1966.  England was selected as host over the likes of West Germany and Spain.  The build-up to their tournament was surrounded with political intrigue.

In allocating qualification spots for the tournament, FIFA decreed that a single slot would go to the winner of a joint playoff between the winner of the Asian zone and the three group winners from the final phase of African qualification.  The CAF, indignant at the thought that winning their own zone was not enough to qualify for the Cup, responded by withdrawing from the tournament en masse.

This was potentially critical for future events, because it cleared a major hurdle for the North Koreans to qualify.  After South Korea withdrew from qualifying due to a change of venue, all they needed to do was get by Australia in a two-legged playoff.  They dispatched the Socceroos 9-2 on aggregate to secure their first berth.

That was the final sporting obstacle, but international politics now threatened to run them out of the tournanment.  The Korean War was still a fresh memory, and the North lacked diplomatic relations with many countries—including the UK, who had been a part of the UN coalition that opposed the North.  The Foreign Office initially balked at issuing visas for the North Koreans to play.

After pressure was applied by FIFA, Britain relented and allowed the team to compete with t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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