The 13th FIFA World Cup was awarded to Mexico, who thus became the first country to host the competition on two occasions. However, the Mexicans were selected only as replacement hosts after the original choice, Colombia, announced in 1983 that it could no longer afford to stage football's greatest tournament. Terrible earthquakes were the prelude to the tournament, but the stadiums were not affected and it was decided to go ahead with the preparations.
Twenty-four teams took part in the finals, as had been the case four years earlier in Spain. This FIFA World Cup was different, however, in that all the second round games were played on a knock-out basis. With only eight teams not making it through, the first round threw up very few surprises. A first, however, was Morocco becoming the first African nation to qualify for the second round in a FIFA World Cup finals competition.
The French, just as they had in 1982, won many fans due to their dazzling football, and the legendary and universally admired midfield foursome of Platini, Giresse, Tigana and Fernandez wrought havoc among even the best-organized defenses.
The "Blues" showed their class in ousting Italy, the world champion, in their second round game, 2-0, before overcoming Brazil in Guadalajara-rather fortuitously but with a great deal of flair-in one of the greatest matches of all time. Tele Santana's Brazilians twice hit the woodwork and frequently overran Michel Platini and his French side, who eventually won the day largely due to the performance of their goalkeeper Joël Bats - amongst other feats, he managed to save a Zico penalty 12 minutes from time. After winning a nail-biting penalty shoot-out (1-1 at full time, then 4-3 on penalties), the French reached the semis. But here, just as in Spain four years earlier, their dreams of FIFA World Cup glory were foiled by a fresher German eleven.
Recorded from SKY Sports as part of their series which featured World Cup Films from 1954 to 1990.
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