1970 FIFA World Cup in the context of "Pelé"

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries; the main host country of matches is the United States, while Canada and Mexico will co-host. The tournament will be the first to be hosted by three nations.

This tournament will be the first to include 48 teams, expanded from 32. The United 2026 bid beat a rival bid by Morocco during a final vote at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow. It will be the first World Cup since 2002 to be hosted by more than one nation. With its past hosting of the 1970 and 1986 tournaments, Mexico will become the first country to host or co-host the men's World Cup three times. The United States previously hosted the men's World Cup in 1994, whereas it will be Canada's first time hosting or co-hosting the men's tournament. The event will also return to its traditional Northern Hemisphere summer schedule after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was held in November and December.

The Italy national football team (Italian: Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in men's international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy, which is a co-founder and member of UEFA. Italy's home matches are played at various stadiums throughout Italy, and its primary training ground and technical headquarters, Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, is located in Florence.

Italy is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won four World Cup titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), reaching two more finals (1970, 1994), and finishing third place in 1990 and fourth in 1978. Italy also won two European Championships (1968, 2020), and appeared in two other finals of the tournament (2000, 2012). Italy's team also finished as runners-up in the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022, and in third place at both the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and at the UEFA Nations League in 2021 and 2023.

The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded. The previous trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, had been won for the third time by Brazil in 1970 and awarded permanently to the Brazilians.

West Germany won the title, beating the Netherlands 2–1 in the final at the Olympiastadion in Munich. This was the second victory for West Germany, who had also won in 1954. The teams of Australia, East Germany, Haiti and Zaire made their first appearances at the final stage, with the latter two also making their only appearance (although Haiti will make their second appearance in the 2026 World Cup), and East Germany making their only appearance before Germany was reunified in 1990. Brazil, the defending champions, were eliminated in the second round, and lost the third-place match to Poland.

The Mexico national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de México) represents Mexico in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (English: Mexican Football Federation) founded in 1927. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1929 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of NAFU in the North American Zone.From 1946 to 1961, it was a member of NAFC, the former governing body of football in North America and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the former unified confederation of the Americas.

Mexico has qualified for the FIFA World Cup seventeen times and has qualified consecutively since 1994, making it one of six countries to do so. It is one of four CONCACAF teams to have advanced to the knockout stage, reaching the quarter-finals twice (1970 and 1986) both as hosts, and also reaching the round of 16 in seven editions. On 13 July 1930, Mexico played with France in the first match in World Cup history in Uruguay 1930. In 2026, Mexico will host the World Cup for the third time.It has qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup seven times, being the only CONCACAF team and the only non-European or South American team to have won a FIFA global competition, winning the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup as hosts, defeating Brazil 4–3.

The Brazil national football team (Portuguese: Seleção Brasileira de Futebol; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [se.leˈsɐ̃w bɾaziˈlejɾɐ dʒi futʃiˈbɔw]), nicknamed Seleção Canarinho ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (English: Brazilian Football Confederation), the governing body of football in Brazil. It has been a member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of CONMEBOL since 1916. It was also a member of PFC, the unified confederation of the Americas from 1946 to 1961.

Brazil is the most successful national team in the FIFA World Cup, winning the tournament five times: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. The Seleção also has average overall performance in the World Cup competition, both in proportional and absolute terms, with a record of 76 victories in 114 matches played, 129 goal difference, 247 points, and 19 losses. It is the only national team to have played in all World Cup editions without any absence nor need for playoffs, and the only team to have won the World Cup in four different continents: once in Europe (the 1958 edition in Sweden), once in South America (the 1962 edition in Chile), twice in North America (the 1970 edition in Mexico and the 1994 tournament in the United States), and once in Asia (the 2002 edition co-hosted by South Korea and Japan). Brazil was also the most successful team in the now-defunct FIFA Confederations Cup, winning it four times, in 1997, 2005, 2009, and 2013. With the capture of the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics. Brazil is one of only two countries, the other being France, to have won all men's FIFA 11-player competitions at all age levels.

The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so, and resigned in November 1982. Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983, and became the first country to host the World Cup more than once, after previously hosting the 1970 edition.

The World Cup was won by Argentina (their second title, after winning in 1978). Argentina was captained by the 25-year-old Diego Maradona, who played a large part in his team's success by scoring his "Hand of God" goal, as well as another voted the "Goal of the Century", in the same quarter-final against England. These were two of the five goals that Maradona scored during the tournament, and he also created another five for his teammates. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. Argentina would not win the World Cup again until 2022, 36 years later. Total attendance was 2,394,031, an average per match of 46,039. Canada, Denmark and Iraq made their first appearances at the final stage.

Football (Italian: calcio [ˈkaltʃo] ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Brazil (with five), runners-up in two finals both against Brazil, (1970, 1994) and reaching a third place (1990) and a fourth place (1978). They have also won two European Championships (1968 and 2020), also appeared in two finals (2000, 2012), finished third at the Confederations Cup (2013) and the Nations League (2021 and 2023), won one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two Central European International Cups (1927–30 and 1933–35).

Italy's top domestic league, the Serie A, is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world because it is often depicted as the most tactical national football league, and is among the top five European football leagues. Italy's club sides have won 48 major European trophies, making them the second most successful nation in European football. Serie A hosts three of the world's most famous clubs as Juventus, Milan, and Inter, all founding members of the G-14, a group which represented the largest and most prestigious European football clubs; Serie A was the only league to produce three founding members.

Gerd Müller was a German professional footballer who represented the West Germany national football team as a striker between 1966 and 1974. He scored his first international goal on 8 April 1967, when he netted four goals in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier against Albania. Since then, Müller become his country's all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 62 games until being overtaken by Miroslav Klose on 6 June 2014. He held the record for goals scored in FIFA World Cup tournaments between 1974 and 2006. This record was bettered in 2006 by Brazil's Ronaldo, and eight years later by fellow countryman Klose.

Müller netted eight international hat-tricks, which is a national record and the third-best in Europe, behind Sweden's Sven Rydell with nine and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo with ten. On half of those occasions he added a fourth goal in the same match, against Albania, Cyprus, the Soviet Union and Switzerland. This tally includes back-to-back hat-tricks at the 1970 FIFA World Cup against Bulgaria and Peru, being the only player alongside Sándor Kocsis to have done so.