Fifa World Cup 1970 - Host Nation Mexico

World Cup 1970 in Mexico and Pele go hand in hand as this great Brazilian forward was the absolute star of the show. Most people remembering this World Cup will recall the heat that the tournament was played under and the fantastic save by Gordon Banks from the Pele header.

The 1970 World Cup format was the same as in England in 1966 and England came to Mexico hoping to follow up on their excellent victory 4 years earlier. Their was not one sending off in this World Cup and that is something unlikely to happen in the present era. In all there was an average of 3 goals scored per game and this all meant that the spectators had a feast of football to enjoy.

One of the games of the tournament was the first quarter final between England and Germany which was a repeat of the World Cup 1966 final and again it went to extra time and the top goal scorer for the tournament Gerd Müller scored the winner deep into extra-time and at the same time got their revenge from the Wembley final.

The semi final was between Italy and West Germany was a great match in World Cup history and Italy eventually won it after extra time 4-3.

The final is also a classic one. Pelé crowned himself king of soccer when he collected his third winner's medal. He scored one and assisted two when they beat Italy 4-1.

This victory meant that Brazil had won the Jules Rimet Cup three times. Back in 1930 they said, the first nation to win it three times would keep it forever.