2014 FIFA World Cup Final
The 2014 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 13 July 2014 at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to determine the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion. Germany defeated Argentina 1–0 in extra time, with the only goal being scored by Mario Götze, who collected André Schürrle's cross from the left on his chest before volleying a high left-footed shot into the net. The match was the third final between the two countries, a World Cup record, after their 1986 and 1990 matches, and billed as the world's best player versus the world's best team.
Before the match, Germany had reached the World Cup final seven times, winning three and being runners-up four times ; Argentina had reached four finals, winning twice and placing second twice.
The result marked Germany's fourth World Cup title and their first World championship as a unified nation. The victory meant that three consecutive World Cups have been won by teams from the same continent, following Italy and Spain in 2006 and 2010 respectively, the first time this has happened in World Cup history. It was also the first time that three consecutive World Cup finals were still tied after 90 minutes. The final marked the first time a World Cup hosted in the Americas was not won by a team from the continent.
In the winning German team, Miroslav Klose, who had become the top scorer in World Cup history in the semi-final victory over Brazil, became one of the very few players ever to have won gold, silver and bronze medals in the World Cup, joining a club with earlier German players like Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Wolfgang Overath, as well as Italian Franco Baresi.
According to FIFA, 1.013 billion individuals globally watched the final match of this tournament.
Background
The two teams had met in 20 previous matches, with nine wins for Argentina, six wins for Germany and five draws. In these games, both teams had scored a total of 28 goals. Six of these matches were at a World Cup, two of them in the final. The 2014 final was the seventh World Cup match between them, equalling a tournament record for meetings between two teams. The last three meetings were in three consecutive World Cups, having met in quarter-finals of 2006 and 2010 campaigns.| Previous World Cup matches between the teams |
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The 1990 FIFA World Cup Final saw two Argentine players sent off and West Germany won 1–0 due to a controversial penalty kick late in the match.
The 2006 quarter-final game, where Germany won 4–2 in the shootout after the game ended 1–1, was marred by a post-match brawl caused by the Argentines, which resulted in suspensions for two Argentine players and one German player.
The most recent meeting between the two teams until the final, was a friendly match played on 15 August 2012 at Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt am Main, won by Argentina 3–1. Before the tournament, a friendly was scheduled for 3 September 2014, being the first match for both teams after the World Cup. Argentina won this meeting 4–2.
Returning players
Among the players in the 2014 World Cup squads, the following played in the 2006 and 2010 meetings:Road to the final
Match ball
The match ball for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, announced on 29 May 2014, featured a variation of the Adidas Brazuca named the Adidas Brazuca Final Rio. Whilst the technical aspects of the ball were the same, the design was different from the Brazuca balls used in the group stages and other playoffs, with a green, gold and black coloring. It was the third special ball for FIFA World Cup final matches, after the +Teamgeist Berlin and the Jo'bulani.Match officials
, from Italy, was named as the referee of the final, together with fellow Italians Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani as the assistant referees, and Carlos Vera and Christian Lescano from Ecuador as the fourth and fifth officials. Earlier in the 2014 World Cup, Rizzoli took charge of the Spain–Netherlands and Nigeria–Argentina matches in the group stage, and the Argentina–Belgium quarter-final. He had previously taken charge of the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final and the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final. He was also one of the referees at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He became the third Italian referee to take charge of a World Cup final, after Sergio Gonella in 1978 and Pierluigi Collina in 2002.Match
Summary
Both teams named unchanged starting line-ups from their semi-finals, but German midfielder Sami Khedira withdrew during the warm-up with a calf injury. He was replaced by Christoph Kramer, who had made two brief substitute appearances during the tournament. Kramer himself suffered a head injury after a collision with Ezequiel Garay inside the penalty area, but was initially cleared to continue playing. Fourteen minutes later in the 31st minute however, he collapsed to the ground, apparently suffering from concussion and was replaced by André Schürrle.battles Germany's Mats Hummels for the ball.
challenging Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Argentina's Gonzalo Higuaín missed a good opportunity in the first half, dragging his shot wide after being put through on goal by a misjudged header from Toni Kroos. He had a goal disallowed later in the first half, when he was ruled offside after tapping in a cross by Ezequiel Lavezzi from the right wing. Germany responded when Thomas Müller raced into the penalty area and cut the ball back for Schürrle, who saw his first-time effort saved by a diving Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero. As the half ended Germany had a brief flurry of chances, the closest coming when Benedikt Höwedes' header hit the post from a corner during injury time.
In the second half Lionel Messi missed an early opportunity when he fired wide of the German goal from inside the penalty area after receiving a through ball, but the remainder of the half saw fewer chances with the closest coming from a Toni Kroos shot that went wide in the 81st minute. In the 88th minute, Germany’s all-time leading scorer Miroslav Klose was substituted for Mario Götze. This would be Klose’s final appearance for Germany.
Early in the first half of extra time André Schürrle received a pass in front of goal from Götze, but his close-range shot was stopped by Romero. Minutes later, Rodrigo Palacio's lob over Manuel Neuer went just wide after the forward jumped on a mistake by Mats Hummels in the German penalty area.
In the second half of extra time Mario Götze of Germany scored the winning goal in the 113th minute. Schürrle raced past two defenders on the left before crossing into the penalty area, where Götze controlled the ball on his chest and then volleyed left-footed into the net. He became the first substitute to score a World Cup-winning goal, as well as the youngest player to score in a World Cup Final since German Wolfgang Weber in 1966. Thomas Müller had a chance to double Germany's lead shortly afterward when he dribbled past two defenders, but his shot across the net was too wide.
Late in extra time, Messi had an opportunity to equalise from a free kick within goal-scoring distance, but his attempt flew high over the crossbar. In addition to Klose, Germany captain Philipp Lahm and veteran defender Per Mertesacker, a late substitute, announced that the final would also be their last match for Germany. Combined, these three players had amassed 354 appearances for the national team between them.
Details
Match rules:
- 90 minutes.
- 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
- Penalty shoot-out if still tied.
- Twelve named eligible substitutes.
- Maximum of three substitutions.
Statistics
Reaction in Brazil
Due to the Argentina–Brazil football rivalry, the Brazilians in the crowd supported Germany, despite their resounding 7–1 victory over Brazil in the semi-finals, as the Germans had shown respect to the defeated hosts, while Argentine fans had celebrated Brazil's elimination. Most Brazilians were reportedly relieved that their rivals did not win the World Cup in Brazil's iconic home stadium.Notable spectators
invited the BRICS leaders to the final ahead of the 6th BRICS summit. Among those who showed up were Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, the next World Cup hosts, and Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, the previous hosts. Other world leaders Viktor Orbán, Ali Bongo Ondimba, and Gaston Browne also attended the event, which led The Guardian to label the guest list "bizarre and random", as those countries were failed to qualify for this World Cup.German president Joachim Gauck and chancellor Angela Merkel were present for the final. Merkel already watched the Germany and Portugal match in Salvador, when the Germans won 4–0. The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, did not attend because of both her grandson's birthday and a case of pharyngo-laryngitis.
Russian comedian Vitaly Zdorovetskiy ran onto the pitch during the match with "Natural Born Prankster" written across his torso and attempted to kiss Benedikt Höwedes of Germany. Brazilian authorities arrested him, and he was released hours after the match.
Several celebrities and athletes also attended the final, including Rihanna, Daniel Craig, Mick Jagger, Ashton Kutcher, David Beckham, Tom Brady, Olivier Dacourt, LeBron James, and Christian Vieri. Former World Cup winners like Fabio Cannavaro, Lothar Matthäus, Daniel Passarella, – who all had won the World Cup as captains – Marco Materazzi, and Pelé were present as well.
Ceremonies
The closing ceremony took place about an hour and forty minutes before the final. A performance of two acts, the ceremony lasted about 20 minutes. The first act featured 22 samba dancers and a host of other performers, with 32 of the dancers wearing dresses decorated in the colours of the 32 participating teams. The second act featured musical performances headlined by Colombian singer Shakira, and included singers Carlinhos Brown, Wyclef Jean, Alexandre Pires, Ivete Sangalo and guitarist Carlos Santana.Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen and Carles Puyol, a member of Spain's winning team in 2010, unveiled the FIFA World Cup Trophy.
President Rousseff of Brazil delivered the trophy to German captain Philipp Lahm during the awards ceremony on the stands. Alongside her during the trophy handover was FIFA president Sepp Blatter. As Lahm raised the trophy, the outro of the tournament's official song "We Are One " was played.