After India’s memorable win in the Kuala Lumpur World Cup in 1975, the next edition of the tournament was held at Buenos Aires in 1978. The number of participating teams was increased to 14 this time with the sides placed in two groups comprising seven outfits each. India was grouped with Australia, West Germany, England, Poland, Canada and Belgium.
Though India carved out a creditable 2-0 victory over strong Australia, it lost badly to West Germany (0-7) and unfancied Canada (1-3) to bow out of the race for a podium finish. The slide in India’s form was discernible as it worked hard to win its matches against Belgium (1-0) and Poland (3-1) and was held to a one-all draw by England. Despite the loss to India, Australia topped the group followed by West Germany and moved into the semifinals.
In the other group, Pakistan was in great form winning all its six matches to top the table followed by Netherlands.
Pakistan defeated West Germany by a solitary extra time goal in the semifinal to move into the final where it faced Netherlands. The Dutch had managed to edge out Australia 3-2 in the other semifinal. In the final, Pakistan beat Netherlands 3-2 to win the cup for the second time. India finished sixth after losing 0-2 to Spain in the match to decide the fifth place.
Four years later, the tournament shifted to India for the first time at Bombay (now Mumbai) with 12 teams in the fray. In home conditions, India’s performance was better than at Buenos Aires as the team won three of its five pool matches. The home team registered big wins against Malaysia (6-2), Soviet Union (7-2) and England (4-2) but lost to power houses Netherlands (3-4) and Australia (1-2). India finished third in the table to miss out again on a semifinal spot.
In the other group, Pakistan won all its five matches to maintain a clean slate at the group stage and qualified for the semifinal followed by West Germany. In the semifinals, Pakistan beat Netherlands 4-2 while West Germany prevailed over Australia 8-5 in the tie-breaker after the two teams were tied at three-all.
In the final, Pakistan got the better of West Germany 3-1 for its third World Cup victory. India finished fifth, its highest rank since 1975, by defeating Soviet Union 5-1.
The sixth edition of the cup was held in London in 1986 with 12 teams in contention for the crown. India’s performance was abysmal as it lost three of its five pool match and managed to win only one. India lost to Poland (0-1) and Spain (1-2) before Australia trounced the Indians 6-0. The team, however, drew the match against strong West Germany 2-2 having beaten Canada 2-0 earlier. India finished fifth in the pool to bow out.
Hosts England and Soviet Union gave a good account of themselves to move into the semifinals with each team winning four matches and losing one. Interestingly, Netherlands also had a 4-0-1 record as all three teams had logged eight points each. But Soviet Union pipped Netherlands because of better goal difference.
In the semifinals, England beat West Germany 3-2 while Australia thumped Soviet Union 5-0. Australia claimed the trophy for the first time as they outlasted England 2-1 in the final. Pakistan, who also had a wretched tournament like India having lost four of their ties, clashed with their traditional rivals for the 11th-12th spots and won 2-1. India finished last in the championship.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Bhubaneswar)