Argentina 1978: the World Cup of dictatorship, the 6-0 thrashing of Peru and Rensenbrink's post

This chapter is different from the others. In 1934 a regime used a World Cup as a showcase and that already seemed grave. What happened in 1978 is of a different magnitude, and it can't be told purely as a football story.

A World Cup with the ESMA next door

The hosting rights had been awarded in 1966, long before the coup. But when June 1978 arrived, Argentina had been ruled for two years by a military junta led by Jorge Rafael Videla that was making thousands of people disappear.

The fact that says it all: the Naval Mechanics School, the ESMA — the country's main clandestine detention and torture centre, through which thousands of prisoners passed — is just over a kilometre from the Monumental Stadium. The prisoners could hear the roar from the stadium. Today the ESMA is a memory museum declared World Heritage by Unesco.

The regime spent a fortune organising it and launched an international campaign to launder its image. There were calls for boycotts in Europe, especially from France and the Netherlands, and they didn't catch on. Videla presented the trophy.

Holland, yet again, and yet again without winning

The Dutch reached the final without Johan Cruyff. For thirty years it was assumed this was a protest against the dictatorship; he denied it in 2008: the reason was a kidnapping attempt at his Barcelona home the year before.

Even so they made it to the final. And they were one post away from winning it: in the 90th minute, with the score 1-1, Rob Rensenbrink shot and the ball hit the woodwork. If it goes in, Holland are world champions and this whole story gets told differently.

Before kick-off, the Argentines had done two things that wound the Dutch up: coming out late, leaving them waiting on the pitch in front of 70,000 people, and then complaining about the plaster cast that René van de Kerkhof had on his arm — the same one he'd played with in the previous five matches — forcing him to wrap it with more bandage. When it ended, the Dutch players refused to attend the trophy ceremony.

The 6-0 against Peru

And here's the match that the world still hasn't fully digested nearly fifty years later.

With the format of that World Cup, there were no semi-finals, just a second group phase. Argentina played after Brazil and knew exactly what they needed to reach the final: beat Peru by a four-goal margin.

They won 6-0.

Peru weren't a bad team — they'd topped their group ahead of Scotland and the Netherlands — and their goalkeeper, Ramón Quiroga, had been born in Argentina. From that point on, the match has been surrounded by accusations for half a century.

The final: Kempes, and the woodwork

25 June, Monumental, confetti everywhere. Kempes opened the scoring before half-time; Nanninga equalised in the 82nd minute; Rensenbrink hit the post in the 90th. In extra time, Kempes again and then Bertoni: 3-1.

Kempes finished with six goals and the tournament's Golden Ball. He's the only Argentine to be a World Cup's top scorer.

What remained

Argentina won their first World Cup, and that's a sporting fact no one can take away from them. But there's an asterisk stuck to it that won't go away: in 2026 people are still arguing whether that trophy can be celebrated without caveats, and within Argentina itself opinions are divided.

Menotti, who died in 2024, was one of those who spoke most about the matter over the years: he always defended that his team played cleanly and that he wasn't part of the regime, and at the same time acknowledged what that country was in 1978.

And there was the Netherlands' third lost final — because they would lose another in 2010. Four finals without winning any; no other country racks up so much bad luck in this tournament.