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World Cup Moments: Iconic pitch invader headlined 1962 tournament

World Cup Moments: Iconic pitch invader headlined 1962 tournament

The Peninsula

After more than a decade, the FIFA World Cup returned to South America in 1962 in Chile with 16 participating teams.

Two years before the tournament, World Cup preparations were affected when the country was hit by a powerful 9.5 magnitude earthquake in 1960. This led to host cities being cut down from eight to three.

Despite this, the host nation was able to launch the tournament and finished on third place.

Goal difference was also introduced for the first time on this edition. This led to average number of goals dropping to 2.78, the lowest it has ever been.

Pitch invader

In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Pele was injured in the group stage which kept him from playing in the rest of the tournament. With the rising star absent in the line-up, Garrincha became a key player in leading Brazil to championship.

Garrincha was already known to be unstoppable, and the Three Lions were all determined to stop the Brazilian winger. However, in a quarterfinal match against England, the spotlight was instead focused on a four-legged pitch invader.

The referee stopped the game when the dog invaded the pitch, and had proven itself to be as 'unstoppable' as it slipped away from the hands of England goalkeeper Ron Springett and Garrincha himself.

England player Jimmy Greaves, who was also a dog lover, got down on his hands and knees to pick up and cuddle the dog. It was to his surprise when the dog then peed down on his one and only shirt during the game, to which he still played on with. Greaves later on joked and gave credit to the smelly shirt as a means to keep the Brazilian defenders at bay. Famed as one of England's highest goalscorers, Greaves was also known as the 'Garrincha Dog Catcher' in Brazil.

The Chilean stray then made mark on World Cup history as well, when he was brought to Brazil, and was won by Garrincha through a raffle. The dog was then named 'Bi', short for 'bicampeonato', a nod to Brazil's second World Cup title in a 3-1 victory against Czechoslovakia.

1962 World Cup in Numbers / 1962 World Cup Facts:

Host: Chile

Teams: 16

Format: Group stage, Knockouts

Matches: 32

Goals: 89

Winner: Brazil

Runner-up: Czechoslovakia

Third Place: Chile

Fourth Place: Yugoslavia

Golden boot: Garrincha, Vava, Leonel Sanchez (Chile), Florian Albert (Yugoslavia), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Drazen Jerkovic (Yugoslavia)

Best Young Player Award: Florian Albert (Hungary)