The group stage set up was the same as the previous competition with 16 nations qualifying for the World Cup Finals; two of these were again automatic places for the hosts and the holders.
10 European teams qualified:
Champions Brazil and host nation Chile were joined out of the South Americas by:
While Mexico qualified out of the North and Central Americas.
The initial group stage saw Brazil lose one of their most influential stars from the previous campaign, Pelé who only managed to play in Brazil's first two games – one of which he scored in.
Although Brazil lost the talents of Pelé, this lead to the inclusion Manoel Dos Santos Francisco, other wise known as Garrincha. Who was born a cripple, became something of a fairy tale after surgery was able to walk and he eventually went on to win major honours within the world of football.
Brazil topped their group with Czechoslovakia finishing second above Mexico and Spain.
USSR and Yugoslavia finished above Uruguay and Colombia.
Hungary along with England progressed through to the Quarter Finals, while Argentina and Bulgaria went home.
In Group B Switzerland managed to lose all three games whilst West Germany and Chile both went through over Italy. This was a group that saw terrible on the pitch clashes between Italy and the hosts. Although only two players were sent off, the teams needed police protection to leave the field in safety.
Surprisingly Chile managed to defeat USSR to land themselves a Semi Final game against the winner of the England – Brazil game. In which a brilliant performance from Garrincha, which included two goals in a 3-1 win, saw the South Americans triumph.
Meanwhile 1-0 wins for Yugoslavia aaginst West Germany - and Czechoslovakia against Hungary saw the two Slavic states meet in the Semi Final.
A little under 6,000 spectators turned out to watch Yugoslavia lose to Czechoslovakia 3-1. Whereas a crowd of 76,600 watched Brazil beat the hosts 4-2, even though this saw Garrincha sent off for Brazil and Landa sent off for Chile.
Chile eventually went on to take third place in a 1-0 victory over Yugoslavia.
Santiago's Estadio Nacional served as the venue for the Final itself, and after 15 minutes, yet again Brazil found themselves a goal behind in the World Cup Final, as a long ball from Scherer was latched onto by Masopust: 1-0 Czechoslovakia.
However, just like the previous Final four years earlier, Brazil soon hit back, equalising two minutes later with a goal from Amarildo. The Brazilians did not stop there and with goals from Zito and Vava mid-way through the second half, the Czechoslovakians just couldn't get back into the game. With the game ending 3-1 to Brazil, a successful defence of the title for only the second time in the history of the competition, and without their star player of 1958 – Pelé, saw Brazil were once again crowned World Cup Winners.
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