World-championship soccer “España 82” II, 1981

Final: Italy - West Germany 3-1

Italy survived the opening round on goal difference and then went on to win the trophy for a third time after a beautiful Brazilian team had bowed out to them in an astonishing match in the second phase. Italy went on to the final and beat West Germany 3-1. Rossi finished top scorer with six goals.

The tournament was expanded to 24 teams, split into six groups of four with the top two advancing to a second stage in which four groups of three played for semifinal places. It proved a laborious and unwieldy format short on knockout action. But it did mean extra places for regions previously under-represented at the tournament. Africa had two teams for the first time while Asia, Australasian and North America also benefited. For the first time a penalty shootout would settle a tie after 120 minutes, and France became the first team to suffer the trauma of elimination without defeat in its semifinal with West Germany.

First Day Covers (FDC) with block 51:

Design:

Editor:

Note: Blanco or airmail envelopes are not shown here but do exist.

FDC Block 51 imperforated: Not known to exist.