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The 1974 World Cup in West Germany and 1978 in Argentina still had 16 teams, as had been the case since 1954. However, the significant change in these two tournaments was the introduction of a secondary group phase. Each winner and runner-up progressed into one of two groups and from there, the winners of each group played in the final and the runners-up played for 3rd place. Spain 1982 was a unique tournament. The number of teams was increased to 24, divided into 6 groups of 4. Each winner and runner-up progressed to a secondary group stage divided into 4 groups of 3 teams. The winners of each of these groups then played the Semi-Finals. USA 1994 was essentially the same as 1986 and 1990 except the FIFA faux pas which allowed two teams from the same group to meet again in the Semi-Finals. This happened to Brazil and Sweden!
Duration: 60 to 180 minutes
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