Editing 1982 FIFA World Cup (section)

===Semi-finals, third-place match and final===
[[File:Adidas Tango España.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Adidas Tango#Tango España|Adidas Tango España]], official match ball of Spain '82]]
In a re-match of the encounter in the first round, Italy beat Poland in the first semi-final through two goals from Paolo Rossi. In the game between France and West Germany, the Germans opened the scoring through a [[Pierre Littbarski]] strike in the 17th minute, and the French equalised nine minutes later with a [[Michel Platini]] penalty. In the second half a long through ball sent French defender [[Patrick Battiston]] racing clear towards the German goal. With both Battiston and the lone German defender trying to be the first to reach the ball, Battiston flicked it past German keeper [[Harald Schumacher]] from the edge of the German penalty area and Schumacher reacted by jumping up to block. Schumacher did not seem to go for the ball, however, and clattered straight into the oncoming Battiston – which left the French player unconscious and knocked two of his teeth out. Schumacher's action has been described as "one of history's most shocking fouls".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4148525.stm |title=World's worst refereeing decisions |first=Andrew |last=Benson |website=BBC Sport |date=5 January 2005 |access-date=15 December 2023}}</ref> The ball went just wide of the post and Dutch referee [[Charles Corver]] deemed Schumacher's tackle on Battiston not to be a foul and awarded a [[goal kick]]. Play was interrupted for several minutes while Battiston, still unconscious and with a broken jaw, was carried off the field on a stretcher.

After French defender [[Manuel Amoros]] had sent a 25-metre drive crashing onto the West German crossbar in the final minute, the match went into extra time. On 92&nbsp;minutes, France's sweeper [[Marius Trésor]] fired a swerving volley under Schumacher's crossbar from ten metres out to make it 2–1. Six minutes later, an unmarked [[Alain Giresse]] drove in an 18-metre shot off the inside of the right post to finish off a counter-attack and put France up 3–1. But West Germany would not give up. In the 102nd minute a counter-attack culminated in a cross that recent substitute [[Karl-Heinz Rummenigge]] turned in at the near post from a difficult angle with the outside of his foot, reducing France's lead to 3–2. Then in the 108th minute Germany took a short corner and after France failed to clear, the ball was played by Germany to Littbarski whose cross to [[Horst Hrubesch]] was headed back to the centre towards [[Klaus Fischer]], who was unmarked but with his back to goal. Fischer in turn volleyed the ball past French keeper [[Jean-Luc Ettori]] with a [[bicycle kick]], levelling the scores at 3–3.

The resulting [[Penalty shootout (football)|penalty shootout]] was the first at a World Cup finals. Giresse, [[Manfred Kaltz]], [[Manuel Amoros]], [[Paul Breitner]] and [[Dominique Rocheteau]] all converted penalties until [[Uli Stielike]] was stopped by Ettori, giving France the advantage. But then Schumacher stepped forward, lifted the tearful Stielike from the ground, and saved [[Didier Six]]'s shot. With Germany handed the lifeline they needed Littbarski converted his penalty, followed by Platini for France, and then Rummenigge for Germany as the tension mounted. France defender Maxime Bossis then had his kick parried by Schumacher who anticipated it, and Hrubesch stepped up to score and send Germany to the World Cup final yet again with a victory on penalties, 5–4.

{{Quote box|width=28%|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote="After I scored, my whole life passed before me – the same feeling they say you have when you are about to die, the joy of scoring in a World Cup final was immense, something I dreamed about as a kid, and my celebration was a release after realising that dream. I was born with that scream inside me, that was just the moment it came out."|source=—Italian midfielder [[Marco Tardelli]] on his [[Goal celebration#Notable non-celebrations|iconic goal celebration]] from the 1982 World Cup Final.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chrisbevan/2010/05/the_story_of_the_1982_world_cu.html|title=The story of the 1982 World Cup|publisher=BBC|author1=Chris Bevan|date=20 May 2010|access-date=6 July 2016}}</ref>}}
In the third-place match, Poland edged the French side 3–2 which matched Poland's best performance at a World Cup previously achieved in 1974. France would go on to win the [[UEFA Euro 1984|European Championship]] two years later.

In the final, [[Antonio Cabrini]] fired a penalty wide of goal in the first half. In the second half, Paolo Rossi scored first for the third straight game by heading home Gentile's bouncing cross at close range. Exploiting the situation, Italy scored twice more on quick counter-strikes, all the while capitalising on their defence to hold the Germans. With Gentile and Gaetano Scirea holding the centre, the Italian strikers were free to counter-punch the weakened German defence. [[Marco Tardelli]]'s shot from the edge of the area beat Schumacher first, and [[Alessandro Altobelli]], the substitute for injured striker [[Francesco Graziani]], made it 3–0 at the end of a solo sprint down the right side by the stand-out winger [[Bruno Conti]]. Italy's lead appeared secure, encouraging Italian president [[Sandro Pertini]] to wag his finger at the cameras in a playful "not going to catch us now" gesture. In the 83rd minute, Paul Breitner scored for West Germany, but it was only a consolation goal as Italy won 3–1 to claim their first World Cup title in 44 years, and their third in total.