The 1982 Football World Cup was held in Spain by decision of FIFA in July 1966, in the same session where FIFA gave the right to host the tournament's edition of 1974 and 1978 to West Germany and Argentina . It was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With its third World Cup title (after 1934 and 1938), Italy drew level with record champions Brazil.

Italy survived the opening round on goal difference and then went on to win the trophy for a third time after a creative Brazilian team had lost to them in an astonishing match in the second phase. Zico, Sócrates, Falcão and Eder could not stop attacking and Brazil paid for it when they lost 3-2 to a Paolo Rossi hat-trick. Italy went on to the final and beat West Germany 3-1. Rossi finished top scorer with six goals.

The format of the competition changed from 1978: for the first time, 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four. Top two teams in each group advanced to the second round, where they split into four groups of three. The winners of each group advanced to the semi-finals. This was the only World Cup to be played under this format. The decision for 24 teams came from FIFA to give the opportunity to participate to more teams such as Cameroun, Algeria and Kuwait.

One of the most memorable games of the tournament was the semi-final between West Germany and France. It had a horrible incident when German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher brutally fouled the attacking French player Patrick Battiston on his way to a certain goal, leaving him unconscious. The French were shocked when the referee did not even award them a free kick, much less give Schumacher the deserved red card. But the match also had many great moments: after the game ended 1-1 in regulation time, the French scored two goals during extra time to lead 3-1. But the German team did not give up and scored two goals themselves to equalise the game. The extra time ended 3-3 and the Germans won the following penalty shoot-out 5-4.

A particularly controversial game was the first round group match between West Germany and Austria. After suffering an upset at the hands of Algeria in their opening game, West Germany knew that a 1-0 win over Austria in the group's last game would send both the teams into the second round at the expense of the Africans as Algeria had already played their three matches. That is exactly what happened, as the Germans scored early and both teams just kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the game. This was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans who had hoped for a hot rematch for the 1978 World Cup match in Cordoba, Argentina in which Austria had beaten West Germany, and led to the introduction of a revised system at the 1986 World Cup and future World Cups, in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously. The only time this system has not been used in a FIFA tournament since then was at the 2003 Women's World Cup, and then only because the tournament had to be moved from China to the United States on very short notice. Even at that event, two of the four groups followed the post-1982 scheduling procedure.

Italian Paolo Rossi won the Golden Boot, scoring six goals.

Venues

• Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante
• Nou Camp, Barcelona
• Estadio Sarría, Barcelona
• Estadio San Mamés, Bilbao
• Estadio Muncipal de Riazor - A Coruña
• Nuevo Estadio, Elche
• El Molinón, Gijón
• Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
• Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid
• La Rosaleda, Málaga
• Estadio Carlos Tortiere, Oviedo
• Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville
• Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia
• Estadio José Zorila, Valladolid
• Estadio La Romareda, Zaragoza

First Round

Group A

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Poland	4	3	1	2	0	5	1	4
Italy	3	3	0	3	0	2	2	0
Cameroon	3	3	0	3	0	1	1	0
Peru	2	3	0	2	1	2	6	-4

June 14, Estadio Balaidos, Vigo - Italy 0 - 0 Poland

June 15, Estadio Municipal de Riazor, A Coruña - Peru 0 - 0 Cameroon

June 18, Estadio Balaidos, Vigo - Italy 1 - 1 Peru

June 19, Estadio Municipal de Riazor, A Coruña - Poland 0 - 0 Cameroon

June 22, Estadio Municipal de Riazor, A Coruña - Poland 5 - 1 Peru

June 23, Estadio Balaidos, Vigo - Italy 1 - 1 Cameroon

Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
West Germany	4	3	2	0	1	6	3	3
Austria	4	3	2	0	1	3	1	2
Algeria	4	3	2	0	1	5	5	0
Chile	0	3	0	0	3	3	8	-5

June 16, El Molinón, Gijón - Algeria 2 - 1 West Germany

June 17, Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo - Austria 1 - 0 Chile

June 20, El Molinón, Gijón - West Germany 4 - 1 Chile

June 21, Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo - Austria 2 - 0 Algeria

June 24, Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo - Algeria 3 - 2 Chile

June 25, El Molinón, Gijón - West Germany 1 - 0 Austria

Group C

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Belgium	5	3	2	1	0	3	1	2
Argentina	4	3	2	0	1	6	2	4
Hungary	3	3	1	1	1	12	6	6
El Salvador	0	3	0	0	3	1	13	-12

June 13, Camp Nou, Barcelona - Belgium 1 - 0 Argentina

June 15, Nuevo Estadio, Elche - Hungary 10 - 1 El Salvador

June 18, Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante - Argentina 4 - 1 Hungary

June 19, Nuevo Estadio, Elche - Belgium 1 - 0 El Salvador

June 22, Nuevo Estadio, Elche - Belgium 1 - 1 Hungary

June 23, Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante - Argentina 2 - 0 El Salvador

Group D

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
England	9	3	3	0	0	6	1	5
France	4	3	1	1	1	6	5	1
Czechoslovakia	2	3	0	2	1	2	4	-2
Kuwait	1	3	0	1	2	2	6	-4

June 16, Estadio San Mames, Bilbao - England 3 - 1 France

June 17, Estadio José Zorrilla, Valladolid - Czechoslovakia 1 - 1 Kuwait

June 20, Estadio San Mames, Bilbao - England 2 - 0 Czechoslovakia

June 21, Estadio José Zorrilla, Valladolid - France 4 - 1 Kuwait

June 24, Estadio José Zorrilla, Valladolid - Czechoslovakia 1 - 1 France

June 25, Estadio San Mames, Bilbao - England 1 - 0 Kuwait

Group E

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Northern Ireland	4	3	1	2	0	2	1	1
Spain	3	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
Yugoslavia	3	3	1	1	1	2	2	0
Honduras	2	3	0	2	1	2	3	-1

June 16, Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia - Spain 1 - 1 Honduras

June 17, La Romareda, Zaragoza - Yugoslavia 0 - 0 Northern Ireland

June 20, Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia - Spain 2 - 1 Yugoslavia

June 21, La Romareda, Zaragoza - Honduras 1 - 1 Northern Ireland

June 24, La Romareda, Zaragoza - Yugoslavia 1 - 0 Honduras

June 25, Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia - Northern Ireland 1 - 0 Spain

Group F

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Brazil	9	3	3	0	0	10	2	8
USSR	4	3	1	1	1	6	4	2
Scotland	4	3	1	1	1	8	8	0
New Zealand	0	3	0	0	3	2	12	-10

June 14, Estadio Sanchez Pisjuan, Seville - Brazil 2 - 1 USSR

June 15, La Rosaleda, Málaga - Scotland 5 - 2 New Zealand

June 18, Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville - Brazil 4 - 1 Scotland

June 19, La Rosaleda, Málaga - USSR 3 - 0 New Zealand

June 22, La Rosaleda, Málaga - Scotland 2 - 2 USSR

June 23, Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville - Brazil 4 - 0 New Zealand

Second Round

Group 1

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Poland	3	2	1	1	0	3	0	3
USSR	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	1
Belgium	0	2	0	0	2	0	4	-4

June 28, Camp Nou, Barcelona - Poland 3 - 0 Belgium

July 1, Camp Nou, Barcelona - USSR 1 - 0 Belgium

July 4, Camp Nou, Barcelona - Poland 0 - 0 USSR

Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
West Germany	3	2	1	1	0	2	1	1
England	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
Spain	1	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1

June 29, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid - West Germany 0 - 0 England

July 2, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid - West Germany 2 - 1 Spain

July 5, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid - Spain 0 - 0 England

Group 3

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Italy	4	2	2	0	0	5	3	2
Brazil	2	2	1	0	1	5	4	1
Argentina	0	2	0	0	2	2	5	-3

June 29, Estadio Sarriá, Barcelona - Italy 2 - 1 Argentina

July 2, Estadio Sarriá, Barcelona - Brazil 3 - 1 Argentina

July 5, Estadio Sarriá, Barcelona - Italy 3 - 2 Brazil

Group 4

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
France	6	2	2	0	0	5	1	4
Austria	1	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1
Northern Ireland	1	2	0	1	1	3	6	-3

June 28, Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid - France 1 - 0 Austria

July 1, Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid - Northern Ireland 2 - 2 Austria

July 4, Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid - France 4 - 1 Northern Ireland

Semifinals

July 8, Camp Nou, Barcelona - Italy 2 - 0 Poland

July 8, Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville - West Germany 3 - 3 (AET, 5-4 PEN) France

Third Place Match

July 10, Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante - Poland 3 - 2 France

Final

July 11, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid - Italy 3 - 1 West Germany

Attendance: 90,000

Referee: Arnaldo Cezar Coelho (Brazil)

Goals: Paolo Rossi (ITA) 57', Marco Tardelli (ITA) 69', Alessandro Altobelli (ITA) 81', Paul Breitner (FRG) 83'.