The second stage of the championship was new, a formula to be tried for the first time: 4 round-robin groups of 3 teams each. Winners going to the semi-finals. All or nothing, for there was no way for scheming and depending on easy game with an outsider. There were quite a few surprises in the fist phase, but they did not disturb the status quo – all teams expected to be favourites reached the second stage. The only surprise was Northern Ireland, going to the second phase at the expense of Yugoslavia. Perhaps only Scotland was the team deserving to be among the last 12, but it was just a general maybe, for, after all, it was expected that either they or USSR will be at the losing end. So far, so good… all pundits have been right for months. What was no so good was the make up of the second stage groups: underperforming and surprise strong play by outsiders left no room for early scheming, resulting for a big division between the new groups – two were iron-strong and two quite weak, compared to the strong ones. The second phase, however, depended on two new factors: injuries and coach’s fears. At first, predictions were trumpeted more or less like that: Belgium, perhaps fighting with USSR, was the likelier winner of Group A. Group B was next to impossible: West Germany may be had a bit of advantage, if they started playing close to the game they showed in 1980. Spain was unlikely to get blatant help by referees against West Germany and England, but home turf and some luck could propel them ahead. Group C was to be a battle between Brazil and Argentina, the Brazilians having the edge. Group D, the other easy group, was most likely to be conquered by France. There were strong teams to fall victims here, but they had nobody, but themselves, to blame for that – Italy, Argentina, and West Germany struggled to merely qualify, so it was too late to cry now.
Group A. Belgium, USSR, and Poland. Poland was the only team here which improved as the first stage matches developed, but it was felt that reaching the second stage was their limit. The Poles opened the group matches against Belgium. Both teams had problems – Poland lost one of its strongest defenders, Jalocha, which was a blow to their weakest line, but it was nothing compered to Belgian problems: they lost Gerets, already out of the championship and sent home, and Pfaff. Injuries… both teams had rather limited options, but Belgium’s losses were heavier. At the end, injuries affected coaches’ decisions – Guy Thys did not dare to use two playmakers in his starting eleven, which resulted in moving back Coulemans to help midfield, at the expense of the striking line. Piechniczek decided differently: he moved Boniek among the strikers, which seemed risky, since Poland lacked first rate playmaker, but had more options for their attacking line. Whether Thys erred big time, choosing caution, or really had no choice – van Moer and van der Elst were getting too old and particularly van der Elst arrived with injury to the finals, so it was not entirely sure he could play a whole 90 minutes – the Polish decision proved right. Perhaps a special motivation was that it was going to be the 100th match for Lato with the Polish jersey.
Poland pressed quickly and effectively and opened the result in the 4th minute. It was their match – Belgium was unable to answer at all. Lato was perfect and also Boniek in his unusual role, but most impressive was the defensive line, the weakest part of the Polish team. Guy Thys tried what he could – van der Elst replaced van Moer for the second half, yet, nothing really changed. Zbigniew Boniek scored a hat-trick. Poland 3 – Belgium 0.
Belgium – USSR. To a point, Belgium was already out, but it was not a team just to give up. Again Thys tried to patch whatever possible… Custers, van Moer, and van der Elst were out. There was no real solution for the goalkeeping problem – Munaron was hardly better than Custers – and no sufficiently creative midfielder, but the team was still tough and clearly the idea was to depend on collectivity. Beskov had to make some changes himself: Sulakvelidze was not in shape to play, so Borovsky took his place as right fullback. Oganesyan was to help the weak striking line, although he was not a real striker. The Soviets apparently chose the right strategy, although the match was tough and fairly equal and not everything went as planned – after the game, Blokhin was singled out for severe criticism.
Blokhin was expected to lead the attack, but contrary to the photo, he did not fly – most of time he was passive, yet, constantly protesting what he felt was mistakes of his teammates. Equal game, but USSR still managed to score – Oganesyan hit the net in the 48th minute. 1-0 USSR, their job done, Belgium packing for home.
Poland – USSR. Poland, getting better with every new match, evoked 1974 already, but it was really all or nothing. USSR was seemingly the stronger team and they had no other option, but to win. Poland would go ahead with a tie – unlikely result, for the Soviets really had to push for a win. This is what made Beskov’s starting choice questionable: clearly needing victory, he started with 5 defenders. Whether Gavrilov was the best choice in the front of the attack was doubtful – he was capable of playing midfield better than the other center-forward, Andreev, which suggested too much caution – as if USSR, not Poland, needed a tie.
It did not work – Poland played very organized defensive football and the Soviets had slight dominance, but it was almost impossible to turn it into goals, for there were not enough strikers to increase the heat. The match 0-0 and Soviet observers noted that the team underperformed. The strikers failed to deliver even a single shot towards the Polish net. Poland won the the group and reached the semi-finals.
Poland 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 3
Soviet Union 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 3
Belgium 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0
Well, Belgium was unlucky and a victim of injuries, USSR had potential, yet, they were perhaps the only team which next match was worse than the previous one, and Poland was the opposite – improving with every new game. Fair ending of this stage.