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1982- SPAIN - 24 TEAMS - 52 MATCHES:
The 1982 World Cup hosted in Spain was the first of which saw a major change in the number of participants, as well as matches because of this. The first group stage consisted of a similar format to that of the World Cups following 1974, with four teams in each group, although this time 6 groups featured. Those teams who finished the group on the same points had their fate in the tournament determined by goal difference.
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The top two teams in each group then proceeded to the next group stage of the tournament. Four groups would contain three teams each, with the configuration of these groups being pre-determined, with the winner of a certain group destined to be placed in a specific group whilst the runner-up would appear in another.
Following this second group stage, the winner of each group would go straight through to the semi-final, where the tournament continued as normal from there onwards. This World Cup also featured the first match to be decided on penalties in the Semi-Final.
