The selection went with a team with stars like Suárez, Puskas, Gento and Di Stéfano, but the Argentine could not play due to injury
He did not get past the first phase after a bad debut against Czechoslovakia and losing against Brazil in a great game
Spain returned to a World Cup after having been absent in both Switzerland’54 and Sweden’58. He did it after a somewhat bumpy qualifying phase.
With Pedro Escartín on the bench, he was due to face Denmark in the UEFA qualifying round, but the Danes withdrew. They were drawn in Group 9 in qualifying with Austria and Wales. The first ones also withdrew and Spain eliminated the Welsh to play the final classification with Morocco. The Spanish team won 4-2 on aggregate to return to the final phase of a World Cup.
Spain traveled to Chile with a selection full of stars. Directed by Helenio Herrera, it was known as the UN, as it had players of different nationalities. There were Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentine), Ferenc Puskas (Hungarian), José Emilio Santamaría (Uruguayan) and Eulogio Martínez (Paraguayan). They were joined by footballers of the quality of Luis Suárez, Enrique Collar, Joaquín Peiró or Paco Gento.
The Spanish team, which two years later would become European champions in Madrid, was called to do great things in Chile, but was eliminated in the first phase. Di Stéfano’s loss weighed heavily. He was injured before traveling to Chile. He was part of the expedition, but could not play a game. It was framed in group C, with Czechoslovakia, Mexico and Brazil and played its matches in Viña del Mar.
The classification was twisted in the first game against Czechoslovakia. Spain, led by Helenio Herrera and Pablo Hernández, dominated the match but were unable to score a goal, being caught off guard by Stibranyi with ten minutes remaining in the match.
THE MATCH WITH BRAZIL
The Spanish team, after the initial defeat, was forced to beat Mexico and Brazil if it wanted to advance in the tournament. They defeated the Mexicans narrowly and at the last minute thanks to a goal from Joaquín Peiró, showing up with courage and confidence for the decisive match against Brazil, which would eventually win the title. Helenio Herrera decided to revolutionize the line-up, with relief in goal included. Carmelo Cedrún, Santamaría, Del Sol and Luis Suárez, among others, remained on the bench, and Spain played the best game of the tournament despite still having Di Stéfano out. They went ahead on the scoreboard with a goal from Adelardo, but the ‘canarinha’, who had Pelé out, was able to turn the score around with two goals from Amarildo, the second of them in the 86th minute and sending home a combined that promised many joys but left Chile at the first change.