September 26, 1964, Inter becomes World Champion at the Bernabeu in Madrid

On September 26, 1964, the third act of the Intercontinental Cup was played at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. In front of them is the Independent of Avellaneda, the famous South American King of Copas, against Helenio Herrera’s Inter. At the time the trophy included a first leg and a second leg final, one in South America and the other in Europe, but what is most strange is that there were no penalties, nor the away goals rule – now abolished – nor substitutions. In short, completely different football.

The first match was played on September 9, 1964 in Argentina, with the hosts beating Inter 1-0, with Rodriguez scoring the goal. A draw, two weeks later in Milan, would have been enough to win the Cup. Instead Mazzola and Corso make the Nerazzurri great, easily beating their opponents and forcing a third challenge. In addition to the away goals, there was not even a gap: therefore the 2-1 aggregate does not count for anything, they need to win the third match in twenty days.

Inter are missing some key players such as Jair, Burgnich and Mazzola. Mario Corso continues to be on the field and, during the second half of extra time, he scores the winning goal. Inter is World Champion for the first time in its history.