A little bit of history was created in this group as Morocco became the first World Cup side to carry numbers on their shorts, something which would become common from 1974 on.
Bulgaria 2 Peru 3
With three teams who played in white shirts, it was similar to Group 1 in that each had a game in their second-choice tops.
Peru wore their home shorts and socks with their red jerseys, creating a sock-clash, while their players also carried black ribbons on their sleeves as a mark of respect in the wake of the Ancash earthquake and resultant mudslide, which killed as many as 70,000 people in what is still the country’s largest natural disaster.
Bulgaria goalkeeper Simeon Simeonov wore an old-fashioned sweater in contrast to his team-mates’ low-cut necks. Like Belgium, Bulgaria were issued with long-sleeved shirts but the players cut them.
Italian referee Antonio Sbardella was the only one of the 24 in Mexico not to have either white or black stocking tops.
West Germany 2 Morocco 1
As mentioned above, Morocco had shorts numbers as well as the crest on the right-hand side.
German goalkeeper Sepp Maier wore his own kit, a nice black and red outfit that he also used when playing with Bayern Munich.
Peru 3 Morocco 0
Morocco changed to green shorts while Soviet referee Tofik Bakhramov – who was the linesman who awarded Geoff Hurst’s second goal in the 1966 World Cup final after his shot came down off the crossbar – wore a snazzy white belt.
West Germany 5 Bulgaria 2
Bulgaria changed to red shirts but for the second game in a row they were involved in a sock-clash.
Peru 1 West Germany 3
Germany’s turn to change, into the traditional green shirts, though with a shorts-clash allowed despite them not being permitted in other games.
Perhaps Mexican referee Abel Aguilar Elizalde – with a shorter zip than his colleagues – was just a bit more easy-going.
Morocco 1 Bulgaria 1
Mohamed Hazzaz took over from Allal Ben Kassou in the Morcco goal and opted for yellow – Bulgaria also had a goalkeeping change but Stoyan Yordanov was dressed the same as Simeonov.
Most strangely, Bulgaria made it three for three on the sock-clash front as they switched to red.
Beautiful, beautiful stuff. Again.
Love that group – the start of Gerdy Mueller’s real rise to global prominence: him and Seeler getting a goal a-piece v Morocco proving Schoen was right to play them both, then hat-tricks in the remaining two group games setting him well on the way to being the last man to score double figures in one finals … and setting the new all-time finals record in 74 …
But, mostly, that green kit just rocks. Germany’s got it so right by reverting this summer.