The 1982 FIFA World Cup took place in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The World Cup finals expanded for the first time from 16 to 24 teams. It also had a new format, incorporating three distinct phases. Therefore, 24 teams from 6 confederations participated in the final tournament: 14 from Europe (UEFA), 4 from South America (CONMEBOL), 2 from North America, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF), 2 from Africa (CAF), 1 from Asia (AFC), and 1 from Oceania (OFC). Five teams made their first World Cup presentation (Algeria, Cameroon, Kuwait, Honduras and New Zealand).

In the first round, there were some facts worth noting. Italy had a very uninspired start and only could draw the first three games. Cameroon and Italy drew all three of their matches and finished deadlock on three points but it was the Italians who advanced for having one more goal in favor. Despite this shaky start, Italy advanced to the next round and came out World Cup champion. Algeria made history in their first World Cup presentation after beating European champions West Germany 2-1. Group 2 consisted of Germany, Austria, Algeria and Chile. Austria and the Germans faced off in the final match of the group, and the game was a real shame. West Germany and Austria knew that a Germany’s victory by 1 or 2 goals would qualify both of them, while a Germany’s victory by a wide margin would qualify Algeria over Austria. On the other hand, an Austrian win or a draw would qualify Algeria and would eliminate the Germans. West Germany scored the only goal of the match after 10 minutes, and then stopped playing to let time run out for the rest of the match. All the audience booed both countries unmercifully and screamed throughout the match fuera, fuera, out, out. West Germany, Austria and Algeria finished with 4 points, but West Germany and Austria qualified for the next stage on goal difference. Algeria protested to FIFA, but authorities turned a blind eye and nothing happened. One consequence of the controversy was that in future tournaments, concluding first-round games would kick off at the same time. This was one of the most shameful games in World Cups' History, and was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans.

Another surprise in the first round happened in Group 3, when Belgium outplayed defending champions Argentina and their star Diego Maradona. The Catalan crowd was eager to see in action the new star of Barcelona, Diego Maradona, but had to wait until another time. The match was the first game of the tournament and was played at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, where the opening ceremony also took place. One of the most important thrashings of all time happened also in this group when Hungary defeated El Salvador 10-1. This was the second match with most goals in World Cups' history, and El Salvador became the first team to ship ten goals in a FIFA World Cup game. The most bizarre incident, though, came in the game between Kuwait and France. France leading the game 3-1 and Giresse scored the fourth goal. The Kuwait team had stopped play after hearing a whistle from the stands, which they thought had come from Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar. Kuwait's team complained the referee's decision heavily and was supported by Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, brother of the Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwaiti Football Association, who walked onto the pitch to remonstrate with the referee. The referee ended up reversing his initial decision to the fury of the French that they could not believe what was happening. As a result of this incident, the Soviet referee lost his international credentials. In Group 5, Honduras, another World Cup debutant, held Spain to a draw while many people expected a hefty win. Northern Ireland also surprised everyone by beating hosts Spain 1-0 with a famous Gerry Armstrong goal in Valencia and topped their group in the opening stage.

In second round, Poland prevailed in Group A. Group B was hotly contested between Germany, England and Spain, but was eventually won by Germany. Group C was considered the group of death with Italy, Brazil, the tournament favorites, and Argentina, the reigning world champions. In the opener, Italy prevailed 2-1 over Argentina after a game in which defenders Caetano Scirea and Claudio Gentile brutally punched, pinched and stomped on Maradona, while the Romanian referee turned a blind eye. Argentina now needed a win over their archi-rivals Brazil on the second day, but lost 3–1. Maradona lost his temper and expressed his frustration by kicking Batista at the end of the game, which cost him the red card. The last group game between Italy and Brazil was spectacular. Brazil won all five of their matches prior and were the pre-tournament favorites with the talents of Falcão, Zico, Socrates and Éder. Italia other hand, was playing better and had gained the first victory of the championship in the previous match against Argentina 2-1. The match was won by Italy 3-2 in one of the best matches ever seen, including a hat-trick of Paolo Rossi. In the last group, Group D, France prevailed.

The semi-finals were defined. In the first game, Italy defeated Poland 2-1, with two goals newly from Paolo Rossi. The five goals of Italy in the second round had been scored by Paolo Rossi. Italy was already in the final. Poland had to play without their leading figure, Zbigniew Boniek, who was suspended. In the other semi-final, West Germany defeated France with a victory on penalties, 5–4. The game was vibrant and finished 3-3, after a spectacular comeback of Germany that was losing 3-1. But West Germany would not give up, leveled the game 3-3, and sent the match to penalties. West Germany was again in a final. This match will also be sadly remembered by Harald Schumacher's unpunished assault on French Patrick Battiston. The French midfielder was knocked and sent to hospital in an unconscious state, but incredibly Schumacher escaped unpunished. To the astonishment of players and spectators, the Dutch referee Corver took no action, and instead awarded the Germans a goal kick. This was the most brutal attack that remained unpunished in the history of World Cups.

The 1982 FIFA World Cup Final was contested at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, before a crowd of 90,000 followers, for Italy led by Paolo Rossi, and West Germany, led by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the reigning two-time European player of the year. Italy beat West Germany 3-1 winning the third World Cup title. After a scoreless first half, Paolo Rossi scored first, Marco Tardelli scored the second goal from the edge of the area, and Conti made the third goal.  The Tardelli's second goal is remembered for his famous goal celebration, which is dubbed as the "Tardelli cry". Italy had now drawn level with record champions Brazil. The only two teams in the world that win three World Cups. Paolo Rossi was the star of the tournament. He won both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player, which was awarded for the first time. Captain and goalkeeper Dino Zoff at forty also became the oldest player to win the World Cup. It is worth nothing that the head of the Italian soccer federation dedicated the World Cup victory to the Palestinians as a mark of solidarity with their suffering.

The top scorer (Golden Shoe) of the tournament was Paolo Rossi of Italy, who would go on to score six goals. Rossi was also elected best player (Golden Ball) of the tournament. Manuel Amoros of France was elected best young player. Brazil, on the other hand, received the FIFA Fair Play award. The names that people probably remember from those times are: Enzo Bearzot (Italian coach), César Luis Menotti (Argentine coach), Telé Santana (Brazilian coach), Carlos Alberto Parreira (Kuwait coach), Thomas Nkono (Cameroon goalkeeper), Dino Zoff (Italian goalkeeper), Jean-Marie Pfaff (Belgian goalkeeper), Ubaldo Fillol (Argentine goalkeeper), Antonio Cabrini (Italian defender), Giuseppe Bergomi (Italian defender), Franco Baresi (Italian defender), Claudio Gentile (Italian defender), Júnior (Brazilian defender), Manuel Amoros (French defender and Best Young Player), Daniel Passarella (Argentine defender), Władysław Żmuda (Polish defender), Michel Platini (French midfielder), Bruno Conti (Italian midfielder), Jean Tigana (French midfielder), Alain Giresse (French midfielder), Lakhdar Belloumi (Algerian midfielder, African player of the year), Lothar Matthäus (German midfielder), Osvaldo Ardiles (Argentine midfielder), Diego Maradona (Argentine midfielder), Julio César Uribe (Peruvian midfielder), Teófilo Cubillas (Peruvian midfielder), Toninho Cerezo (Brazilian midfielder), Sócrates (Brazilian midfielder), Zico (Brazilian midfielder), Falcão (Brazilian midfielder), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (German striker), Dirceu (Brazilian striker), Norman Whiteside (Iris player and youngest player in the tournament’s entire history), Roger Milla (Cameroon striker), Jan Ceulemans (Belgian striker), Alessandro Altobelli (Italian striker), Zbigniew Boniek (Polish striker), Włodzimierz Smolarek (Polish striker), Grzegorz Lato (Polish striker), Andrzej Szarmach (Polish striker), Kenny Dalglish (Scottish striker), Quini (Spanish striker), Mágico González (Salvadoran striker), Mario Kempes (Argentine striker), and Paolo Rossi (Italian striker, Golden Shoe, and Golden Ball).

A total of 107 teams signed up to participate in the 1982 World Cup qualification rounds setting a new record number for the qualifying tournament. Spain, as the hosts, and Argentina, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition.

The Netherlands, runners-ups of the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, failed to qualify for the final tournament. The 22 available spots were distributed in continental zones as shown below:

A total of 103 teams played at least one qualifying match, 306 qualifying matches were played, and 797 goals were scored establishing three new records.