Chile 2-0 Italy, group stage, Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 2 June 1962.
Some matches earn a nickname for their football. This one earned it for everything else.
The tension started before kick-off. Italian newspapers had insulted Chilean women and the city of Santiago in the run-up to the match. Once play began, punches were thrown, kicks went flying and players spat at each other. The English referee Ken Aston had to call police onto the pitch four times during the 90 minutes.
Two Italians were sent off, and there was a good case for more. One Italian had his nose broken by a Chilean punch. Chile won 2-0, though nobody remembers the goals.
What did the BBC say about the Battle of Santiago?
The BBC commentator David Coleman summed it up with a line that has stuck to the match ever since. He called it "the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly ever in the history of the game."
It is hard to improve on that as a match report.
The referee's lasting answer
The match is still regarded as the most violent in World Cup history. It also had a curious legacy. Ken Aston went on to invent the yellow and red card system, partly inspired by the chaos he had to deal with that afternoon in Santiago. It is a strange thought that every booking in the modern game traces a line back to a mass brawl in Chile.
A dark chapter, and a useful one in the end.
Tomorrow: number 16.
