August 26, 1972: The New York Cosmos beat the St. Louis Stars, 2-1 at Hofstra Stadium (now James M. Shuart Stadium) in Hempstead, Long Island, New York, across the Jericho Turnpike from the Nassau Coliseum complex. This wins the North American Soccer League title for the Cosmos, the 1st of 5 times they would win it.
Randy Horton scores in the 5th minute. In the 86th minute, with the score tied, the Cosmos are correctly awarded a penalty, and Josef Jelínek, who had played for Czechoslovakia in the 1962 World Cup Final, converts it to win the game.
Sadly, there appears to be no surviving footage. That's the kind of league the NASL was at the time.
This makes New York the 1st team to win World Championships in all 5 major North American sports: Baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer. They have been followed by Philadelphia (who completed the circuit with the 1974 Flyers), Chicago (1991 Bulls), Los Angeles (2007 Anaheim Ducks) and Washington (2018 Capitals).
The Cosmos would also win titles in 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982. They went out of business after the 1984 season, and the NASL soon followed.
In 1996, Major League Soccer would be founded, with the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars. In 2005, they became the New York Red Bulls. In 2008, they reached the MLS Cup Final, but lost to the Columbus Crew. In 2013, 2015 and 2018, they had the league's best overall regular-season record, earning them the Supporters' Shield, but, in 27 seasons, they have made just the 1 trip to the MLS Cup Final.
New York City Football Club was established in 2015, and, head-to-head, have not gotten the better of the Red Bulls. But in 2021, in only their 7th season, they achieved what the Red Bulls, as yet, have not: They won the MLS Cup.
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August 26, 1972 was a Saturday. There was top-flight soccer in England, including a 0-0 draw between Manchester United and North London team Arsenal, at Old Trafford, United's stadium in Salford, outside Manchester. Defending Football Champions Derby County lost 1-0 to Norwich City at Carrow Road in Norwich, East Anglia. And Liverpool FC, which would go on to win the League that season, beat East London team West Ham United, 3-2 at Anfield in Liverpool.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 6-2 at Yankee Stadium. Yankee starter Rob Gardner got knocked out of the box in the 3rd inning. Bobby Murcer went 4-for-5 with an RBI, and Johnny Callison and Bernie Allen hit home runs for the Pinstripes, to no avail.
* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975). Hank Aaron went 1-for-4. Willie Mays did not play.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell went 2-for-4. Roberto Clemente did not enter the game. Nor did Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Dodgers.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. It was "Win Day" for the Phils: Steve Carlton was pitching, and helped his own cause with an RBI single. Pete Rose went 1-for-5, Johnny Bench went 0-for-4 but had an RBI on a groundout, Joe Morgan went 2-for-5, and Tony Pérez hit a home run.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 10-9 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was won in the bottom of the 10th when Giant pitcher Randy Moffitt, brother of tennis legend Billie Jean King, hit Joe Pepitone with a pitch with the bases loaded.
* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Chicago White Sox won the opener, 3-1. Mike Andrews won it with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning. The Milwaukee Brewers won the nightcap, 4-0. Jim Colborn came within 2 outs of a 2 hit shutout, with Frank Linzy getting them.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Aurelio Rodríguez won it with a home run in the to of the 11th inning. Al Kaline and Harmon Killebrew only appeared as pinch-hitters; Kaline got a hit, while Killebrew did not reach base. Rod Carew went 0-for-3, but did draw 2 walks.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 9-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bob Gibson helped his own cause with an RBI single. Lou Brock went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base. Joe Torre went 0-for-3, but drove in a run with 2 bases-loaded walks.
* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-1 at Anaheim Stadium (renamed Edison International Field in 1997 and Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 2004).
* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Reggie Jackson also went 2-for-4. These 2 Hall-of-Famers share a birthday, May 18.
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