1954 FIFA World Cup
| 1954 Football World Cup - Switzerland Championnat du Monde de Football 1954 | |
|---|---|
Official 1954 Football World Cup poster | |
| Participant teams | 39 (final tournament: 16) |
| Host | Switzerland |
| Champions | West Germany (1st title) |
| Matches played | 26 |
| Goals scored | 140 (5.38 per match) |
| Attendance | 943,000 (36,269 per match) |
| Top scorer | Sándor Kocsis (HUN) 11 goals |
The 1954 Football World Cup was held in Switzerland. In the same FIFA conference where Brazil were allocated as hosts of the Football World Cup 1950 , and as the year saw the 50th anniversary of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), it seemed like a good idea for football's premier competition to be played in the home of its governing body. The tournament was won by West Germany, who upset Hungary 3-2 in the final. It was Germany's first World Cup victory.
Contents |
Overview
For the first time there was television coverage, and also special coins issued to mark the event. There was also a new seeding system involved in the group stage, where the two teams ranked highest in the world standings in each group would not have to play each other. 16 teams qualified for the tournament, broken up into four groups of four. The two teams finishing at the top of their group in the group stage would go through to the quarter-finals, but strangely there would be extra time played in the group stages for any game ending in a draw. As a result of this Switzerland went to a replay, where they beat Italy 4-1, while West Germany saw off Turkish opposition 7-2.
The quarter-finals saw the favourites Hungary beat Brazil 4-2 in one of the ugliest matches in football history, which would become infamous as the Battle of Berne. Meanwhile, the World Cup holders Uruguay sent England out of the tournament, also by 4-2. Also, West Germany dispatched Yugoslavia 2-0 and Austria managed to beat the host nation in the game that saw the most goals in any World Cup match, 7-5.
One of the semi-finals produced a score line of 6-1 between West Germany and Austria (with West Germany winning). The other one, the most exciting game of the tournament, saw Hungary go into the second half leading Uruguay 1-0, only for the game to be taken to extra time with a score of 2-2. The deadlock was broken by Sandor Kocsis with two late goals to take Hungary through to the Final, beating a team that had not previously lost a World Cup game. Uruguay then went on to be beaten for a second time by Austria as they secured Third Place.
The Wankdorf Stadion in Berne saw 60,000 people cram inside to watch the Final between West Germany and Hungary, a rematch of a first round game, which Hungary had won 8-3. Shortly before the match it had started raining - in Germany this was dubbed "Fritz-Walter-Wetter" (Fritz Walter Weather) because the German team captain Fritz Walter was said to play his best in rainy weather. The Final saw the legendary Ferenc Puskás playing even though he was not fully fit. Despite this he put his team ahead after only 6 minutes, and with Zoltan Czibor adding another two minutes later it seemed destined that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title.
However with a goal from Max Morlock and Helmut Rahn before half time the tide began to turn. The second half saw telling misses from the Hungarian team, a second goal from Rahn, and a disallowed goal from Puskas with 2 minutes left. When Rahn scored his second goal barely 6 minutes before the end of the match the popular German reporter Herbert Zimmermann gave the most famous German piece of commentary while the Hungarian reporter burst into tears. In Germany the success is known as The Miracle of Bern, upon which a 2004 film of the same name was based. The distraught Hungarians were ushered away by the referee and with a final blow of the whistle West Germany were handed both the Jules Rimet trophy and the title of World Cup Winners.
The 11 goals scored by Kocsis of Hungary not only led the World Cup, but bettered the old record by three.
Qualification
See Football World Cup 1954 (qualification).
First round
Group 1
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| France | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Mexico | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -6 |
June 16, Charmilles Stadium, Geneva - Brazil 5 - 0 Mexico
June 16, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - Yugoslavia 1 - 0 France
June 19, Charmilles Stadium, Geneva - France 3 - 2 Mexico
June 19, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - Brazil 1 - 1 Yugoslavia
Group 2
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 14 |
| West Germany | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 9 | -2 |
| Turkey | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| South Korea | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | -16 |
June 17, Wankdorf Stadium, Berne - West Germany 4 - 1 Turkey
June 17, Hardturm Stadium, Zurich - Hungary 9 - 0 South Korea
June 20, St. Jakob Stadium, Basel - Hungary 8 - 3 West Germany
June 20, Charmilles Stadium, Geneva - Turkey 7 - 0 South Korea
Play-off:
June 23, Hardturm Stadium, Zurich - West Germany 7 - 2 Turkey
Group 3
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uruguay | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Austria | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Czechoslovakia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | -7 |
| Scotland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | -8 |
June 16, Wankdorf Stadium, Berne - Uruguay 2 - 0 Czechoslovakia
June 16, Hardturm Stadium, Zurich - Austria 1 - 0 Scotland
June 19, St. Jakob Stadium, Basel - Uruguay 7 - 0 Scotland
June 19, Hardturm Stadium, Zurich - Austria 5 - 0 Czechoslovakia
Group 4
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
| Italy | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Belgium | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | -3 |
June 17, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - Switzerland 2 - 1 Italy
June 17, St. Jakob Stadium, Basel - England 4 - 4 Belgium
June 20, Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano - Italy 4 - 1 Belgium
June 20, Wankdorf Stadium, Berne - England 2 - 0 Switzerland
Play-off:
June 23, St. Jakob Stadium, Basel - Switzerland 4 - 1 Italy
Quarter-finals
June 26, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - Austria 7 - 5 Switzerland
June 26, St. Jakob Stadium, Basel - Uruguay 4 - 2 England
June 27, Wankdorf Stadium, Berne - Hungary 4 - 2 Brazil
June 27, Charmilles Stadium, Geneva - West Germany 2 - 0 Yugoslavia
Semi-finals
June 30, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne - Hungary 4 - 2 (AET) Uruguay
June 30, St. Jakob Stadium, Basel - West Germany 6 - 1 Austria
Third place match
July 3, Hardturm Stadium, Zurich - Austria 3 - 1 Uruguay
Attendance: 31,000
Final
July 4, Wankdorf Stadium, Berne - West Germany 3 - 2 Hungary
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: William Ling (England)
Goals: Puskas (HUN) 6', Czibor (HUN) 8', Morlock (FRG) 10', Rahn (FRG) 18', Rahn (FRG) 84'.
See also
External link
| International football | |||||||||||
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FIFA | World Cup | Women's World Cup | Confederations Cup | World Rankings | Player of the Year
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| Football World Cup | |||||||||||
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Uruguay 1930 | Italy 1934 | France 1938 | Brazil 1950 | Switzerland 1954 | Sweden 1958 | Chile 1962 | England 1966 | Mexico 1970 | West Germany 1974 | Argentina 1978 | Spain 1982 | Mexico 1986 | Italy 1990 | USA 1994 | France 1998 | Korea/Japan 2002 | Germany 2006 | South Africa 2010 | South America 2014 | 2018 | |||||||||||
| Women's Football World Cup | |||||||||||
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China 1991 | Sweden 1995 | USA 1999 | USA 2003 | China 2007 | 2011 |
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