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1954 FIFA World Cup

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1954 FIFA World Cup
Fussball-Weltmeisterschaft
Schweiz 1954 (German)
Championnat du Monde de Football
Suisse 1954 (French)
Campionato mondiale di calcio
Svizzera 1954 (Italian)
Campiunadis mundials da ballape
Svizra 1954 (Romansh)
Tournament details
Host countrySwitzerland
Dates16 June – 4 July
Teams16 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions West Germany (1st title)
Runners-up Hungary
Third place Austria
Fourth place Uruguay
Tournament statistics
Matches played26
Goals scored140 (5.38 per match)
Attendance768,607 (29,562 per match)
Top scorer(s)Hungary Sándor Kocsis (11 goals)
← 1950
1958 →

The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was selected as the host country in July 1946.[1] At the tournament, several all-time records for goal-scoring were set, including the highest average number of goals scored per game. The tournament was won by West Germany, who defeated tournament favourites Hungary 3–2 in the final for their first World Cup title. Uruguay the defending champions were eliminated by Hungary and would lose to Austria in the third-place match.

The highest scoring match of a World Cup happened in the Quarterfinals of this tournament, when Austria defeated hosts Switzerland 7-5. The 12 goals of that match has never been surpassed in a World Cup since.

Host selection

[edit]

Switzerland was awarded the tournament unopposed at a meeting in Luxembourg City on 22 July 1946, the same day Brazil was selected to host the 1950 World Cup.[1]

Qualification

[edit]
Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification

The hosts (Switzerland) and the defending champions (Uruguay) qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, 11 were allocated to Europe (including Egypt, Turkey, and Israel), two to the Americas, and one to Asia.

Scotland, Turkey, and South Korea made their World Cup debuts at this tournament (Turkey and Scotland had qualified for the 1950 competition but both withdrew). South Korea became the first independent Asian country to participate in a World Cup tournament. Austria appeared following a hiatus from 1934. South Korea did not appear at a World Cup finals again until 1986, while Turkey's next appearance was not until 2002. Several teams, such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia (the pre-war World Cups' runners-up) were back into the tournament after missing out the 1950 World Cup.

The teams that finished third and fourth in 1950, Sweden and Spain, both failed to qualify. Spain was eliminated by Turkey; the two countries finished level on points in their qualifying group, and then drew their neutral play-off, which led to the drawing of lots by a blindfolded Italian boy, who picked Turkey to progress.[2][3]

German teams as well as Japan were allowed to qualify again, after having been banned from the 1950 FIFA World Cup. West Germany qualified against fellow Germans from the Saarland (which then was a French protectorate), while East Germany did not enter, having cancelled international football matches after the East German uprising of 1953. Japan failed to qualify, having finished below South Korea in their qualifying group. Argentina declined to participate for the third successive World Cup.

List of qualified teams

[edit]

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.

Summary

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Format

[edit]

Group stage

[edit]

The 1954 tournament used a unique format. The sixteen qualifying teams were divided into four groups of four teams each. Each group contained two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were scheduled for each group, each pitting a seeded team against an unseeded team. This contrasts with the usual round-robin in which every team plays every other team: six matches in each group. Another oddity was that extra time, which in most tournaments is not employed at the group stage, was played in the group games if the score was level after 90 minutes, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 minutes.[4]

Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. The two teams with the most points from each group progressed to the knockout stage. In the case of a tie between two teams for second place, the two tied teams competed in a play-off to decide which team would progress to the next stage, with extra time and drawing of lots if necessary.[4][5] Had all four teams in a group been tied on points, there would have been two further play-offs – one play-off between the two seeded teams, and the other between the two unseeded teams, again with extra time and drawing of lots if necessary – with the winner of each play-off progressing to the quarter-finals.[4]

Qualifying countries

Two of the four groups ended up requiring play-offs – one between Switzerland and Italy, and the other between Turkey and West Germany. In each match, the unseeded team (Switzerland and West Germany) repeated an earlier victory against the seeded team (Italy and Turkey) to progress. The fact that two group matches were played twice, while other group opponents never faced each other at all, attracted criticism; newly elected FIFA President Seeldrayers declared that this group format would be abandoned in future world cups.[6]

Quarter-finals

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For each of the first two quarter-finals, one team progressing from group 1 was drawn against one team progressing from group 2. For the remaining two quarter-finals, this procedure was repeated for groups 3 and 4.[4] Before the tournament, it was stated that in the event of a quarter-final being tied after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time would be played, followed by drawing of lots if necessary.[4] Later, it was stated that a quarter-final could be replayed in this situation.[7] The draw was scheduled to be held on Sunday 20 June, though in fact it was delayed into the early morning of Monday 21 June.[8]

Semi-finals

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For the semi-finals, a further draw was held, with each semi-final featuring one team from groups 1–2 against one team from groups 3–4.[4] In the event of a semi-final being tied after extra time, it would be replayed once, followed by drawing of lots if necessary.[4]

The draw for the semi-finals, held on Sunday 27 June, was delayed by a complaint from the Hungarian team concerning the manner in which their quarter-final against Brazil had been played.[9][7]

Final

[edit]

The final would be replayed if scores were level after extra-time. If the replay was also tied, the winner would be decided by the tournament organising committee,[4] or by drawing of lots.[10]

Seeding

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Before qualification was complete, the eight seeded teams were determined by FIFA. They were Austria, Brazil, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Uruguay.

These seedings were thrown into disarray when, in an unexpected result, Turkey eliminated Spain in qualification. FIFA resolved this situation by giving Turkey the seeding that had previously been allocated to Spain.[11]

Notable results

[edit]

The Germany national football team, then limited to the area of West Germany only, had been reinstated as full FIFA members only in late 1950, had played only 18 games since, and were unseeded. When meeting the seeded Turkish side at Wankdorf stadium in Berne, the Turks scored early, but the Germans convincingly won the encounter, which would turn out as the first of two within six days.

The South Koreans, the other unseeded team, lost 7–0 and 9–0 against the seeded sides of Hungary and Turkey. West Germany, being denied the chance to play such an easy opponent, had to face the seeded team of Hungary, a favourite to win the World Cup. Sepp Herberger, the West German coach, did not want his A-squad to suffer a possible defeat against a strong opponent while trying to qualify for a rather meaningless first place, and gambled by going the easier route into the play-offs and sending in a reserve side which lost 8–3 in Basel. A benefit was that the Hungarians did not get to know the best German players in case both teams would meet again - which they did, in the Final, along with referee William Ling. Now two teams were tied for second place at 1-1, and with no tie breaking procedures in effect, even though West Germany had beaten Turkey head-to-head, they had to play-off against each other, a match-up that West Germany easily won for the second time within six days, this time in Zürich.

Hungary's team captain Ferenc Puskás, considered by many as the best player in the world in that time, was injured by West German defender Werner Liebrich, and had to miss Hungary's next two matches. Puskás played for Hungary in the final, despite still being in a questionable condition.[12]

In the quarter-finals, the favourites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the most violent matches in football history, which became infamous as the Battle of Berne. Meanwhile, the World Cup holders Uruguay sent England out of the tournament, also by 4–2. West Germany dispatched Yugoslavia 2–0, and Austria beat the host nation Switzerland in the game that saw the most goals in any World Cup match, 7–5.

In the first semi-final, West Germany beat Austria 6–1.

The other semi-final, one of the most exciting games 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 after 90 minutes of 2–2. The deadlock was broken by Sándor Kocsis with two late goals to take Hungary through to the final, with Uruguay finally losing their unbeaten record in World Cup Final matches. Uruguay then went on to be beaten for a second time as Austria secured third place.

Final: "The Miracle of Bern"

[edit]
Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup Final

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 against the reserves of the German team. The Golden Team of the Hungarians were favourites, as they were unbeaten for a record of 32 consecutive matches, but they had had two tough knockout matches. It started raining on match day–in Germany this was dubbed Fritz-Walter-Wetter ("Fritz Walter's weather") because the West German team captain Fritz Walter was said to play his best in the rain, a result of having contracted malaria during the war. Adi Dassler of Adidas provided the West German team with a new kind of shoes, with exchangeable studs that were replaced during halftime.

Card autographed by coach Sepp Herberger and the 11 German players that appeared in the final

Hungary's Ferenc Puskás played again in the final, even though he was not fully fit. Despite this he put his team ahead after only six minutes and with Zoltán Czibor adding another two minutes later it seemed that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title. However, with a quick goal from Max Morlock in the 10th minute and an equaliser by Helmut Rahn in the 19th, the tide began to turn.

The second half saw telling misses by the Hungarian team. Barely six minutes before the end of the match, the popular German radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann delivered the most famous line in the German commentary, recommending that "Rahn should shoot from deep", which he did. The second goal from Rahn gave West Germany a 3–2 lead while the Hungarian reporter György Szepesi burst into tears. Later, Zimmermann called Puskás offside before he kicked the ball into Toni Turek's net with 2 minutes left. While referee William Ling pointed to the centre spot, linesman Griffiths signalled offside. After a one-minute consultation, Ling disallowed the claimed equaliser.

The West Germans were handed the Jules Rimet Trophy as World Cup winners, while the crowd sang along to the tune of the national anthem of Germany–there was disquiet in the stadium as the Germans fans decided to sing the (too) well known anthem's first stanza Deutschland über alles,[13] instead of the uncontroversial third Unity and Justice and Freedom which was supposed to be sung at official events according to a 1952 decree. In Germany the success is known as the "Miracle of Bern" (Das Wunder Von Bern), and was memorialised in a 2003 film of the same name. For the Hungarians, the defeat was a disaster, and remains controversial due to apparent refereeing errors and claims of doping.

One controversy concerns the 2–2 equaliser. Hungarian goalie Gyula Grosics jumped to catch Fritz Walter's corner shot, but Hans Schäfer obstructed him (in plain sight of TV cameras), allowing the ball to reach Rahn, who then scored. Another controversy concerns allegations of doping. Though teammates steadfastly denied this rumour, German historian Guido Knopp claimed in a 2004 documentary for German public channel ZDF[14] that the players were injected with shots of vitamin C at half-time, using a needle earlier taken from a Soviet sports doctor. This would explain both the better condition of the West German team in the second half and the wave of jaundice among their players following the tournament. A Leipzig University study in 2010 posited that the West German players had been injected with the banned substance methamphetamine.[15]

Most controversial was the offside ruling for Puskás's intended 87th-minute equaliser. The camera filming the official footage was in a bad position to judge the situation, but eyewitnesses claimed that the referee was wrong, including West German substitute player Alfred Pfaff.[16] In 2004, North German regional public channel NDR aired unofficial footage appearing to show that Puskás was onside.[17]

Records

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The following all-time records were set or equalled at this tournament, and have not been surpassed:

All matches in one tournament

  • highest average goals per game (5.38)

Team records for one tournament

  • most goals scored (Hungary, 27)
  • highest average goals scored per game (Hungary, 5.4)
  • highest aggregate goal difference (Hungary, +17)
  • highest average goal difference per game (Hungary, +3.4)
  • most goals scored, champions (West Germany, 25)
  • most average goals scored per game, champions (West Germany, 4.17)
  • most goals conceded, champions (West Germany, 14)
  • most average goals conceded per game, champions (West Germany, 2.33)
  • most goals conceded (South Korea, 16)
  • lowest aggregate goal difference (South Korea, −16)
  • most average goals conceded per game (South Korea, 8, tied with Bolivia 1950)
  • lowest average goal difference per game (South Korea, −8.0, tied with Bolivia 1950).

Records for a single game

  • most goals in a single game (both teams) (Austria 7 Switzerland 5)
  • greatest margin of victory in a single game (Hungary 9 South Korea 0) (equalled by Yugoslavia winning 9–0 against Zaire in 1974 and again Hungary winning 10–1 against El Salvador in 1982).

Other landmarks

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For the first time there was television coverage,[18][19] and special coins were issued to mark the event.

The 11 goals scored by Kocsis of Hungary not only led the World Cup but bettered the previous record (set by Brazilian Ademir in the previous tournament) by three goals. Kocsis' mark was broken by Just Fontaine's 13 goals in 1958. Despite not winning the 1954 tournament, their fourth-place finish and their two previous World Cup titles made Uruguay the most successful World Cup nation for eight years, until Brazil won their second title in 1962. Hungary's 9–0 win against Korea during the group stages remains the biggest margin of victory in FIFA World Cup history, later equalled by Yugoslavia over Zaire (9–0) in 1974 and Hungary over El Salvador (10–1) in 1982.

West Germany also became the first team to win the World Cup after having lost a match at the finals, losing 8–3 after pitting the backups against Hungary in the group stage with the intention of getting an additional play-off game. This feat was repeated by West Germany in 1974 (beaten 1–0 by East Germans), Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 2010, who all lost group matches 1–0 (coincidentally, all three teams won against the Netherlands in the final), as well as by Argentina in 2022, who lost their first group match 2–1 against Saudi Arabia but would also defeat the Netherlands (although this time, it was in the quarter-finals).

West Germany's 1954 victory remains the only time that a team has won the World Cup without playing any team from outside its own continent; South Korea was in the same group, but with both team unseeded, they were not matched against each other. Instead, West Germany had to play Turkey twice, which is geographically more in Asia than in Europe, but qualified from Europe's qualification zone and has always been affiliated with UEFA. Turkey had also been one of the few non-German speaking countries that had played West Germany after being reinstated as FIFA member in late 1950; and like most, did it twice, Switzerland even four times. Thus, West Germany's coach and players had limited international experience in 1954, and no intercontinental game before the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

West Germany's victory in the final is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time and one of the finest achievements in German sporting history. The West German team was made up of amateur "contract" players from several regional leagues, as German sports did not have a nationwide league nor professional play before 1963, while the Hungarians were de jure amateurs, like in all the communist countries at that time, but playing football as professionals, mainly for Budapesti Honvéd FC and later for major clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, and were ranked best in the world. This is the only time a team has won the World Cup with amateur footballers.

Venues

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Six venues in six cities (1 venue in each city) hosted the tournament's 26 matches. The most used stadium was the St. Jakob Stadium in Basel, which hosted 6 matches. The venues in Bern, Zurich and Lausanne each hosted 5 matches, the venue in Geneva hosted 4 matches, and the venue in Lugano only hosted 1 match.

Bern, Canton of Bern Basel, Basel-Stadt Lausanne, Vaud
Wankdorf Stadium St. Jakob Stadium Stade Olympique de la Pontaise
46°57′46″N 7°27′54″E / 46.96278°N 7.46500°E / 46.96278; 7.46500 (Wankdorf Stadium) 47°32′29″N 7°37′12″E / 47.54139°N 7.62000°E / 47.54139; 7.62000 (St. Jakob Stadium) 46°32′00″N 006°37′27″E / 46.53333°N 6.62417°E / 46.53333; 6.62417 (Stade olympique de la Pontaise)
Capacity: 64,600 Capacity: 54,800 Capacity: 50,300
Geneva, Canton of Geneva Lugano, Ticino Zürich, Canton of Zürich
Charmilles Stadium Cornaredo Stadium Hardturm Stadium
46°12′33″N 6°07′06″E / 46.2091°N 6.1182°E / 46.2091; 6.1182 (Charmilles Stadium) 46°01′25″N 8°57′42″E / 46.02361°N 8.96167°E / 46.02361; 8.96167 (Cornaredo Stadium) 47°23′35″N 8°30′17″E / 47.39306°N 8.50472°E / 47.39306; 8.50472 (Hardturm Stadium)
Capacity: 35,997 Capacity: 35,800 Capacity: 34,800

Squads

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Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup squads

The 16 finalists named squads of 22 for the finals, though South Korea only named 20 players in their squad. Unlike recent tournaments, there were no requirements for teams to name three goalkeepers; most teams did, but 6 did not. Some teams also chose to leave some of their named squad at home, only bringing them to Switzerland if necessary.

Match officials

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Group stage

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All times listed are local time (CET, UTC+1).

Group 1

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Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup Group 1

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil 2 1 1 0 6 1 +5 3 Advance to knockout stage
2  Yugoslavia 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 3
3  France 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 2
4  Mexico 2 0 0 2 2 8 −6 0
Source: FIFA
Brazil 5–0 Mexico
Baltazar 23'
Didi 30'
Pinga 34', 43'
Julinho 69'		 Report
Attendance: 13,470
Referee: Raymon Wyssling (Switzerland)
Yugoslavia 1–0 France
Milutinović 15' Report
Attendance: 16,000
Referee: Benjamin Griffiths (Wales)
Brazil 1–1 (a.e.t.) Yugoslavia
Didi 69' Report Zebec 48'
Attendance: 24,637
Referee: Charlie Faultless (Scotland)
France 3–2 Mexico
Vincent 19'
Cárdenas 46' (o.g.)
Kopa 88' (pen.)		 Report Lamadrid 54'
Balcázar 85'
Attendance: 19,000
Referee: Manuel Asensi (Spain)

Group 2

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Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup Group 2

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Hungary 2 2 0 0 17 3 +14 4 Advance to the knockout stage
2  West Germany 2 1 0 1 7 9 −2 2[a]
3  Turkey 2 1 0 1 8 4 +4 2[a]
4  South Korea 2 0 0 2 0 16 −16 0
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Second place decided over through play-off: West Germany 7–2 Turkey.
West Germany 4–1 Turkey
Schäfer 14'
Klodt 52'
O. Walter 60'
Morlock 84'		 Report Mamat 2'
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Jose da Costa Vieira (Portugal)
Hungary 9–0 South Korea
Puskás 12', 89'
Lantos 18'
Kocsis 24', 36', 50'
Czibor 59'
Palotás 75', 83'		 Report
Attendance: 13,000
Referee: Raymond Vincenti (France)
Hungary 8–3 West Germany
Kocsis 3', 21', 69', 78'
Puskás 17'
Hidegkuti 52', 54'
J. Tóth 75'		 Report Pfaff 25'
Rahn 77'
Herrmann 84'
Attendance: 56,000
Turkey 7–0 South Korea
Mamat 10', 30'
Küçükandonyadis 24'
Sargun 37', 64', 70'
Keskin 76'		 Report
Attendance: 3,541[20]

Play-off

[edit]
West Germany 7–2 Turkey
O. Walter 7'
Schäfer 12', 79'
Morlock 30', 60', 77'
F. Walter 62'		 Report Ertan 21'
Küçükandonyadis 82'
Attendance: 17,000
Referee: Raymond Vincenti (France)

Group 3

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Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup Group 3

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uruguay 2 2 0 0 9 0 +9 4 Advance to the knockout stage
2  Austria 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 4
3  Czechoslovakia 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
4  Scotland 2 0 0 2 0 8 −8 0
Source: FIFA
Uruguay 2–0 Czechoslovakia
Míguez 71'
Schiaffino 84'		 Report
Attendance: 20,500
Austria 1–0 Scotland
Probst 33' Report
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Laurent Franken (Belgium)
Uruguay 7–0 Scotland
Borges 17', 47', 57'
Míguez 30', 83'
Abbadie 54', 85'		 Report
Attendance: 34,000
Austria 5–0 Czechoslovakia
Stojaspal 3', 65'
Probst 4', 21', 24'		 Report
Attendance: 26,000
Referee: Vasa Stefanovic (Yugoslavia)

Group 4

[edit]
Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup Group 4

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 2 1 1 0 6 4 +2 3 Advance to the knockout stage
2   Switzerland 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1 2[a]
3  Italy 2 1 0 1 5 3 +2 2[a]
4  Belgium 2 0 1 1 5 8 −3 1
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Second place decided over through play-off: Switzerland 4–1 Italy
Switzerland 2–1 Italy
Ballaman 18'
Hügi 78'		 Report Boniperti 44'
Attendance: 40,749[21]
England 4–4 (a.e.t.) Belgium
Broadis 26', 63'
Lofthouse 36', 91'		 Report Anoul 5', 71'
Coppens 67'
Dickinson 94' (o.g.)
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: Emil Schmetzer (West Germany)
Italy 4–1 Belgium
Pandolfini 41' (pen.)
Galli 48'
Frignani 58'
Lorenzi 78'		 Report Anoul 81'
Attendance: 24,000
Referee: Carl Erich Steiner (Austria)
England 2–0  Switzerland
Mullen 43'
Wilshaw 69'		 Report
Attendance: 43,119[22]
Referee: Istvan Zsolt (Hungary)

Play-off

[edit]
Switzerland 4–1 Italy
Hügi 14', 85'
Ballaman 48'
Fatton 90'		 Report Nesti 67'
Attendance: 28,655[23]
Referee: Benjamin Griffiths (Wales)

Knockout stage

[edit]
Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

Bracket

[edit]
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
27 June – Geneva
 
 
 West Germany2
 
30 June – Basel
 
 Yugoslavia0
 
 West Germany6
 
26 June – Lausanne
 
 Austria1
 
 Austria7
 
4 July – Bern
 
  Switzerland5
 
 West Germany3
 
27 June – Bern
 
 Hungary2
 
 Hungary4
 
30 June – Lausanne
 
 Brazil2
 
 Hungary (a.e.t.)4
 
26 June – Basel
 
 Uruguay2 Third place
 
 Uruguay4
 
3 July – Zürich
 
 England2
 
 Austria3
 
 
 Uruguay1
 

Quarter-finals

[edit]
Main article: Austria v Switzerland (1954 FIFA World Cup)
Austria 7–5  Switzerland
Wagner 25', 27', 53'
A. Körner 26', 34'
Ocwirk 32'
Probst 76'		 Report Ballaman 16', 39'
Hügi 17', 19', 60'
Attendance: 30,340[24]
Referee: Charlie Faultless (Scotland)
Uruguay 4–2 England
Borges 5'
Varela 39'
Schiaffino 46'
Ambrois 78'		 Report Lofthouse 16'
Finney 67'
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Carl Erich Steiner (Austria)
West Germany 2–0 Yugoslavia
Horvat 9' (o.g.)
Rahn 85'		 Report
Attendance: 17,000
Referee: Istvan Zsolt (Hungary)
Main article: Battle of Berne (1954 FIFA World Cup)
Hungary 4–2 Brazil
Hidegkuti 4'
Kocsis 7', 88'
Lantos 60' (pen.)		 Report Djalma Santos 18' (pen.)
Julinho 65'
Attendance: 40,000

Semi-finals

[edit]
West Germany 6–1 Austria
Schäfer 31'
Morlock 47'
F. Walter 54' (pen.), 64' (pen.)
O. Walter 61', 89'		 Report Probst 51'
Attendance: 58,000
Referee: Vincenzo Orlandini (Italy)
Hungary 4–2 (a.e.t.) Uruguay
Czibor 13'
Hidegkuti 46'
Kocsis 111', 116'		 Report Hohberg 75', 86'
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Benjamin Griffiths (Wales)

Third place play-off

[edit]
Austria 3–1 Uruguay
Stojaspal 16' (pen.)
Cruz 59' (o.g.)
Ocwirk 89'		 Report Hohberg 22'
Attendance: 32,000
Referee: Raymon Wyssling (Switzerland)

Final

[edit]
Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup final
West Germany 3–2 Hungary
 Report
Attendance: 62,500

Goalscorers

[edit]

With 11 goals, Sándor Kocsis was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 140 goals were scored by 63 players, with four of them credited as own goals.

11 goals
6 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

FIFA retrospective ranking

[edit]

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.[25][26] The rankings for the 1954 tournament were as follows:

R Team G P W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1  West Germany 2 6 5 0 1 25 14 +11 10
2  Hungary 2 5 4 0 1 27 10 +17 8
3  Austria 3 5 4 0 1 17 12 +5 8
4  Uruguay 3 5 3 0 2 16 9 +7 6
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5   Switzerland 4 4 2 0 2 11 11 0 4
6  Brazil 1 3 1 1 1 8 5 +3 3
7  England 4 3 1 1 1 8 8 0 3
8  Yugoslavia 1 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 3
Eliminated in the group stage
9  Turkey 2 3 1 0 2 10 11 −1 2
10  Italy 4 3 1 0 2 6 7 −1 2
11  France 1 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 2
12  Belgium 4 2 0 1 1 5 8 −3 1
13  Mexico 1 2 0 0 2 2 8 −6 0
14  Czechoslovakia 3 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
15  Scotland 3 2 0 0 2 0 8 −8 0
16  South Korea 2 2 0 0 2 0 16 −16 0

In film

[edit]

The final scene of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film The Marriage of Maria Braun takes place during the finals of the 1954 World Cup; in the scene's background, the sports announcer is celebrating West Germany's victory and shouting "Deutschland ist wieder was!" (Germany is something again); the film uses this as the symbol of Germany's recovery from the ravages of the Second World War.

Sönke Wortmann's 2003 German box-office hit The Miracle of Bern (in German: Das Wunder von Bern) re-tells the story of the German team's route to victory through the eyes of a young boy who admires the key player of the final, Helmut Rahn.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Host announcement decision" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  2. ^ Lisi, Clemente Angelo (2007). A history of the World Cup: 1930–2006. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8108-5905-0.
  3. ^ Murray, Scott (8 August 2002). "Lucky tossers". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Aujourd'hui commence le tour final de la Coupe du Monde de football". Journal du Jura (in French). Bienne, Switzerland: 5. 16 June 1954 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
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  9. ^ "Tirage au sort des demi-finales". La Liberté (in French). Fribourg, Switzerland: 7. 28 June 1954.
  10. ^ Jessen, Christian; Stahl, Volker; Eggers, Erik; Schlüper, Johann-Günther (2003). Fußballweltmeisterschaft 1954 Schweiz: Das Wunder von Bern. Kassel: Agon-Sportverlag. pp. 27ff. ISBN 9783897842182.
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  15. ^ "Germany's 1954 World Cup winners 'were doped'". Agence France-Presse. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  16. ^ Ewiger Knaben Wunderhorn (DER SPIEGEL, 18/2004)
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  18. ^ Fett, Matthias (2 July 2020). "The game has changed – a systematic approach to classify FIFA World Cups". International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. 12 (3): 455–470. doi:10.1080/19406940.2020.1784978. ISSN 1940-6940. S2CID 221714908.
  19. ^ Stefan H. Rinke; Kay Schiller, eds. (2014). The FIFA World Cup, 1930-2010 : politics, commerce, spectacle, and identities. Göttingen. ISBN 978-3-8353-1457-3. OCLC 879569078.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. ^ "European football teams database - Group 2 - Tutkey v South Korea".
  21. ^ "European football teams database - Group 4 - Switzerland v Italy".
  22. ^ "European football teams database - Group 4 - Switzerland v England".
  23. ^ "European football teams database - Group 4 Play-off".
  24. ^ "European football teams database - Quarterfinal - Switzerland v Austria".
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  26. ^ "FIFA World Cup: Milestones, facts & figures. Statistical Kit 7" (PDF). FIFA. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2013.
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