1954 FIFA World Cup

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1954 FIFA World Cup - Switzerland Championnat du Monde de Football 1954

Teams	16 (from 45 entrants)
Host	Switzerland
Champions	West Germany (1st title)
Matches played	26
Goals scored	140 (average 5.385 per match)
Attendance	889,500 (average 34,212 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sándor Kocsis 11 goals

Qualifying countries

The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the World Cup, was held in Switzerland from June 16 to July 4. As the year saw the 50th anniversary of FIFA, it was appropriate for football's premier competition to be played in the home of its governing body, and Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament was won by West Germany, who upset Hungary 3-2 in the final, giving them their first title.

1 Qualification
2 Summary
3 Venues
4 Squads
5 First round
6 Knockout stage
7 Awards
8 Scorers
9 External links

[edit] Qualification

Main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] Summary

For the first time there was television coverage, and special coins were issued to mark the event. 16 teams qualified for the tournament and an unusual system was used in the first stage. The 16 teams were divided into four groups: each group was comprised of two of the eight seeded teams based on world rankings (Austria, Brazil, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Turkey and Uruguay) and two unseeded teams. Instead of a conventional round-robin where each team would play three matches, the two seeded teams in each group, as well as the two unseeded teams, did not have to play each other, so each team played only 2 group matches. Extra time was played for any games that was level in after 90 minutes, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 mintues. The two teams finishing at the top of their group would go through to the quarter-finals. Goal average was not used and teams battling for a qualifying spot who were equal on points at the end of the group stage were required to play-off. Consequently Switzerland and Italy played each other twice with Switzerland winning the play-off 4-1, while West Germany, who were unseeded, had two encounters with the seeded Turkish and beat them convincingly on both occasions. Uruguay and Austria finished the group level on points in the qualifying positions and drew lots to determine who they would play in the next round.

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 a scoreline of 4-2. Also, West Germany dispatched Yugoslavia 2-0, and Austria managed to beat the host nation Switzerland 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 with West Germany beating Austria. 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 after 90 minutes of 2-2. The deadlock was broken by Sándor 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 as Austria 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. The Hungarians, known as the Golden Team, were heavy favorites, as they were unbeaten for a record of 32 consecutive matches. 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 Hungary's legendary Ferenc Puskás playing even though he was not fully fit. Despite this he put his team ahead after only 6 minutes, and with Zoltán Czibor adding another two minutes later it seemed destined that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title.

However with goals 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 Puskás 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 Gyorgy Szepesi burst into tears. In Germany the success is known as The Miracle of Bern, upon which a 2003 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 (set by Brazilian Ademir in the previous tournament) by two. However, it would be broken by Just Fontaine's 13 goals in 1958.

[edit] Venues

Six cities hosted the tournament:

[edit] Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1954 FIFA World Cup squads.

[edit] First round

[edit] Group 1

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Brazil	3	2	1	1	0	6	1
Yugoslavia	3	2	1	1	0	2	1
France	2	2	1	0	1	3	3
Mexico	0	2	0	0	2	2	8

June 16, 1954 18:00
	Brazil	5–0	Mexico	Geneva, Charmilles Stadium Ref: Wyssling (Switzerland) Attendance: 13,000
	Baltazar 23' Didi 30' Pinga 34', 43' Julinho 69'	(Report)

June 16, 1954 18:00
	Yugoslavia	1–0	France	Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise Ref: Griffiths (Wales) Attendance: 27,000
	Milutinović 15'	(Report)

June 19, 1954 17:00
	Brazil	1–1 (AET)	Yugoslavia	Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise Ref: Faultless (Scotland) Attendance: 40,000
	Didi 69'	(Report)	Zebec 48'

June 19, 1954 17:10
	France	3–2	Mexico	Geneva, Charmilles Stadium Ref: Asensi (Spain) Attendance: 19,000
	Vincent 19' Cárdenas 49' (og) Kopa 88' (pen)	(Report)	Lamadrid 54' Balcázar 85'

[edit] Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA
Hungary	4	2	2	0	17	3
West Germany	2	2	1	1	7	9
Turkey	2	2	1	1	8	4
Korea Republic	0	2	0	2	0	16

June 17, 1954 18:00
	West Germany	4–1	Turkey	Berne, Wankdorf Stadium Ref: Da Costa Vieira (Portugal) Attendance: 39,000
	Schäfer 14' Klodt 52' O. Walter 60' Morlock 84'	(Report)	Suat 2'

June 17, 1954 18:00
	Hungary	9–0	Korea Republic	Zürich, Hardturm Stadium Ref: Vincenti (France) Attendance: 18,000
	Puskás 12', 89' Lantos 18' Kocsis 24', 36', 50' Czibor 59' Palotás 75', 83'	(Report)

June 20, 1954 16:50
	Hungary	8–3	West Germany	Basel, St. Jakob Stadium Ref: Ling(England) Attendance: 65,000
	Kocsis 3', 21', 67', 78' Puskás 17' Hidegkuti 50', 54' J. Tóth 73'	(Report)	Pfaff 25' Rahn 77' Herrmann 81'

June 20, 1954 17:00
	Turkey	7–0	Korea Republic	Geneva, Charmilles Stadium Ref: Marino (Uruguay) Attendance: 3,000
	Suat 10', 30' Küçükandonyadis 24' Sargun 37', 64', 70' Keskin 76'	(Report)

Play-off:

June 23, 1954 18:00
	West Germany	7–2	Turkey	Zürich, Hardturm Stadium Ref: Vincenti (France) Attendance: 18,000
	O. Walter 7' Schäfer 12', 79' Morlock 30', 60', 77' F. Walter 62'	(Report)	Erton 21' Küçükandonyadis 82'

[edit] Group 3

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA
Uruguay	4	2	2	0	9	0
Austria	4	2	2	0	6	0
Czechoslovakia	0	2	0	2	0	7
Scotland	0	2	0	2	0	8

June 16, 1954 18:00
	Uruguay	2–0	Czechoslovakia	Berne, Wankdorf Stadium Ref: Ellis (England) Attendance: 20,500
	Míguez 72' Schiaffino 81'	(Report)

June 16, 1954 18:00
	Austria	1–0	Scotland	Zürich, Hardturm Stadium Ref: Franken (Belgium) Attendance: 30,000
	Probst 33'	(Report)

June 19, 1954 16:50
	Uruguay	7–0	Scotland	Basel, St. Jakob Stadium Ref: Orlandini (Italy) Attendance: 43,000
	Borges 17', 47', 57' Míguez 30', 83' Abbadie 54', 85'	(Report)

June 19, 1954 17:00
	Austria	5–0	Czechoslovakia	Zürich, Hardturm Stadium Ref: Stefanovic (Yugoslavia) Attendance: 25,000
	Stojaspal 3', 70' Probst 4', 21', 24'	(Report)

[edit] Group 4

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
England	3	2	1	1	0	6	4
Switzerland	2	2	1	0	1	2	3
Italy	2	2	1	0	1	5	3
Belgium	1	2	0	1	1	5	8

June 17, 1954 17:50
	Switzerland	2–1	Italy	Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise Ref: Viana (Brazil) Attendance: 43,000
	Ballaman 18' Hügi 78'	(Report)	Boniperti 44'

June 17, 1954 18:10
	England	4–4 (AET)	Belgium	Basel, St. Jakob Stadium Ref: Schmetzer (West Germany) Attendance: 40,000
	Broadis 26', 63' Lofthouse 36', 91'	(Report)	Anoul 5', 71' Coppens 67' Dickinson 94' (og)

June 20, 1954 17:00
	Italy	4–1	Belgium	Lugano, Cornaredo Stadium Ref: Steiner (Austria) Attendance: 26,000
	Pandolfini 41' (pen) Galli 48' Frignani 58' Lorenzi 78'	(Report)	Anoul 81'

June 20, 1954 17:10
	England	2–0	Switzerland	Berne, Wankdorf Stadium Ref: Zsolt (Hungary) Attendance: 50,000
	Mullen 43' Wilshaw 69'	(Report)

Play-off:

June 23, 1954 18:00
	Switzerland	4–1	Italy	Basel, St. Jakob Stadium Ref: Griffiths (Wales) Attendance: 30,000
	Hügi 14', 85' Ballaman 48' Fatton 90'	(Report)	Nesti 67'

[edit] Knockout stage

Quarter finals

Semi finals

Final

27 June - Bern

Hungary

30 June – Lausanne

Brazil

Hungary

26 June - Basel

Uruguay

Uruguay

4 July – Bern

England

Hungary

26 June - Lausanne

West Germany

Austria

30 June - Basel

Switzerland

Austria

Third place

27 June – Geneva

West Germany

Austria

Yugoslavia

Uruguay

3 July - Zürich

[edit] Quarter-finals

June 26, 1954 17:00
	Austria	7–5	Switzerland	Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise Ref: Faultless (Scotland) Attendance: 35,000
	Wagner 25', 27', 53' R. Körner 26', 34' Ocwirk 32' Probst 76'	(Report)	Ballaman 16', 39' Hügi 17', 19', 58'

June 26, 1954 17:00
	Uruguay	4–2	England	Basel, St. Jakob Stadium Ref: Steiner (Austria) Attendance: 35,000
	Borges 5' Varela 39' Schiaffino 46' Ambrois 78'	(Report)	Lofthouse 16' Finney 67'

June 27, 1954 17:00
	Hungary	4–2	Brazil	Berne, Wankdorf Stadium Ref: Ellis (England) Attendance: 60,000
	Hidegkuti 4' Kocsis 7', 88' Lantos 60' (pen)	(Report)	Djalma Santos 18' (pen) Julinho 65'

June 27, 1954 17:00
	West Germany	2–0	Yugoslavia	Geneva, Charmilles Stadium Ref: Zsolt (Hungary) Attendance: 20,000
	Horvat 9' (og) Rahn 85'	(Report)

[edit] Semi-finals

June 30, 1954 18:00
	Hungary	4–2 (AET)	Uruguay	Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise Ref: Griffiths (Wales) Attendance: 37,000
	Czibor 13' Hidegkuti 46' Kocsis 111', 116'	(Report)	Hohberg 75', 86'

June 30, 1954 18:00
	West Germany	6–1	Austria	Basel, St. Jakob Stadium Ref: Orlandini (Italy) Attendance: 58,000
	Schäfer 31' Morlock 47' F. Walter 54' (pen), 64' (pen) O. Walter 61', 89'	(Report)	Probst 51'

[edit] Third place match

July 3, 1954 17:00
	Austria	3–1	Uruguay	Zürich, Hardturm Stadium Ref: Wyssling (Switzerland) Attendance: 35,000
	Stojaspal 16' (pen) Cruz 59' (og) Ocwirk 89'	(Report)	Hohberg 22'

[edit] Final

July 4, 1954 17:00
	West Germany	3–2	Hungary	Berne, Wankdorf Stadium Ref: Ling (England) Attendance: 60,000
	Morlock 10' Rahn 18', 84'	(Report)	Puskás 6' Czibor 8'