FIFA World Cup 1954

Switzerland hosted the 1954 FIFA World Cup 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 defeated Hungary 3-2 in the final, giving them their first title.

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), plus two unseeded teams.

With seeding determined before the teams had even qualified for the final tournament, the organizers had to replace Spain with Turkey, the team that unexpectedly knocked the Spaniards out. The draw took place in Zürich , on November 30 , 1953 .

Instead of a conventional round-robin where each team would play three matches, the seeded teams as well as the unseeded teams were spared from playing each other as the unseeded teams were squared up only against the seeded ones in a chance to qualify, so each team played only 2 group matches, unless tied for the second qualifying position by points, which required a play-off . Extra time was played for any games that was tied after 90 minutes, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 minutes.

The quarter-finals saw 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. 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.

One of the semi-finals saw Austria, against the DFB team which represented the Federal Republic of Germany , one of three German states of the time. The DFB had qualified against fellow Germans from the French-occupied Saarland , while East Germany had not entered, cancelling international football games after the East German uprising of 1953 . With the final at stake, 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, 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.

Final 1954 FIFA World Cup

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 Germans were handed the Jules Rimet trophy and the title of World Cup winners while the crowd sang along to the tunes of the national anthems of Germany.

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 two goals. Kocsis’ mark was then broken by Just Fontaine ‘s 13 goals in 1958 . Despite not winning the 1954 tournament, the 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 result against Korea during the group stages remains to this day the biggest margin of victory in FIFA World Cup history, later equalled by Yugoslavia winning 9-0 against Zaire in 1974 and again Hungary winning 10-1 against El Salvador in 1982 .

Venues

Six cities hosted the tournament:

• Basel , St. Jakob Stadium
• Berne , Wankdorf Stadium
• Geneva , Charmilles Stadium
• Lausanne , Stade Olympique de la Pontaise
• Lugano , Cornaredo Stadium
• Zürich , Hardturm Stadium