History of the FIFA World Cup- 1954 FIFA World Cup, Germany were crowned World Champions
The 1954 FIFA World Cup was held in Switzerland, being the home of the governing body, owing to FIFA’s 50th Anniversary. The tournament was a legendary one, as it holds the record of highest average goals. West Germany defeated Hungary in the final to record their first ever title.
It was the first time that this mega event was given live coverage on television and special coins were issued for the event. An unusual system was used to determine the 16 teams of the tournament. The 16 teams were grouped into four groups, with two top teams in each. The top teams at the time were Austria, Brazil, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Turkey and Uruguay and were evenly distributed in the groups. The top 2 teams played each other and the bottom 2 against each other. The top and bottom teams only faced each other if there was a tie and a match was needed to qualify. The top two from each group then went on to the next stage.
In the quarter finals, Brazil met Hungary in one the most gruelling matches of all time. It was known as the Battle of Berne, and three players were sent off in the match. Hungary was victorious, defeating Brazil 4-2. Uruguay defeated England 4-2, while Germany defeated Yugoslavia 2-0. Austria defeated hosts Switzerland 7-5 in one of the highest scoring games ever to be played. Germany met Uruguay while Hungary met Austria in the semi finals. Germany won 6-1 against Austria to reach the finals while Uruguay’s unbeaten World Cup matches run was ended by Hungary. The game couldn’t be decided in normal time, owing to a 2-2 score. In extra time, Hungary scored twice to book a place into the final against West Germany.
The final was known as the Miracle of Bern, and was one of the biggest upsets in history of Football. It was held in the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, accommodating a crowd of 60,000. These teams had played previously in the first round, which Hungary won 8-3 to a German reserve team. Hungary was strong favourites to win this bought, known as the “Golden Team”. They were unbeaten for a record 32 matches. It started to rain on the match day, which was dubbed as Fritz Walter’s Weather. Fritz Walter was the German captain and it was said that he performed the best in rain.
Hungry’s star player Ferenc Puskas played for his side, although not been fit. He however scored in the opening six minutes, followed by another by Zoltan Czibor two minutes later. Hungary were 2-0 up at such an early stage, but Germany quickly equalized, thanks to Max Morlock’s goal in the 10th minute and Helmut Rahn’s equalizer in the 19th. Germany were back in the match and looked stronger than ever.
The second half was a roller coaster ride, with Hungarians coming close to scoring the winner. With just 6 minutes remaining on the clock, a German radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann exclaimed, “Rahn should kick from the backfield”, and Rahn at that very moment did. He scored on that shoot and gave his side the lead. Hungarians came close to equalizing only to be signalled offside in the dying moments of the match. The score line at the final whistle read 3-2 and Germany were crowned World Champions. They were given the Jules Rimet trophy, with the crowd signing national anthem of Germany. It was a dramatic victory for the Germans and a film was also made in 2003 with the title of ‘The Miracle of Bern.’
It is considered the most delightful moment in Germany’s football history and one of the darkest in Hungary’s. Germany’s team only had amateur players in the side, as Germany at the time didn’t have a league. Hungary’s Golden team played for Budapesti Honvéd FC and later legendary clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain.
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