Just for good measure they hammered Walter Winterbottoms side 7-1 in Budapest in their final warm-up match before the 1954 tournament. West Germany, Austria, Hungary and Uruguay would succeed in the Quarter-finals and go on the Semi-finals. For the Hungarians, the defeat was a disaster, and remains controversial due to referee errors and claims of doping. Image source: Kocsis hit the bat. The Koreans, as the other unseeded team, lost 0-7 and 0-9, with Germany being denied the chance to play such an easy opponent. Hungary were ready to take on the world. goal|64|pen.O. Austria Switzerland 75 Bernhard Klodt (Forward) )report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1295/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|URUgoals1 = Czibor goal|13Hidegkuti goal|46Kocsis goal|111 goal|116goals2 = Hohberg goal|75 goal|86stadium = Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaiseattendance = 37,000referee = Griffiths (Wales) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-30time = 18:00team1 = fb-rt|FRGscore = 6 – 1report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1233/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|AUTgoals1 = Schfer goal|31Morlock goal|47F. Barely 6 minutes before the end of the match, the popular German radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann gave the most famous German piece of commentary, recommending "Rahn should kick from the backfield", which he did. Confused? For the first time there was television coverage, and special coins were issued to mark the event. Ferenc Puskas is denied by the offside flag. But those boots were little help in the opening exchanges. FIFA World Cup Official Film 1954, Lausanne (Stade Olympique de la Pontaise). The second goal from Rahn gave Germany a 3-2 lead while the Hungarian reporter Gyorgy Szepesi burst into tears. Surpassing the shock of Uruguay's triumph four years earlier, West Germany became world champions in Switzerland by ending the proud 31-match unbeaten record of Hungary's 'Magical Magyars' in a Final forever remembered as theMiracle of Berne. The Story of German Football. In typically bonkers Fifa style, odd rules meant that the two seeded teams Hungary and Turkey (the seedings, again with the rational thinking weve come to expect from footballs governing body, having already been set before Turkeys play-off with Spain) would not face each other, but play only against the two unseeded sides with the top two sides reaching the knockout stages. Another reason was the South Korean negative record with 16 goals forfeited. Even bigger was the 6-1 victory against Austria in the Semi-final. Hungary had to evolve an entirely new method of play if we were to make any headway in international football. And that they did, producing a remarkably fluid structure. 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!" The second half saw telling misses from the Hungarian team. The Golden Team of the Hungarians were favourites, as they were unbeaten for a record of 32 consecutive matches but they had two tough play-off matches. Halten Sie mich fur verruckt! Karl Mai (Midfielder) Walter goal|61 goal|89goals2 = Probst goal|51stadium = Basel, St. Jakob Stadiumattendance = 58,000referee = Orlandini (Italy), footballboxdate = 1954-07-03time = 17:00team1 = fb|URUscore = 1 – 3report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1239/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb-rt|AUTgoals1 = Hohberg goal|22goals2 = Stojaspal goal|16|pen.Cruz goal|59|o.g.Ocwirk goal|89stadium = Zrich, Hardturm Stadiumattendance = 35,000referee = Wyssling (Switzerland), footballboxdate = 1954-07-04time = 17:00team1 = fb|HUN|1949score = 2 – 3report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1278/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb-rt|FRGgoals1 = Pusks goal|6Czibor goal|8goals2 = Morlock goal|10Rahn goal|18 goal|84stadium = Berne, Wankdorf Stadiumattendance = 60,000referee = Ling (England), 6 goals*flagicon|AUT Erich Probst*flagicon|FRG Max Morlock*flagicon|SUI Josef Hgi, 4 goals*flagicon|FRG Helmut Rahn*flagicon|FRG Hans Schfer*flagicon|FRG Ottmar Walter*flagicon|HUN|1949 Nndor Hidegkuti*flagicon|HUN|1949 Ferenc Pusks*flagicon|SUI Robert Ballaman*flagicon|URU Carlos Borges, Own goals*flagicon|ENG Jimmy Dickinson (for Belgium)*flagicon|MEX|1934 Ral Crdenas (for France)*flagicon|URU Luis Cruz (for Austria)*flagicon|YUG Ivan Horvat (for Germany), 3 goals*flagicon|AUT Ernst Stojaspal*flagicon|AUT Theodor Wagner*flagicon|BEL Lopold Anoul*flagicon|ENG Nat Lofthouse*flagicon|FRG Fritz Walter*flagicon|HUN|1949 Zoltn Czibor*flagicon|TUR Burhan Sargn*flagicon|TUR Suat Mamat*flagicon|URU Juan Hohberg*flagicon|URU Oscar Mguez, 2 goals*flagicon|AUT Robert Krner*flagicon|AUT Ernst Ocwirk*flagicon|BRA|1889 Didi*flagicon|BRA|1889 Julinho*flagicon|BRA|1889 Pinga*flagicon|ENG Ivor Broadis*flagicon|HUN|1949 Mihly Lantos*flagicon|HUN|1949 Pter Palots*flagicon|TUR Lefter Kkandonyadis*flagicon|URU Julio Abbadie*flagicon|URU Juan Alberto Schiaffino, 1 goal*flagicon|BEL Henri Coppens*flagicon|BRA|1889 Baltazar*flagicon|BRA|1889 Djalma Santos*flagicon|ENG Tom Finney*flagicon|ENG Jimmy Mullen*flagicon|ENG Dennis Wilshaw*flagicon|FRA Raymond Kopa*flagicon|FRA Jean Vincent*flagicon|FRG Richard Herrmann*flagicon|FRG Bernhard Klodt*flagicon|FRG Alfred Pfaff*flagicon|HUN|1949 Jzsef Tth*flagicon|ITA Giampiero Boniperti*flagicon|ITA Amleto Frignani*flagicon|ITA Carlo Galli*flagicon|ITA Benito Lorenzi*flagicon|ITA Fulvio Nesti*flagicon|ITA Egisto Pandolfini*flagicon|MEX|1934 Toms Balczar*flagicon|MEX|1934 Jos Luis Lamadrid*flagicon|SUI Jacques Fatton*flagicon|TUR Mustafa Ertan*flagicon|TUR Erol Keskin*flagicon|URU Javier Ambrois*flagicon|URU Obdulio Varela*flagicon|YUG Milo Milutinovi*flagicon|YUG Branko Zebec. For the first half of the 20th century, both from a footballing and a political point of view, Hungary had existed in the shadow of Austria, writes Jonathan Wilson in Inverting the Pyramid. The heights of the early 50s would never again be reached. Hungarian goalie Gyula Grosics jumped to catch Fritz Walter's corner shot, but in plain sight of the camera, Hans Schfer obstructed him, thus the ball could reach Rahn unhindered. While referee Ling pointed to the centre spot, linesman Griffiths signalled offside. The deadlock was broken by Sndor Kocsis with two late goals to take Hungary through to the final, beating a team that had not previously lost a World Cup game. Tor! What unfolded over the next 80 minutes, if you subscribe to the more romantic interpretations, created one country and fanned the flames of a revolution in another. Like Germany, international football had continued during the second world war until the end of 1943 and in the four years after VE Day, a golden generation emerged. [ [http://www.ifhof.com/hof/puskas.asp FERENC PUSKAS - International Football Hall of Fame ] ]. Ottmar Walter (Forward) Werner Liebrich (Defender) The Miracle of Bern is a Sliding Doors moment. The weather, and the boggy pitch, would play into his teams hands. West Germany Turkey 41 The abandonment of the usual English method of play meant Hungary played without the traditional battering ram No9 and instead had first Peter Palotas and, from 1952, Hidegkuti wearing No9 but playing as a trequartista. In 1952 the Golden Squad had returned to a 400,000-strong party. The camp police were playing a match. They were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes against a side who, four years earlier, did not even exist. 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. And the world expected to lose. Meanwhile, the World Cup holders Uruguay sent England out of the tournament, also by 4-2. They were very weak and had had no training.. The defending champions Uruguay were among the teams; their national side had so far won the tournament in every attempt. In total, 16 teams participated in what was the final stage of the tournament and 26 matches were played. For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see "1954 FIFA World Cup squads". Uruguay England 42 Halten Sie mich fur ubergeschnappt! 3-2 to Germany. West Germany players from left: Max Morlock, Hans Schaefer, Jupp Posipal, and Hans Bauer hold the World Cup trophy during a stop of the train in Singen, Germany a day after the final. West Germany Turkey 72 And cue miracle. After that game the issue could no longer be avoided, wrote Puskas in his autobiography. It was a rather big contrast to the passionate audience that had filled the enormous Maracan. Josef Posipal (Defender) Heinz Kwiatkowski (Goalkeeper) Not just the football team but the country moved from strength to strength. Fritz Walter (Forward) Despite this he put his team ahead after only 6 minutes and with Zoltn Czibor adding another two minutes later it seemed that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title. Gerd Mllers winner against Holland in 1974 is basically just a goal, as is Andreas Brehmes penalty against Argentina in 1990, writes Uli Hesse in Tor! Suddenly Germany was somebody again, said Franz Beckenbauer. The camera filming the official footage was in a bad position to judge the situation, only eyewitnesses claimed that the referee was wrong, including German replacement player Alfred Pfaff [ [http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/dokument/dokument.html?id=30612555&top=SPIEGEL Ewiger Knaben Wunderhorn] (DER SPIEGEL, 18/2004)] . Another 8-3 was on the cards. Germany that had been forbidden to participate in the previous World Cup due to the actions in World War II was again welcome in the FIFA World Cup. West Germany great Horst Eckel passes away, Germany v Switzerland: 70 years of respect above rivalry, The Walter-weather miracle men in numbers, The miracle of a final that changed football, 1954 WORLD CUP FINAL: Germany FR 3-2 Hungary, CLASSIC WORLD CUP: Uruguay - England, Switzerland 1954. Though teammates steadfastly denied this rumour, German historian Guido Knopp claimed in a 2004 documentary for German public channel ZDF [ [http://www.broadview.tv/Das-Wunder-von-Bern-Die-wahre-Geschichte.63.0.html Das Wunder von Bern - Die wahre Geschichte] ] that the players were injected with shots of C vitamine in half-time, using a needle earlier taken from a Soviet sports doctor, which would also explain the wave of jaundice among team members following the tournament. Krner goal|26 goal|34Ocwirk goal|32Probst goal|76goals2 = Ballaman goal|16 goal|39Hgi goal|17 goal|19 goal|58stadium = Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaiseattendance = 35,000referee = Faultless (Scotland) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-26time = 17:00team1 = fb-rt|URUscore = 4 – 2report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1264/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|ENGgoals1 = Borges goal|5Varela goal|39Schiaffino goal|46Ambrois goal|78goals2 = Lofthouse goal|16Finney goal|67stadium = Basel, St. Jakob Stadiumattendance = 35,000referee = Steiner (Austria) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-27time = 17:00team1 = fb|BRA|1889score = 2 – 4report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1248/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb-rt|HUN|1949goals1 = Djalma Santos goal|18|pen.Julinho goal|65goals2 = Hidegkuti goal|4Kocsis goal|7 goal|88Lantos goal|60|pen.stadium = Berne, Wankdorf Stadiumattendance = 60,000referee = Ellis (England) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-27time = 17:00team1 = fb|YUGscore = 0 – 2report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1285/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb-rt|FRGgoals1 =goals2 = Horvat goal|9|o.g.Rahn goal|85stadium = Geneva, Charmilles Stadiumattendance = 20,000referee = Zsolt (Hungary), footballboxdate = 1954-06-30time = 18:00team1 = fb-rt|HUN|1949score = 4 – 2 (a.e.t. Fritz Walter, holding the Jules Rimet trophy, and Horst Eckel, right, are carried on the shoulders of their fans after the final. West Germany Austria 61 The ability of footballers to play depended on which zone they found themselves in. Karl-Heinz Metzner (Midfielder) There was no such drama for Herberger and his side, a 6-1 thrashing of Austria, who had beaten the host nation 7-5 in the quarters, taking West Germany into the final. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_FIFA_World_Cup Herbert Erhardt (Defender) It was over. It may seem strange that such a small country as Switzerland would be the host for the biggest global football tournament in the world, but it was one of few European nations that hadn't been particularly affected by the recent war. Then came war. Hungary were unbeaten in four years. The tournament would achieve the highest goals average ever in a World Cup with an astonishing 5.38 goals per match. The 1954 FIFA World Cup took place in Switzerland 16 June to 4 July. footballboxdate = 1954-06-16time = 18:00team1 = fb-rt|URUscore = 2 – 0report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1315/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|TCHgoals1 = Mguez goal|72Schiaffino goal|81goals2 =stadium = Berne, Wankdorf Stadiumattendance = 20,500referee = Ellis (England) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-16time = 18:00team1 = fb-rt|AUTscore = 1 – 0report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1236/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|SCOgoals1 = Probst goal|33goals2 =stadium = Zrich, Hardturm Stadiumattendance = 30,000referee = Franken (Belgium) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-19time = 16:50team1 = fb-rt|URUscore = 7 – 0report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1313/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|SCOgoals1 = Borges goal|17 goal|47 goal|57Mguez goal|30 goal|83Abbadie goal|54 goal|85goals2 =stadium = Basel, St. Jakob Stadiumattendance = 43,000referee = Orlandini (Italy) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-19time = 17:00team1 = fb-rt|AUTscore = 5 – 0report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1238/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|TCHgoals1 = Stojaspal goal|3 goal|70Probst goal|4 goal|21 goal|24goals2 =stadium = Zrich, Hardturm Stadiumattendance = 25,000referee = Stefanovic (Yugoslavia), footballboxdate = 1954-06-17time = 17:50team1 = fb-rt|SUIscore = 2 – 1report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=9/results/matches/match=1300/report.html (Report)] team2 = fb|ITAgoals1 = Ballaman goal|18Hgi goal|78goals2 = Boniperti goal|44stadium = Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaiseattendance = 43,000referee = Viana (Brazil) ----footballboxdate = 1954-06-17time = 18:10team1 = fb-rt|ENGscore = 4 – 4 (a.e.t. Defeats against Turkey and Ireland put Herberger under pressure and they began the qualifying campaign for the 1954 World Cup with a 1-1 draw in Oslo against Norway. (play-off), Quarter-finals Jules Rimet, the outgoing FIFA President, handed the eponymous trophy to Fritz Walter and the football world absorbed an important new lesson: never, ever, write off the Germans. The tournament was won by West Germany, who defeated Hungary 3-2 in the final, giving them their first title. The same report also claimed that the German football players had taken Methamphetamine before the 1954 World Cup final. International matches had finally ceased in February 1943 on the orders of Joseph Goebbels and his plans for total war. 2-2. Helmut Rahn (Forward) 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. But the most significant incident in the game befell Puskas. Werner Kohlmeyer (Defender) Czibor scooted away and popped the ball into the empty net 2-0. It had started raining on game day - in Germany this was dubbed "Fritz-Walter-Wetter" ("Fritz Walter's weather") because the German team captain Fritz Walter was said to play his best in rainy weather. After six minutes Liebrich made a certain amount of amends for his tackle in the group game, giving the ball straight to Bozsik 40 yards from goal. The Hungarian player Ferenc Pusks would after the tournament accuse the Germans of using dope. In Budapest, as in Vienna, football was a matter for intellectual debate.. 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. But even with that group in the side, Hungary were by no means on course for World Cup glory. Austria Scotland 10 Call me mad! 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. 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. Then on 25 November 1953, Hungarys Golden Squad visited Wembley to face England. 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. Three years later Sepp Herbergers Breslau Elf monikered after the side who defeated Denmark 8-0 in Breslau went 11 games undefeated (winning 10) but by 1938 the Anschluss had created a united German side that was anything but and the World Cup campaign that year ended at the first hurdle with defeat to the Swiss. Nine years later he led his team out for the World Cup final as the rain came down in Bern. A curious thing with the set-up for this tournament was that every team only played two group matches, and would only meet two out of three teams. Uruguay then went on to be beaten for a second time as Austria secured third place. But the run petered out and Sebes was replaced early in 1956, his team and the coaching structures around it dismantled. Or, as Zimmerman put it: Aus! Hungary would take a 2-0 lead, but German morale and a muddy pitch that wouldn't serve the Hungarian passing style made it to what ever since has been called The Miracle of Bern. That result did not exactly herald the birth of a new footballing superpower. Anything else would be a miracle. A defeat in Prague against Czechoslovakia in 1949 proved the final straw. despite having been a member of the party since 1933, giving the ball straight to Bozsik 40 yards from goal, got themselves into an almighty tangle in the box, Jozsef Zakarias could only get a toe to the ball and Max Morlock slid the ball home, Rahn, thundering in at the back post, slammed in West Germanys second, sent a shot arrowing into the bottom corner, Puskas to have a goal controversially ruled out for offside, going another 18 matches unbeaten to take their record to one defeat in 49 games between June 1950 and November 1955, Academic studies have been written on the effect of the victory in 1954 on the collective German psyche. Gradually, though, teams reformed or formed anew, with the bigger ones travelling the country taking on smaller sides in exchange for fuel or food. The next day Walters name was removed from the list of those heading east and he was permitted to return to his home in Kaiserslautern. In 1954 they waited for days in the town of Tata until the worst of the trouble had ended in the capital. Aus! The writer Friedrich Christian Delius felt a guilt-ridden, inhibited nation was suddenly reborn. The Germans, who had been reinstated as full FIFA members only in 1950 and were unseeded, won the first of two encounters with the seeded Turkish convincingly in Berne at Wankdorf stadium. Turkey South Korea 70 The group winner would qualify for the fifth FIFA World Cup held in Switzerland.Group 4fb|LUX Head coach: Flagicon|HUN Bla Volentik Wikipedia, 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 10) The three teams in this group played against each other on a home and away basis.