1954 FIFA World Cup – Switzerland

The 1954 FIFA World Cup was held in Switzerland, that was chosen to host the tournament unopposed at the same meeting that Brazil was selected to host 1950.

The hosts and Uruguay, qualified automatically. From the other 14 places, 11 were allocated to Europe (including Egypt, Turkey and Israel), 2 to the Americas and 1 to Asia. German, divided now in East Germany and West Germany, and Japan were allowed to qualify again, after being banned from 1950. Argentina declined again to participate.

The highlight of the tournament was Hungary. With a record 27 goals scored during the tournament, they started every game scoring at least 2 goals before they would concede a goal. In the group stage, they beat South Korea 9-0, West Germany 8-3. In the semi-finals they beat Brazil 4-2.

But the final was an upset. Hungary beat West Germany in the group stage 8-3 and were unbeaten for a record of 32 consecutive matches. Hungary started the final like the other games, they scored 2 goals before West Germany could score. But the Germans didn’t let themselves get down. They tied the game in the first half and scored the third goal minutes before the end of the match, guaranteeing their first title.

It’s usually said that the reason for the Hungarian team to start every game scoring at least 2 goals before they would concede a goal is that they introduced the warm-ups before their matches, something that was uncommon at the time.

List of qualified teams: Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, England, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay, Yugoslavia.

Champions: West Germany
2nd place: Hungary
3rd place: Austria

Top scorer player: Sándor Kocsis, Hungary – 11 goals
Top scorer team: Hungary – 27 goals

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