The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

, the quadrennial international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was selected as the host country in July 1946. At the tournament, several all-time records for goalscoring were set, including the highest average number of goals scored per game. The tournament was won by

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, who defeated tournament favourites

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

3–2 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

for their first World Cup title.

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, the defending champions, were eliminated by Hungary and would lose to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the third-place match. The highest scoring match of a men’s World Cup happened in the quarter-finals of this tournament, when

defeated hosts

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

7-5. The 12 goals of that match have never been surpassed in a men’s World Cup since - the 2019 Women's World Cup saw the USA beat

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

13-0.

Host selection

Switzerland was awarded the tournament unopposed at a meeting in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

on 22 July 1946, the same day Brazil was selected to host the 1950 World Cup.

Qualification

The hosts (Switzerland) and the defending champions (Uruguay) qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, 11 were allocated to Europe (including Egypt, Turkey, and Israel), two to the Americas, and one to Asia. Scotland, Turkey, and South Korea made their World Cup debuts at this tournament (Turkey and Scotland had qualified for the 1950 competition but both withdrew). South Korea became the first independent Asian country to participate in a World Cup tournament. Austria appeared following a hiatus from

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. South Korea did not appear at a World Cup finals again until 1986, while Turkey's next appearance was not until

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. Several teams, such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia (the pre-war World Cups' runners-up) were back into the tournament after missing out the 1950 World Cup. The teams that finished third and fourth in 1950, Sweden and Spain, both failed to qualify. Spain was eliminated by Turkey; the two countries finished level on points in their qualifying group, and then drew their neutral play-off, which led to the drawing of lots by a blindfolded Italian boy, who picked Turkey to progress. German teams as well as

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

were allowed to qualify again, after having been banned from the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

. West Germany qualified against fellow Germans from the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

(which then was a French protectorate), while East Germany did not enter, having cancelled international football matches after the East German uprising of 1953. Japan failed to qualify, having finished below

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in their qualifying group.

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

declined to participate for the third successive World Cup.

List of qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

(1) * (debut) North, Central America and Caribbean (1) *

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

(2) * * (title holders)

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(12) * * * * * * * * (debut) * (hosts) * (debut) * *

Summary

Format

Group stage

The 1954 tournament used a unique format. The sixteen qualifying teams were divided into four groups of four teams each. Each group contained two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were scheduled for each group, each pitting a seeded team against an unseeded team. This contrasts with the usual round-robin in which every team plays every other team: six matches in each group. Another oddity was that

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, which in most tournaments is not employed at the group stage, was played in the group games if the score was level after 90 minutes, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 minutes. Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. The two teams with the most points from each group progressed to the knockout stage. In the case of a tie between two teams for second place, the two tied teams competed in a play-off to decide which team would progress to the next stage, with extra time and drawing of lots if necessary. Had all four teams in a group been tied on points, there would have been two further play-offs – one play-off between the two seeded teams, and the other between the two unseeded teams, again with extra time and drawing of lots if necessary – with the winner of each play-off progressing to the quarter-finals. 1954 world cup

Two of the four groups ended up requiring play-offs – one between Switzerland and Italy, and the other between Turkey and West Germany. In each match, the unseeded team (Switzerland and West Germany) repeated an earlier victory against the seeded team (Italy and Turkey) to progress. The fact that two group matches were played twice, while other group opponents never faced each other at all, attracted criticism; newly elected FIFA President Seeldrayers declared that this group format would be abandoned in future world cups.

Quarter-finals

For each of the first two quarter-finals, one team progressing from group 1 was drawn against one team progressing from group 2. For the remaining two quarter-finals, this procedure was repeated for groups 3 and 4. Before the tournament, it was stated that in the event of a quarter-final being tied after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time would be played, followed by drawing of lots if necessary. Later, it was stated that a quarter-final could be replayed in this situation. The draw was scheduled to be held on Sunday 20 June, though in fact it was delayed into the early morning of Monday 21 June.

Semi-finals

For the semi-finals, a further draw was held, with each semi-final featuring one team from groups 1–2 against one team from groups 3–4. In the event of a semi-final being tied after extra time, it would be replayed once, followed by drawing of lots if necessary. The draw for the semi-finals, held on Sunday 27 June, was delayed by a complaint from the Hungarian team concerning the manner in which their quarter-final against Brazil had been played.

Final

The final would be replayed if scores were level after extra-time. If the replay was also tied, the winner would be decided by the tournament organising committee, or by drawing of lots.

Seeding

Before qualification was complete, the eight seeded teams were determined by FIFA. They were

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and

. These seedings were thrown into disarray when, in an unexpected result,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

eliminated Spain in qualification. FIFA resolved this situation by giving Turkey the seeding that had previously been allocated to Spain.

Notable results

The

Germany national football team The Germany national football team () represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund''), founded ...

, then limited to the area of

only, had been reinstated as full FIFA members only in late 1950, had played only 18 games since, and were unseeded. When meeting the seeded Turkish side at Wankdorf stadium in Berne, the Turks scored early, but the Germans convincingly won the encounter, which would turn out as the first of two within six days. The South Koreans, the other unseeded team, lost 7–0 and 9–0 against the seeded sides of Hungary and Turkey. West Germany, being denied the chance to play such an easy opponent, had to face the seeded team of Hungary, a favourite to win the World Cup.

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...

, the West German coach, did not want his A-squad to suffer a possible defeat against a strong opponent while trying to qualify for a rather meaningless first place, and gambled by going the easier route into the play-offs and sending in a reserve side which lost 8–3 in Basel. A benefit was that the Hungarians did not get to know the best German players in case both teams would meet again - which they did, in the Final, along with referee William Ling. Now two teams were tied for second place on 2 points, and with no tie breaking procedures in effect, even though West Germany had beaten Turkey head-to-head, they had to play-off against each other, a match-up that West Germany easily won for the second time within six days, this time in Zürich. Hungary's team captain

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...

, considered by many as the best player in the world in that time, was injured by West German defender Werner Liebrich, and had to miss Hungary's next two matches. Puskás played for Hungary in the final, despite still being in a questionable condition. In the quarter-finals, 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. West Germany dispatched

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

2–0, and Austria beat the host nation Switzerland in the game that saw the most goals in any World Cup match, 7–5. In the first semi-final, West Germany beat 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 Sándor Péter Kocsis (; ; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian Association football, footballer who played for Ferencvárosi TC, Budapest Honvéd FC, Budapest Honvéd, SC Young Fellows Juventus, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelo ...

with two late goals to take Hungary through to the final, with Uruguay finally losing their unbeaten record in World Cup Final matches. Uruguay then went on to be beaten for a second time as Austria secured third place.

Final: "The Miracle of Bern"

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 Golden Team of the Hungarians were favourites, as they were unbeaten for a record of 32 consecutive matches, but they had had two tough knockout matches. It started raining on match day–in Germany this was dubbed ''Fritz-Walter-Wetter'' ("Fritz Walter's weather") because the West German team captain

Fritz Walter Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany an ...

was said to play his best in the rain, a result of having contracted

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

during the war. Adi Dassler of ''Adidas'' provided the West German team with a new kind of shoes, with exchangeable studs that were replaced during halftime. Hungary's Ferenc Puskás played again in the final, even though he was not fully fit. Despite this he put his team ahead after only six minutes and with Zoltán Czibor adding another two minutes later it seemed that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title. However, with a quick goal from

Max Morlock Maximilian Morlock (; 11 May 1925 – 10 September 1994) was a German footballer active in the 1950s and early 1960s. In his time with the West Germany national team, he earned 26 caps and scored 21 goals. His position was that of an insi ...

in the 10th minute and an equaliser by

Helmut Rahn Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as ''Der Boss'' (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in 1954 FIFA World Cup Fin ...

in the 19th, the tide began to turn. The second half saw telling misses by the Hungarian team. Barely six minutes before the end of the match, the popular German radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann delivered the most famous line in the German commentary, recommending that "Rahn should shoot from deep", which he did. The second goal from Rahn gave West Germany a 3–2 lead while the Hungarian reporter György Szepesi burst into tears. Later, Zimmermann called Puskás offside before he kicked the ball into Toni Turek's net with 2 minutes left. While referee William Ling pointed to the centre spot, linesman Griffiths signalled offside. After a one-minute consultation, Ling disallowed the claimed equaliser. The West Germans were handed the Jules Rimet Trophy as World Cup winners, while the crowd sang along to the tune of the national anthem of Germany–there was disquiet in the stadium as the Germans fans decided to sing the (too) well known anthem's first stanza ''Deutschland über alles'', instead of the uncontroversial third ''Unity and Justice and Freedom'' which was supposed to be sung at official events according to a 1952 decree. In Germany the success is known as the "Miracle of Bern" (''Das Wunder Von Bern''), and was memorialised in a 2003 film of the same name. For the Hungarians, the defeat was a disaster, and remains controversial due to apparent refereeing errors and claims of doping. One controversy concerns the 2–2 equaliser. Hungarian goalie Gyula Grosics jumped to catch

's corner shot, but Hans Schäfer obstructed him (in plain sight of TV cameras), allowing the ball to reach Rahn, who then scored. Another controversy concerns allegations of doping. Though teammates steadfastly denied this rumour, German historian Guido Knopp claimed in a 2004 documentary for German public channel

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

that the players were injected with shots of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

at half-time, using a needle earlier taken from a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

sports doctor. This would explain both the better condition of the West German team in the second half and the wave of

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

among their players following the tournament. A

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

study in 2010 posited that the West German players had been injected with the banned substance

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

. Most controversial was the offside ruling for Puskás's intended 87th-minute equaliser. The camera filming the official footage was in a bad position to judge the situation, but eyewitnesses claimed that the referee was wrong, including West German substitute player Alfred Pfaff. In 2004, North German regional public channel NDR aired unofficial footage appearing to show that Puskás was onside.

Records

The following all-time records were set or equalled at this tournament, and have not been surpassed: All matches in one tournament * highest average goals per game (5.38) Team records for one tournament * most goals scored (Hungary, 27) * highest average goals scored per game (Hungary, 5.4) * highest aggregate goal difference (Hungary, +17) * highest average goal difference per game (Hungary, +3.4) * most goals scored, champions (West Germany, 25) * most average goals scored per game, champions (West Germany, 4.17) * most goals conceded, champions (West Germany, 14) * most average goals conceded per game, champions (West Germany, 2.33) * most goals conceded (South Korea, 16) * lowest aggregate goal difference (South Korea, −16) * most average goals conceded per game (South Korea, 8, tied with Bolivia 1950) * lowest average goal difference per game (South Korea, −8.0, tied with Bolivia 1950). Records for a single game * most goals in a single game (both teams) (Austria 7 Switzerland 5) * greatest margin of victory in a single game (Hungary 9 South Korea 0) (equalled by Yugoslavia winning 9–0 against Zaire in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and again Hungary winning 10–1 against El Salvador in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Other landmarks

For the first time there was television coverage, and special coins were issued to mark the event. 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 three goals. Kocsis' mark was broken by

Just Fontaine Just Louis Fontaine (18 August 193328 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 tournament. In ...

's 13 goals in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. Despite not winning the 1954 tournament, their 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 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. Hungary's 9–0 win against Korea during the group stages remains the biggest margin of victory in FIFA World Cup history, later equalled by Yugoslavia over Zaire (9–0) in 1974 and Hungary over El Salvador (10–1) in 1982. West Germany also became the first team to win the World Cup after having lost a match at the finals, losing 8–3 after pitting the backups against Hungary in the group stage with the intention of getting an additional play-off game. This feat was repeated by West Germany in 1974 (beaten 1–0 by East Germans), Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 2010, who all lost group matches 1–0 (coincidentally, all three teams won against the Netherlands in the final), as well as by Argentina in 2022, who lost their first group match 2–1 against Saudi Arabia but would also defeat the Netherlands (although this time, it was in the quarter-finals). West Germany's 1954 victory remains the only time that a team has won the World Cup without playing any team from outside its own continent; South Korea was in the same group, but with both team unseeded, they were not matched against each other. Instead, West Germany had to play Turkey twice, which is geographically more in Asia than in Europe, but qualified from Europe's qualification zone and has always been affiliated with UEFA. Turkey had also been one of the few non-German speaking countries that had played West Germany after being reinstated as FIFA member in late 1950; and like most, did it twice, Switzerland even four times. Thus, West Germany's coach and players had limited international experience in 1954, and no intercontinental game before the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

. West Germany's victory in the final is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time and one of the finest achievements in German sporting history. The West German team was made up of amateur "contract" players from several regional leagues, as German sports did not have a nationwide league nor professional play before 1963, while the Hungarians were ''de jure'' amateurs, like in all the communist countries at that time, but playing football as professionals, mainly for Budapesti Honvéd FC and later for major clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, and were ranked best in the world. This is the only time a team has won the World Cup with amateur footballers.

Venues

Six venues in six cities (1 venue in each city) hosted the tournament's 26 matches. The most used stadium was the St. Jakob Stadium in Basel, which hosted 6 matches. The venues in Bern, Zurich and Lausanne each hosted 5 matches, the venue in Geneva hosted 4 matches, and the venue in Lugano only hosted 1 match.

Squads

The 16 finalists named squads of 22 for the finals, though South Korea only named 20 players in their squad. Unlike recent tournaments, there were no requirements for teams to name three goalkeepers; most teams did, but 6 did not. Some teams also chose to leave some of their named squad at home, only bringing them to Switzerland if necessary.

Match officials

* Raymon Wyssling * Benjamin Griffiths * Charlie Faultless * Manuel Asensi * José Vieira da Costa * Raymond Vincenti * William Ling * Esteban Marino *

Arthur Edward Ellis Arthur Edward Ellis (8 July 1914 – 23 May 1999) was an English football referee. He was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Ellis was a referee in The Football Association competitions and in FIFA international competitions. He refere ...

* Laurent Franken * Vincenzo Orlandini * Vasa Stefanović * Mário Vianna * Emil Schmetzer * Carl Erich Steiner *

István Zsolt István Zsolt (28 June 1921, Budapest – 7 May 1991) was a Hungarian international football referee. He officiated at the 1954, 1958 and 1966 World Cup tournaments and the Olympic Games of 1952 Events January–February * Janu ...

Group stage

All times listed are local time ( CET,

UTC+1 +01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time * West Africa Time * Western European Summer Time **Brit ...

Group 1

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Group 2

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Play-off

Group 3

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Group 4

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Play-off

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Third place play-off

Final

Goalscorers

With 11 goals, Sándor Kocsis was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 140 goals were scored by 63 players, with four of them credited as own goals. ;11 goals *

;6 goals * Erich Probst * Josef Hügi *

;4 goals *

Nándor Hidegkuti Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a ...

* Robert Ballaman * Carlos Borges *

* Hans Schäfer *

Ottmar Walter Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (6 March 1924 – 16 June 2013) was a German footballer who played as a forward. He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. They also played together for the West Germany n ...

;3 goals * Ernst Stojaspal * Theodor Wagner * Léopold Anoul *

Nat Lofthouse Nathaniel Lofthouse (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with one ...

* Zoltán Czibor * Burhan Sargun * Suat Mamat * Juan Hohberg * Óscar Míguez *

;2 goals * Alfred Körner *

Ernst Ocwirk Ernst Ocwirk (7 March 1926 – 23 January 1980) was an Austrian association football, football player and coach. A former midfielder, he is regarded as one of the greatest Austrian men's footballers of all time. He spent the majority of his pla ...

* Didi * Julinho * Pinga * Ivor Broadis * Mihály Lantos * Péter Palotás * Lefter Küçükandonyadis * Julio Abbadie * Juan Alberto Schiaffino ;1 goal * Henri Coppens * Baltazar * Djalma Santos * Tom Finney * Jimmy Mullen * Dennis Wilshaw *

Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...

* Jean Vincent * József Tóth * Giampiero Boniperti * Amleto Frignani * Carlo Galli * Benito Lorenzi *

Fulvio Nesti Fulvio Nesti (; 8 June 1925 – 1 January 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Lastra a Signa, Nesti played club football for ACF Fiorentina, S.S. Scafatese Calcio 1922, SPAL 1907, F.C. Internazi ...

* Egisto Pandolfini * Tomás Balcázar * José Luis Lamadrid * Jacques Fatton * Mustafa Ertan *

Erol Keskin Erol Keskin (2 March 1927 – 1 October 2016) was a Turkish football forward who played for Turkey in the 1948 Summer Olympics and 1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial interna ...

* Javier Ambrois *

Obdulio Varela Obdulio Jacinto Muiños Varela (; September 20, 1917 — August 2, 1996) was a Uruguayan people, Uruguayan association football, football player. He was the captain (association football), captain of the Uruguay national football team, Uruguay n ...

* Richard Herrmann * Bernhard Klodt * Alfred Pfaff * Miloš Milutinović * Branko Zebec ;1 own goal * Jimmy Dickinson (playing against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) * Raúl Cárdenas (playing against

) * Luis Cruz (playing against

) * Ivica Horvat (playing against

)

FIFA retrospective ranking

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1954 tournament were as follows:

In film

The final scene of

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

'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!"'' (Germany is something again); the film uses this as the symbol of Germany's recovery from the ravages of the Second World War.

Sönke Wortmann Sönke Wortmann (; 25 August 1959 in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German film director and producer. Biography Wortmann's father was a miner. After Wortmann's A-Levels he wanted to become a professional football player and started playi ...

's 2003 German box-office hit '' The Miracle of Bern'' (in German: ''Das Wunder von Bern'') re-tells the story of the German team's route to victory through the eyes of a young boy who admires the key player of the final,

References

External links

1954 FIFA World Cup Switzerland
FIFA.com

{{Authority control

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

June 1954 sports events in Europe July 1954 sports events in Europe