1954 World Cup Final

The 1954 Football World Cup Final was the final match of the {{Wc|1954}}. It was contested by West Germany and Hungary in Bern, Switzerland on July 4, 1954. West Germany won 3-2. The Hungarians were favourites to win - they which had been unbeaten for over four years - and so the game is considered one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. In Germany it is referred to as Das Wunder von Bern ("The Miracle of Bern"), and is the subject of a 2003 film, The Miracle of Bern.

Related Topics:
West Germany - Hungary - Bern - Switzerland - July 4 - 1954 - 2003 - The Miracle of Bern

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the group stage of the tournament, the Germans, who did not field their best line-up, lost 8-3 to Hungary. The Hungarian side included world-renowned players such as Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, and Sándor Kocsis, and the previous year had beaten England 6-3 in a match at Wembley, and again 7-1 in Budapest just before the World Cup started.

Related Topics:
Ferenc Puskás - Zoltán Czibor - Sándor Kocsis - England - Match at Wembley - Budapest

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the final, the Hungarians went into the lead as expected early on, when Ferenc Puskás scored in the 6th minute. Zoltán Czibor scored in the 8th minute to make the score 2-0 to Hungary, and a victory for Hungary began to look a formality. However, the tables quickly turned as West Germany managed to equalise thanks to goals by Max Morlock (10th minute) and Helmut Rahn (19th minute). In the 84th minute, Rahn scored again to put Germany ahead. In the last minutes of the game, the Hungarians did everything they could; they even scored a goal, but it was disallowed because it was offside.

Related Topics:
Max Morlock - Helmut Rahn - Offside

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The unexpected win evoked a wave of elation in West Germany, and even today the game is considered one of the most important sports events of German history. Some scholars such as the political scientist Arthur Heinrich or the historian Joachim Fest considered it the birth of post-war Germany. In the radio report, the German fans can be clearly heard singing the first verse of the Deutschlandlied, the German national anthem, although actually it was only allowed to sing the third verse (the first being too nationalist). Herbert Zimmermann immortalised the last few moments of the game with his famous, emotional commentary "...Halten Sie mich für verrückt, halten Sie mich für übergeschnappt..." (You can think I'm mad, you can think I've lost it)

Related Topics:
Sport - German history - Arthur Heinrich - Joachim Fest - Post-war Germany - Deutschlandlied - National anthem - Nationalist - Herbert Zimmermann

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Hungary, whose team had lost for the first time in 4½ years, rioting began shortly after the game. Players were interrogated and harassed by the Communist regime. Some players who returned from Switzerland in German Mercedes Benzes were threatened with torture and accused of having been paid to lose deliberately; some of their relatives lost their jobs.

Related Topics:
Communist - Mercedes Benz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~