West German and Hungarian players vie for the ball during the 1954 World Cup Final in Berne, Switzerland.West German and Hungarian players vie for the ball during the 1954 World Cup Final in Berne, Switzerland. (Allsport/Hulton)

With its headquarters in Zurich, FIFA celebrated its 50th anniversary by staging the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.

This was a World Cup, held at the foot of the Swiss Alps, which reached dizzying heights of entertainment and drama thanks to a special Hungary team, an avalanche of goals and a "miracle" ending.

AN UNUSUAL FORMAT

Overseen by new FIFA president Rodolphe Seeldrayers, the 1954 World Cup - the first to be televised - adopted an unusual new format.

QUICK FACTS

  • Number of participating teams: 16
  • Top scorer: Hungary's Sandor Kocsis (11 goals)
  • Number of games: 26
  • Total goals scored: 140
  • Average goals per game: 5.38
  • Highest scoring game: Austria's 7-5 win over Switzerland on June 26
  • Total attendance: 943,000
  • Average attendance: 36,269

The 16-team field was divided into four groups with two teams in each group seeded. Each country only played two games, and the two seeded teams did not play each other. Also, strangely enough, there were no draws - extra time was used to decide games that were tied at the end of regulation. The top two teams in each group would advance to the quarter-finals. Teams tied on points after two games would play an extra game to decide who progressed.

Play kicked off on July 16 with Uruguay, the defending champions, posting a 2-0 victory over Czechoslovakia at Berne's Wankdorf stadium. Uruguay then trashed helpless Scotland 7-0 in Basle as the South Americans and Austria progressed out of Group 3.

Hungary, the reigning Olympic champions and the overwhelming favourites to hoist the World Cup, sported a team of superstars: captain Ferenc Puskas (nicknamed the Galloping Major), centre-forward Sandor Kocsis, Jozsef Boszik and playmaker Nandor Hidegkuti.

Famous for its revolutionary and free-flowing attack, Hungary opened up action in Group 2 with a 9-0 destruction of World Cup debutantes South Korea on June 17 in Zurich. Kocsis scored a hat trick and Puskas added two. Three days later in Basle, the Magical Magyars dismantled West Germany 8-3, Kocsis scoring four, Hidegkuti a pair and Puskas netting a single.

The game, however, was more noteworthy for an incident involving Puskas and Werner Liebrich. The tall, blond German defender savagely hacked at Puskas's ankles and the Galloping Major crashed to the ground. In essence, it was this kick that won the World Cup. Puskas left the game and did not return until the final where he was a shadow of his usual great self against the Germans.

Hungary and West Germany made it out of Group 2, the Germans needing a playoff victory over Turkey to advance after the two teams were equal on points. The Germans embarrassed the Turks 7-0, Max Morlock netting a hat trick and inspirational captain Fritz Walter scoring one.

MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT: Hungary's 4-2 victory over Uruguay in the semifinals. The most exciting match of the tournament pitted dominant Hungary against the reigning world champions. Tied 2-2 after 90 minutes, Sandor Kocsis scored a pair of goals in extra time to lift Hungary to victory in what is widely regarded as one of greatest games in World Cup history.

MAN OF THE TOURNAMENT: Sandor Kocsis. With Ferenc Puskas injured, the legendary centre-forward took centre stage and finished the competition as top scorer with 11 goals. Nicknamed "Golden Head" for his aerial ability, Kocsis became the first man to score two hat tricks in the same World Cup (three goals against South Korea, four against West Germany in the first round).

SPOTLIGHT: Aside from the Brazil team of 1982 and the 1974 Dutch side, Hungary's 1954 squad is regarded as the greatest team never to win a World Cup.

Led by the legendary quartet of Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis, Nandor Hidegkuti and Jozsef Bozsik, Hungary was the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite. Gold-medal winners at the 1952 Helsinki Games, Hungary was unbeaten since May 1950 in 28 games (24 wins, four draws) prior to the World Cup.

Puskas and his cohorts put on a dazzling display on Nov. 25, 1953 when they beat England 6-3 at Wembley Stadium in one of soccer's most famous contests. Hungary demonstrated its reputation as one of the best teams in the world was well deserved by becoming the first team outside the British Islands to beat England at home. A year later in Budapest, Hungary showed the result was no fluke when they embarrassed England 7-1.

AND ANOTHER THING: Twelve years before BBC television's Kenneth Wolstenholme became famous for his "they think it's all over" line (see history of the 1966 World Cup), German announcer Herbert Zimmermann uttered the most famous piece of commentary in German sports history.

Zimmermann's description of Helmut Rahn's winning goal against Hungary:

Schafer nach innen geflankt... Kopfball... Abgewehrt. Aus dem Hintergrund mußte Rahn schießen... Rahn schießt! Tor! Tor! Tor! Tor! (Silence) Tor fur Deutschland! Drei zu zwei fuhrt Deutschland. Halten Sie mich für verruckt, halten Sie mich fur ubergeschnappt!

Schafer puts in the cross... header... Cleared. Rahn must shoot from deep... Rahn shoots! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! (Zimmermann falls silent for eight seconds) Goal for Germany! Germany lead 3-2. Call me mad, call me crazy!

Over in Group 1, Brazil and Yugoslavia came out on top over France and Mexico, while England and Switzerland finished 1-2 in Group 4 - the Swiss needing a playoff victory over Italy to progress.

The quarter-finals began on June 26 in Lausanne with Switzerland bowing out to Austria in a 7-5 loss. Theodor Wagner scored a hat trick for the hosts and Josef Hugi responded with three goals for Austria in what was at the time the highest-scoring game ever at the World Cup. A date with West Germany, 2-0 winners over Yugoslavia, awaited the Austrians in the semifinals.

Uruguay, meanwhile, disposed of England 4-2, the legendary Juan Schiaffino scoring the seventh - and last - goal of his marvellous World Cup career.

The other quarter-final, between Hungary and Brazil, was one of the ugliest matches ever at the World Cup and became known as the infamous "Battle of Berne". Three players were ejected, several were brought down by vicious tackles and fisticuffs were exchanged.

Even after the game, won 4-2 by Hungary, tensions boiled over as the teams fought back to the locker-rooms - according to several observers, Puskas, who watched from the sidelines, hit Brazilian defender Pinheiro in the face with a bottle.

West Germany ran out 6-1 winners over Austria in the semifinals, earning its first World Cup final berth.

The other semifinal, between Uruguay and Hungary from Lausanne, is remembered as one of the classic World Cup contests. The champions appeared to have staved off elimination when Juan Holberg scored a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes to tie the game at 2-2.

A third World title was not in the cards, however, as Kocsis scored twice in extra time to send Hungary through and hand Uruguay its first defeat ever at the World Cup. Demoralized, Uruguay dropped a 3-1 decision to Austria in the third-place game.

THE FINAL

The stage was set for a Hungary-West Germany final, a repeat of the first-round match that saw German coach Sepp Herberger purposely field a weakened team.

The question going into the contest was whether or not Puskas would play? His ankle had not fully healed, and though Hungary barely missed a step through the quarter-finals and semifinals without Puskas in the lineup, the Galloping Major trotted out onto the field at Berne's Wankdorf stadium for the final on July 4.

Heavy rains made for a slick field, but although the conditions were hardly ideal, both sides put on a mesmerizing display of skill.

Hungary jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. At the six-minute mark, Hungary launched a counterattack and scored when Puskas collected a Kocsis rebound and drove the ball past German goalkeeper Toni Turek. Two minutes later, German defender Werner Kohlmeyer made a disastrous back-pass that Turek mishandled, and Zoltan Czibor tucked the ball into the back of the net.

A repeat of Hungary's first-round demolition of West Germany was taking place but the Germans, to their credit, did not become unhinged and hit back within two minutes. Helmut Rahn's centering pass deflected off of Hungary's Jozsef Bozsik into the path of Max Morlock who athletically stretched to poke the ball past goalkeeper Gyula Grosics.

In the 18th minute, Fritz Walter curled a corner kick that passed through the hands of Grosics and fell fortuitously at the feet of Rahn who thundered the ball into the back of the net. 2-2.

Four goals in the first 20 minutes. Could it get any better? It did.

Hungary launched several furious attacks on the German goal to start the second half. Puskas was denied twice on brilliant saves by Turek, Kocsis's header hit the crossbar, and German defender Werner Kohlmeyer cleared Jozsef Toth's shot off the goal-line.

Germany weathered the storm, and with six minutes left in regulation, it completed the miraculous comeback.

Hans Schaefer raced down the left wing and crossed the ball over a crowd of players into the penalty box. Hungary's Mihaly Lantos appeared to have intercepted, but instead the ball flashed by him and into the path of Rahn who took a few steps before driving a low shot past the goalkeeper.

The frantic Hungarians appeared to have equalized a mere two minutes later when Puskas, still labouring under a sore ankle, latched onto a pass from Toth that beat the German defence and scored. It was not to be, however, as the Welsh linesman ruled Puskas was offside, a controversial call that Hungary disputed even after the game.

Shortly after, English referee Bill Ling blew the final whistle. The game, forever known as the "Miracle of Berne," saw West Germany win its first World Cup in one of the most dramatic finals ever.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

  • German director Sonke Wortmann's feature film "Das Wunder von Berne," (The Miracle of Berne), came out in 2003. The movie tells the tale of a young boy and his unemployed father who are brought together by West Germany's win over Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final.
  • FIFA issued special coins to mark the competition.
  • Sixteen teams took part in the finals, three more than the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. This figure remained constant until the 1982 World Cup in Spain when the field ballooned to 24.
  • One of the strangest goals at the World Cup was scored during the England-Uruguay quarter-final. Setting up for a free kick, Obdulio Varela picked up the ball and dropkicked it (similar to a CFL punter) while teammate Juan Schiaffino ran past the confused English defence and scored. Amazingly, the referee allowed the goal to stand.
  • Two players in 1954 went on to play for different nations at future tournaments. Hungary's Ferenc Puskas and Uruguay's Jose Santamaria both played for Spain at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
  • Aside from Kocsis, only three other players have ever scored two hat tricks at the World Cup - France's Just Fontaine (both in 1958), Germany's Gerd Muller (both in 1970) and Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta (one in 1994 and one in 1998).
  • The 1954 tournament averaged an amazing 5.38 goals-per-game, still the highest average in World Cup history.
  • Turkey qualified for the World Cup under very unusual circumstances. They had split two games with Spain and the third game in the playoff series, held in a neutral country (Italy), finished tied at the end of regulation. Instead of playing extra time, a local Italian teenager was blindfolded and drew straws to determine the winner. Turkey won.