World Championship 1954 in Switzerland: first tournament on TV, amateur winners from Germany, Czechoslovakia without a single point

The fifth World Cup in history was hosted by Switzerland and was the first tournament to be televised. However, the 1954 World Championships in Switzerland are associated with German doping, and it was the German team that won the championship. The Hungarians played stunning football, with Czechoslovakia finishing in the group.

Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Zurich, Basel, Lugano – these six cities were involved in hosting the fifth World Cup in history, with 16 teams taking part in the final tournament.

It should be added that these were mostly representatives of the European continent. The 1954 World Cup in Switzerland then went on to feature only three overseas teams and South Korea from Asia.

The great peculiarity of this World Championship, however, was its game format. Yes, this tournament did offer a group phase and then an elimination phase in the form of quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals and a battle for bronze, but it is the group phase that today’s fans may talk about as no small bizarro.

The special game format, the participating countries

Why? Despite the fact that all groups were four-man groups, the teams played only two matches in the group stage. Fortunately, FIFA returned to the ‘each-versus-each-other’ system at the next World Cup in 1958, hosted by Sweden.

So which teams took part in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland? Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Scotland, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Turkey, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay.

An early end for Czechoslovakia

Unfortunately, the Czechoslovak national team did not experience anything dazzling at this tournament. In Group C, together with Scotland, they did not gain a point, while Uruguay and Austria advanced from this group with full points.

Even worse, Czechoslovakia did not score a single goal in this tournament and left the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland without a point and with a score of 0::7 (losing 0::2 against Uruguay and 0::5 against Austria).

However, you can read about the performance of the Czechoslovak national team at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland in the World Cup special attached above.

Germany as the surprise of the tournament, Hungary’s stunning football

The surprise of the tournament – that’s probably how Germany’s gold medal haul could be safely interpreted.

The Germans found themselves in Group B at this championship with Hungary, Turkey and South Korea, after which they advanced to the knockout stage with two points from second position. Third-placed Turkey had the same number of points, so the match was decided by a mutual match, which the German national team won 4:2.

Amazing football was played by the Hungarians then, who went through 2 matches with a score of 17::3 and full points. More about Hungarian football in our special feature. In the quarter-finals Germany beat Yugoslavia 2: 0, Hungary beat Brazil 4: 2.

Uruguay knocked out England with the same result. It was at this championship that one of the most goal-scoring results in the history of the World Cup was born in the knockout phase, when Austria eliminated the host country 7:5, only to lose to Germany 1:6 in the semi-finals. The Hungarians then beat Uruguay 4-2 in the semi-finals after extra time.

Germany went on to take first place, but…

The final between Germany and Hungary was better for the former, but they were later shown to have been helped by doping. The Germans, it should be noted, had no professional competition at the time, and thus appeared as amateurs at the 1954 World Championships in Switzerland.

Although Hungary led in the final after goals by Puskas and Czibor, the Germans turned the game around and won 3:2 thanks to Morlock and Rahn. It should be added, Hungary went into this match after 29 matches (4 years) without a single defeat. The battle for bronze went better for Austria, who beat Uruguay 3:1.

The first tournament on TV

The 1954 World Championship in Switzerland also brought some very interesting facts. For example, it was the first ever World Championship to be televised.

In the match between Hungary and Brazil, three players were sent off and the match went down in history as the “Battle of the Bern”. The Brazilians, with their temperament, simply could not take the loss and even stormed into the Hungarian dressing room after the match and another “battle” ensued.

And last but not least – Fritz and Otmar Walter from Germany became the first brothers in the history of the World Championship to win the World Championship. In the semi-final duel, they also became the first brothers to score in the same World Championship match.

1. episode: 1930 World Cup in Uruguay

2. episode: 1934 World Cup in Italy

3. episode:: WSC 1938 in France

4. episode:: World Cup 1950 in Brazil

6. episode:: WSC 1958 in Sweden

7. episode:: 1962 World Cup in Chile

8. episode:: World Cup 1966 in England

9. episode:: 1970 World Cup in Mexico

10. episode:: MS 1974 in Germany

Sources: FIFA, ESPN