Switzerland 1954 World Cup Finals

Travel Notes Directory

Switzerland by Tim Trad on Unsplash.

Football Index: World Cup Finals: Switzerland 1954.

For the fifth World Cup Finals, the tournament returned to Europe; to Switzerland, the home of FIFA, UEFA and the Olympic Committee.

Argentina again declined to participate, although Uruguay did appear to defend their trophy and try to get permanent ownership of it by winning the finals for a record third time.

World Cup History - Switzerland 1954

The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a (7:5) encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.

The Hungarians -- Olympic gold medalists and unbeaten for four years (amassing 27 wins and 4 draws from their 31 games) -- took the tournament by storm and added to the goal glut with considerable first round victories against Korea (9:0) and West Germany (8:3).

Ferenc Puskas, Jozsef Boszik and Sandor Kocsis were a feared trio and looked set to help Hungary to a World Cup victory, after eliminating Brazil (4:2) and Uruguay (4:2 aet) in the knockout stages.

In the Final in Bern, Hungary were confidently two goals up then stunned the watching fans by losing (2:3); to the team they'd already beaten (8:3) in the group stage, West Germany.

16 Countries Competed at Switzerland 1954

Austria
Group 3 (1:0) (5:0); Quarter-finals (7:5); Semi-finals (1:6); Third place (3:1).

Belgium
Group 4 (4:4) (1:4).

Brazil
Group 1 (5:0) (1:1); Quarter-finals (2:4).

Czechoslovakia
Group 3 (0:2) (0:5).

England
Group 4 (4:4) (2:0); Quarter-finals (2:4).

France
Group 1 (0:1) (3:2).

Hungary
Group 2 (9:0) (8:3); Quarter-finals (4:2); Semi-finals (4:2 aet); Finalist (2:3).

Italy
Group 4 (1:2) (4:1) (1:4).

Mexico
Group 1 (0:5) (2:3).

Scotland
Group 3 (0:1) (0:7); Quarter-finals (5:7).

South Korea
Group 2 (0:9) (0:7).

Switzerland
Group 4 (2:1) (0:2) (4:1).

Turkey
Group 2 (1:4) (7:0) (2:7).

Uruguay
Group 3 (2:0) (7:0); Quarter-finals (4:2); Semi-finals (2:4 aet); Third place (1:3).

West Germany
Group 2 (4:1) (3:8) (7:2); Quarter-finals (2:0); Semi-finals (6:1); Winner (3:2).

Yugoslavia
Group 1 (1:0) (1:1); Quarter-finals (0:2).

First Round - Group Stage

The 16 teams were arranged into four groups of 4 teams each, with the first two teams moving on to the quarter-finals.

As the teams only played two games each, a couple of play-offs were needed to seperate the second and third placed teams in two of the groups, even though the teams had already played each other. In both cases, the same team won again and the third placed team, on goal difference, then managed to advance to the knockout stage.

Group 1

16th June
Geneva: Brazil vs Mexico (5:0)
Lausanne: Yugoslavia vs France (1:0)

19th June
Geneva: France vs Mexico (3:2)
Lausanne: Brazil vs Yugoslavia (1:1 aet)

Brazil and Yugoslavia qualify for the quarter-finals.

Group 2

17th June
Berne: West Germany vs Turkey (4:1)
Zurich: Hungary vs South Korea (9:0)

20th June
Basel: Hungary vs West Germany (8:3)
Geneva: Turkey vs South Korea (7:0)

2nd Place Playoff - 23rd June
Zurich: West Germany vs Turkey (7:2)

Hungary and West Germany qualify for the quarter-finals.

Group 3

16th June
Berne: Uruguay vs Czechoslovakia (2:0)
Zurich: Austria vs Scotland (1:0)

19th June
Basel: Uruguay vs Scotland (7:0)
Zurich: Austria vs Czechoslovakia (5:0)

Uruguay and Austria qualify for the quarter-finals.

Group 4

17th June
Basle: England vs Belgium (4:4 aet)
Lausanne: Switzerland vs Italy (2:1)

20th June
Berne: England vs Switzerland (2:0)
Lugano: Italy vs Belgium (4:1)

2nd Place Playoff - 23rd June
Basel: Switzerland vs Italy (4:1)

England and Switzerland qualify for the quarter-finals.

Quarter-Finals - 26/27 June, 1954

26th June
Basel: Uruguay vs England (4:2)

Lausanne: Austria vs Switzerland (7:5)

27th June
Berne: Hungary vs Brazil (4:2)

Geneva: West Germany vs Yugoslavia (2:0)

Semi-Finals - 30th June, 1954

Basel: West Germany vs Austria (6:1)

Lausanne: Hungary vs Uruguay (4:2 aet)

Third Place - 3rd July, 1954

Zurich: Austria vs Uruguay (3:1)

1954 World Cup Final
4th July:
West Germany vs Hungary (3:2)
Bern.

Appearances:
How many appearances each country has made in the World Cup Finals.

World Cup Finals

Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2) on July 30th, 1930.

Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy for the home fans.

France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.

Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.

Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.

Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.

Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.

England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.

W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.

Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany, they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.

Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.

Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.

Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.

USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.

France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.

Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.

Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the semi-finals.

South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.

Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.

Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.

Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.

United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of Morocco.

More From Travel Notes

Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel

Africa - Asia - Caribbean - Europe - Middle East - North America - Oceania - South America.

The Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel helps visitors plan their trip with country and city travel guides, local tourist information, reviewed web sites, and inspiring travel content.