Historic Matches No.1 – West Germany 3 Hungary 2, 1954 World Cup Final
In Germany, this game is referred to as ‘Wunder von Bern’ (the Miracle of Bern). A film has even been made about the match!
The 1954 World Cup was played in Switzerland and the Final was played in Bern between West Germany and Hungary.
West Germany were the underdogs in the Final against a very strong Hungary side, who had the mercurial talent Ferenc Puskas in their ranks. The two had played each other in the group stages earlier on in the tournament, with Hungary trouncing the Germans 8-3.
The Hungarians had beaten England 6-3 at Wembley the year before, becoming the first continental side to beat them at Wembley. They followed this up with a 7-1 win in Budapest just before the World Cup began in Switzerland.
Hungary were expected to win comfortably and must have thought that they had secured their first World Cup win after taking a two-goal lead after only 8 minutes.
Crucially for the West Germans, Maximilian Morlock netted less than two minutes later to halve the score. Helmut Rahn finished scored the fourth goal in a crazy opening 18 minutes to equalise for West Germany.
Hungary came out on the attack at the start of the second half and created lots of chances. They had two efforts cleared off the line and also hit the crossbar.
West Germany’s comeback was complete with six minutes to go. Helmut Rahn scored his second of the game, firing low into the bottom corner to give the Germans the lead for the first time in the match.
Hungary’s Ferenc Puskas thought he had equalised two minutes later, only for his goal to be disallowed for offside. West Germany held on and the World Cup was theirs. ‘The Miracle of Bern’ was complete!
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