July 4 – The Miracle of Berne | On This Football Day

July 4 – The Miracle of Berne

THE legendary Mighty Magyars Hungary team of the 1950s was undoubtedly the best team in the world. They had come to England and humiliated the hosts in their own backyard, tearing the Three Lions apart 6-3 at Wembley.

In the return leg, they won 7-1 just to prove it was no fluke.

They went into the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland as heavy favourites for the crown and they marched through the early group games with ease, and disposed of Brazil and Uruguay in the quarter and semi-finals respectively to reach the final, on this day.

Waiting for them was West Germany. The Hungarians had already beaten the Germans 8-3 in the group game, but not needing to win, the Germans had fielded a reserve side. The result lulled the Hungarians into a massive false sense of security over the true strength of the German team.

Even so, the Magyars were still expected to turn the Germans over with relative ease, and it looked like it would become embarrassing for the Germans when Ferenc Puskas, playing despite not being fully fit, and Zoltán Czibor put the Magyars 2-0 up in the opening eight minutes.

But then the Germans hit back and were level before 20 minutes had been played. The two sides went in for half time at 2-2.

After the break the Hungarians poured forward looking for the winner, but each time they were foiled by the German defence, especially goalkeeper Toni Turek who pulled off a series of excellent saves.

With six minutes left and the Hungarians still desperately trying to score, the Germans produced a sucker-punch when Helmut Rahn scored from 20 yards out.

Puskas thought he had equalised just two minutes from time but the goal was ruled out for offisde.

The Germans held on to win and seal one of the biggest upsets in international football. So stunned were the Germans they still call the match ‘the miracle of berne’.

Much like Kenneth Wolstenholme 12 years later, commentator Herbert Zimmermann captured the moment perfectly and became something of a celebrity in his own right. “Call me crazy, call me nuts! Rahn has to shoot from the background, Rahn shoots – goal, goal, goal! Over! Over! Over! The game is over! Germany are World Champions, beat Hungary 3-2!”