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129-504: Between 1950 and 1956, the team played 69 games, recorded 58 victories, 10 draws and is generally considered to have suffered only one defeat , in the 1954 World Cup final against West Germany. During this process they scored 436 goals. Under the Elo rating system they achieved the highest rating recorded by a national side (2231 points, achieved on 30 June 1954). In 2016 the BBC listed the team as

258-462: A period of oppression by the communist regime imposed on Hungary by the Soviet Union. In this period any "nationalistic" or even patriotic expression was strongly disapproved of, since these were considered being against the internationalist ideal of the communist government. In this atmosphere, international sport events were the only tolerated fields of expression of national pride. The team

387-721: A "god" and "devil" in the same sentence: "shot – saved by Turek! Turek, you are a dare-devil, Turek, you are a football god!". Proverbial in Germany are Zimmermann's description of the winning goal – "Bozsik, time and again Bozsik, the right half-back of the Hungarians, with the ball. He has lost the ball this time, to Schäfer... Schäfer has crossed, header... cleared. From the deep Rahn ought to shoot – Rahn shoots - GOAL!! GOAL!! GOAL!! GOAL!! ... Goal for Germany! ... Call me crazy, call me mental, I believe also football laymen should have

516-525: A 0–2 loss to neighbour Hungary, in which defender Aleksandar Dragović was sent off. This was followed up by an 0–0 draw to Portugal, in which Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty. Nonetheless, Austria ended up losing 1–2 to debutant Iceland and were eliminated with just a point. Austria would later participate in Group D of 2018 World Cup qualification along with Wales , Serbia , Ireland, Georgia and Moldova , ending up fourth, thus failing to qualify for

645-399: A 2–0 lead after 7 minutes, and after that the game descended into a series of fouls, free kicks and fights on the pitch resulting in three dismissals. The game ended 4–2 to Hungary. Fighting continued off the pitch in the tunnels and in the players' dressing rooms. The game's English referee Arthur Ellis commented: "I thought it was going to be the greatest game I'd ever see. I was on top of

774-459: A 5:6 or 6:5 ratio of players from the two hitherto teams. As a result, five players from Austria Wien , Rapid Wien and Vienna Wien were part of the team that only managed a 1–1 draw in Round 1 against Switzerland , which required a rematch. With Rapid Wien's forward Hans Pesser having been sent off, and not satisfied with two others, Herberger had to alter the line-up on six positions to fulfill

903-437: A West German win by one goal would see both through, while all other results would eliminate one team or the other. After ten minutes of furious attack, Horst Hrubesch scored for West Germany and the two teams mainly kicked the ball around for 80 minutes with few attempts to attack. The match became known as the " non-aggression pact of Gijón ". Algeria had also won two matches, including a shocking surprise over West Germany in

1032-539: A club level, Sebes introduced a sense of continuity at a national level – something no other nation had at the time. The Soviet Union adopted this approach throughout the 1960s, with success at a European level; England won the World Cup in 1966 with a core of players from one club, West Ham United . Sebes also demanded rigorous training and standards of physical fitness from his players, as well as good tactic awareness – again, these were areas that many national sides of

1161-472: A club-like policy at international level to give impetus to regular practice sessions. Secondly, he was responsible for the tactical concept of a deep-lying centre forward. At the time, the majority of footballing sides adopted the WM formation , where the centre forward spearheaded an attack line of 3 forwards and 2 wingers . Sebes's tactic was to withdraw the centre forward back to the midfield, as well as dropping

1290-486: A core set of talented players who were used to playing together at both a club and national level for a period of time. It would be nearly 20 years before the Netherlands national team of the 1970s utilised the same approach with their concept of Total Football . The following is a list of national football teams ranked by the highest Elo rating they ever reached. The table also includes the highest ranking as well as

1419-528: A draw. In the summer of 1968, Leopold Šťastný , the Slovak coach of Wacker Innsbruck , took over the national team. Despite failing to qualify for the 1970 World Cup , the new coach emphasized developing new players rather than relying on the old guard. Austria came very close to qualifying for the 1974 World Cup in Germany. The qualifying round was tied for first place between Austria and Sweden , despite tiebreakers based on points and goal difference, therefore

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1548-522: A famous victory over West Germany in 1978. The 1990s and 2000s brought challenges and disappointments, such as a shocking defeat to the Faroe Islands in UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying , and a group-stage exit in the 1998 World Cup , their seventh and to date, last World Cup appearance. Austria automatically qualified for UEFA Euro 2008 as co-hosts with Switzerland , the first time they played in

1677-472: A first-round game. The only issue the Hungarians faced was the ankle injury sustained to Puskás in the same game, from which he had not fully recovered – Sebes still took the decision to play him. Hungary took an early lead in the 6th minute, with a goal from Puskás. Two minutes later, Czibor made it 2–0 to Hungary. However, the Germans rallied, and swiftly pulled the score back to 2–1 through Max Morlock . In

1806-465: A football match". By contrast, Zimmermann kept expectations low at the outset, and continued in this vein after Hungary took the lead: "this is a great day, this is a proud day – let's not be so presumptuous to think it would have to end successfully". A measure of pride entered his voice after Germany's first – "today it is no 3–8. Today it is not a B-team. Today Germany's strongest squad is playing" – and second goal – "we have equalized, against Hungary,

1935-535: A fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. After returning to Europe, the players parted ways. Kocsis and Czibor moved to Spain to play for Barcelona . Puskás emigrated to Spain to play for Real Madrid . Hidegkuti returned to Hungary as a player and later became manager of MTK Budapest FC before emigrating to successfully manage clubs in Italy, Poland, and Egypt. Bozsik also returned in Hungary, becoming

2064-466: A heart!" – and his jubilation at the end of the match: "Over! Over! Over! ... Over! The game is over!". Zimmermann also complimented the Hungarian team: "Next to them stand the Hungarians... the Hungarians, calm, collected. Kudos to these boys, who can lose so gracefully, who have demonstrated to be true World Champions: when they once get beaten, they carry the defeat with dignity." The loss came at

2193-467: A key role as ball distributor and flexible offensive player generating numerical superiority in select portions of the pitch. Further, the data point to an excellent defensive performance by Liebrich, who – according to Zimmermann's commentary – blocked six shots, intercepted nine passes, and won all of his 10 one-on-one duels. Several calls by the English referee William Ling came under scrutiny after

2322-615: A match against East Germany in 1952 that is not considered an official international). Hungary was also the reigning Olympic Champion and winner of the Central European International Cup in 1953. In 1953, Hungary had defeated England 6–3 at Wembley, becoming the first team outside the United Kingdom and Ireland to beat England on home soil, and had thrashed England 7–1 in Budapest just before

2451-737: A narrow home defeat to Germany and a 2–2 draw in Ireland away. The Euro 2016 qualifying campaign was a success; Austria drew with the Swedes 1–1, before beating them 4–1 in Sweden. Austria also beat Russia twice both home and away, 1–0. Austria also recorded a pair of victories over Moldova (2–1 in Chișinău ) and Montenegro (1–0 in Vienna ). Rubin Okotie scored the deciding goal in the closing 20 minutes of

2580-491: A petition demanding Austria withdraw from the tournament to spare the nation's embarrassment. However, Austria managed a 1–1 draw with Poland and lost 1–0 to both Croatia and Germany. Shortly after Austria's first-round exit from the tournaments, Hickersberger resigned as the national team coach. Karel Brückner , who had resigned as head coach of the Czech Republic after that country's first round exit from Euro 2008,

2709-460: A pity... what a pity". At the final whistle, Szepesi was fighting for composure: "end of the game. West Germany's team is World Champion. Dear listeners, it is hard for me to say anything, believe me... But let's recognize that the West Germans were very fair and won deservedly. ... We have been unbeaten for four years. Now we have lost. This is not a tragedy, my listeners... this is a defeat in

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2838-546: A playoff was needed for qualifying, held in Gelsenkirchen . In order to have enough time to prepare, the championship round was suspended and the stadium in Gelsenkirchen was prepared five days before the playoff. On snow-covered ground, Austria lost 1–2. Anchored by Herbert Prohaska and striker Hans Krankl , and backed up by Bruno Pezzey , Austria reached the World Cup in 1978 and 1982 and both times reached

2967-551: A result, Germany missed the 1950 FIFA World Cup . In the early 1950s, Sepp Herberger – resuming the role as national team coach that he had already occupied between 1936 and 1942 – built the West German team around a nucleus of players from the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern , the German champions of 1951 and 1953, led by veteran playmaker Fritz Walter . The players were semi-professionals ( Vertragsspieler ), who often worked in

3096-489: A second job or owned a business to support their incomes. Prior to the 1954 tournament, West Germany had played only a few friendly internationals and a short qualifying campaign (against Norway and the Saar ). This lack of international exposure left both national and foreign observers unclear about the quality of the German team. Herberger advocated clear roles in defence but permanent positional switches in attack – dubbed

3225-433: A seeded team against an unseeded team (this contrasts with a conventional round-robin in which every team plays every other team, which would have resulted in six matches in each group). In a further oddity, extra time would be played if the teams were level after ninety minutes in the group games, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 minutes. The top two teams from each group would qualify for

3354-569: A shock to Hungarian public. Spontaneous demonstrations erupted in Budapest and were directed not only against the team, but also the communist-authoritarian regime controlled by general secretary Mátyás Rákosi , which had used the Golden Team's prestige to boost its own reputation. Goalkeeper Grosics characterized the post-match atmosphere in Hungary as follows: " The reaction in Hungary was terrible. Hundreds of thousands of people poured into

3483-479: A tap-in from Roberto Baggio . Despite Andi Herzog 's stoppage time penalty, Austria finished third in the group, behind the Italians and Chileans. After 1998, Austria began to decline. They failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000 , and suffered embarrassment (similar to the Faroe Islands loss) when they lost 9–0 to Spain and 5–0 to Israel in 1999. In 2006, Josef Hickersberger became coach of

3612-478: A team starring midfielder Ernst Ocwirk . They lost in the semi-finals 1–6 to eventual champions Germany in battle in scorching heat (no substitutions were allowed at the time), but finished third after beating defending champions Uruguay 3–1. Over the years, a strong yet mainly lopsided rivalry with Germany developed. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the Austrian suffered defeats to eventual champions Brazil ,

3741-413: A through ball from Bozsik but wrong-footed goalkeeper Toni Turek with a back pass, who failed to control the ball. Czibor sprinted in between and put the ball into the empty net. West Germany came back quickly. In the 10th minute, Fritz Walter played Rahn free on the left wing, who crossed low and hard into the center. The ball went through the legs of right fullback Jenő Buzánszky , Zakariás lunged for

3870-402: A wave of euphoria throughout Germany, which suffered from a lack of international recognition in the aftermath of World War II, and where expressions of national pride were still tainted with the recent past. Some publicists described the 1954 victory as a turning point in post-war German history , notably Arthur Heinrich and Joachim Fest . In Fest's words: " It was a kind of liberation for

3999-660: Is Germany. Though Austria has been the underdog (much like Scotland—England), the one-sided rivalry (much felt in Austria, not so in Germany) had produced some noteworthy victories by the underdog Austrians, most notably a 3:2 in Cordoba at the 1978 World Cup. This mythologized victory is, notably, not listed in German accounts of the Austria—German rivalry. As for Austria vs. Hungary, it is also notable in which both countries are

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4128-641: Is controlled by the Austrian Football Association . The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 March 1904, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the 1930s, under coach Hugo Meisl , Austria's national team, known as the "Wunderteam" (literally Wonder Squad"), became a dominant force in European football. Notable achievements included a fourth-place finish in the 1934 FIFA World Cup and runners-up at

4257-462: Is the only FIFA World Cup thus far in which two teams from Central Europe contested the final, with another Central European team, that of Austria , finishing third in the competition. Hungary's legendary Golden Team – also known as the Mighty Magyars – was the favorite to win the 1954 World Cup. In the five years prior to the final, it had remained unbeaten in 31 games (32 if counting

4386-471: The 1936 Summer Olympics . The Anschluss in 1938, which annexed Austria into Nazi Germany , led to the dissolution of the ÖFB and the forced integration of Austrian players into the German national team for the 1938 World Cup . After World War II, Austria reestablished its national team and achieved significant success in the 1954 World Cup , finishing third. The team continued to be competitive throughout

4515-508: The 1962 World Cup in Chile on the one had, or attempt (public) fundraising campaigns on the other zand.. On 20 October 1965, Austria became the third European team to defeat England at home. Two goals in a 3–2 victory were scored by Toni Fritsch , who was then nicknamed "Wembley Toni". However, in the same year, Austria failed to qualify for the World Cup for the 1966 edition , ending third against Hungary and East Germany ; they only earned

4644-655: The Austro-Hungarian Empire . Max Scheuer , a Jewish defender who played for the Austria national football team in 1923, was subsequently killed during the Holocaust in Auschwitz concentration camp . The team enjoyed success in the 1930s under coach Hugo Meisl , becoming a dominant side in Europe and earning the nickname " Wunderteam ". The team's star was Matthias Sindelar . On 16 May 1931, they were

4773-544: The European championship . The competing teams included Austria , Czechoslovakia , Italy and Switzerland . Hungary eased their way to a final against Italy on 17 May 1953, which they won 3–0 with a goal from Nándor Hidegkuti and two from Puskás. A friendly match was arranged for 25 November 1953 against England . England had never been defeated on home soil by a team from outside the British Isles (they lost to

4902-481: The Hungarian State Radio . The authorities revoked player privileges, such as the tacit approval of smuggling Western goods back to Hungary. Grosics – who some Hungarians blamed for the third German goal – was accused of espionage and treason, put temporarily under house arrest, and transferred against his will from Budapest Honvéd FC to the provincial team FC Tatabánya . The unexpected win evoked

5031-618: The Republic of Ireland in 1949), and the FA were complacent – as the inventors of the game, they were assured that their players were technically and tactically superior to any other countries. At the time, England were ranked as the 3rd best team in the world and Hungary were ranked as the best team in the world. The game was eagerly anticipated; the British Press reported it as "the Match of

5160-556: The UEFA European Championship though they were eliminated in the group stage. The country entered a resurgence in 2016, beginning with a successful qualification campaign for the Euros that year. Austria has experienced a revival in form, successfully qualifying for Euro 2020 and 2024 , the latter with current head coach Ralf Rangnick . The Austrian Football Association ("ÖFB") was founded on 18 March 1904 in

5289-588: The World Cup . Austria was drawn into UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group G alongside Poland , North Macedonia , Slovenia , Israel , and Latvia . Austria struggled in the first few games after a loss to Poland at home, a loss to Israel, and another to Latvia. Austria then won six of the last nine game matches and finished second in the group with 19 points. Marko Arnautović led the team in most goals and tied Poland's Robert Lewandowski with nine goals. Austria qualified for their third European Championship finals,

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5418-426: The "Herberger whirl" – to unseat the opponents' defenders. In the first stage, Hungary and West Germany were drawn into the same group (2). Hungary opened the World Cup with a 9–0 win over South Korea. It then played Germany, winning 8–3, and therefore qualified for the quarter-finals. In the game, Puskás suffered an ankle hairline fracture from a foul by German central defender Werner Liebrich that made Puskás miss

5547-410: The 18th minute, the Germans drew level from a corner kick; the goal was scored by Helmut Rahn . In the second half, Hungary poured forward looking to retake the lead, but their attempts were repeatedly foiled by the German defence, with goalkeeper Toni Turek pulling off several fine saves. With six minutes left and the score still 2–2, Helmut Rahn scored West Germany's third goal. Two minutes before

5676-421: The 1950s and 1960s, including a notable victory over England at Wembley Stadium in 1965. However, the following decades saw fluctuating fortunes, with the team failing to qualify for FIFA World Cups in the 1960s and narrowly missing out on the 1974 World Cup in a playoff against Sweden. The 1970s and 1980s marked a revival, with Austria reaching the second round in the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, highlighted by

5805-546: The 1954 team received injections of Pervitin. In an interview with Der Spiegel , Eggers also claimed that the German Football Association hampered their research by not allowing the team to access their archives. In any case, doping was not illegal in 1954, with doping controls introduced by FIFA only in 1966. As television was available only in a few homes or public places in 1954, the radio reports by György Szepesi and Herbert Zimmermann were

5934-658: The 1958 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals, and Schäfer would also play in 1962. Few of the 1954 World Champions went into coaching; an exception is Liebrich, who is credited with saving his home club Kaiserslautern from Bundesliga relegation in 1965 – with Lóránt becoming Liebrich's successor in the following season. Some players had difficulties to cope with fame, and struggled at times with economic problems and alcoholism. Austria national football team The Austria national football team ( Austrian German : Österreichische Fußballnationalmannschaft ) represents Austria in men's international football competitions, and

6063-402: The 23rd minute, left fullback Mihály Lantos chipped the ball into the box, Kocsis headed on to Hidegkuti, but Hidegkuti's volley was saved spectacularly by Turek. Four minutes later, Hidegkuti fired another shot from the edge of the penalty box that hit the goal post. Only towards the end of the first half did West Germany come to more chances. In the 42nd minute, Fritz Walter found Schäfer in

6192-447: The 4–2–4 formation. Sebes's idea of using a core set of players, drawn from just a handful of clubs, was a new idea that was critical to the success of the team. Most national teams were selected on the concept of picking the best players, not the best team; England famously had a selection committee that selected the team for each game, with little or no sense of continuity. By using players who were familiar with each other's strengths at

6321-549: The 6:5 quota again. The all-German team led the Swiss 2–0 after 15 minutes, but eventually lost 2–4 in Paris in front of a rather anti-German French and Swiss crowd, as few German supporters were able to travel to France due to German restrictions on foreign currency exchange. After World War II , Austria's 1938 annexation to Germany was annulled and Austria, as before, competed internationally. Austria's best result came in 1954 with

6450-421: The 72nd minute when Fritz Walter played Rahn free after a corner kick, and Rahn's powerful shot from the edge of the penalty box was saved by Grosics. With six minutes left, Schäfer dispossessed Bozsik and played a high cross into the penalty box. Rahn picked up Lantos' short clearance, feinted a pass to center forward Ottmar Walter that wrong-footed the Hungarian defenders, moved into the penalty box, and drove

6579-739: The 89th minute but was deemed to be offside, and there was an alleged foul on Kocsis in the penalty area in the final minute of the game. On 8 December 1954, Scotland hosted Hungary at Hampden Park in a friendly match, before a crowd of 113,000. Scotland were determined not to be humiliated as England had been a year earlier, and attempted to take the game to the Hungarians in a display of counterattacking football. This made for an open, attractive game with plenty of goals; Hungary scored on 20 minutes through Bozsik, and Hidegkuti made it 2–0 six minutes later. Scotland rallied and pulled one back on 36 minutes through Tommy Ring , but Sandor made it 3–1 to Hungary just before halftime. The second half continued in

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6708-399: The Austria national team, which included some respectable results such as a 1–0 victory against Switzerland in 2006. Austria qualified automatically for Euro 2008 as co-hosts. Their first major tournament in a decade, most commentators regarded them as outsiders for Germany, Croatia and Poland in the group stage. Many of their home supporters were in agreement and 10,000 Austrians signed

6837-575: The Century". The game was played in front of 105,000 in Wembley Stadium . Hungary scored in the first minute, and after 27 minutes they were 4–1 up. The final score was 6–3, with a hat-trick from Hidegkuti, two goals from Puskás and one from Bozsik. It was a footballing lesson that sent shockwaves through English football , and which ultimately caused English clubs to adapt more modern coaching and tactics. England were anxious for revenge after

6966-429: The German players to wear their regular footwear despite the adverse conditions. Puskás put his team ahead after only six minutes, when Bozsik intercepted a pass from Liebrich and found Kocsis with a through ball. Kocsis' blocked shot fell to Puskás, and Puskás scored from close range. Czibor added a second goal for Hungary a mere two minutes later, exploiting a misunderstanding in the German defense: Kohlmeyer secured

7095-576: The German players, unbeknownst to them, may have been injected with Pervitin ( methamphetamine ) – a stimulant given to soldiers in World War II. In 2013, the Süddeutsche Zeitung publicized details from the finished, 800-page study, in which Eggers and his team stated that the use of amphetamines became "normal" in German football from the end of the 1940s, and reaffirmed their previous claim that an unspecified number of players of

7224-692: The Germans from all the things that weighed down upon them after the Second World War ... July 4, 1954 is in certain aspects the founding day of the German Republic. " This World Cup final was also the first time since the Second World War that the Germany national anthem was played at a global sporting event. Hungary's Golden Team remained largely intact until the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , except that coach Sebes

7353-416: The Golden Team's 6–3 victory over England in 1953. He started his commentary of the World Cup final with cautious confidence, reinforced after Hungary's opening goal: "Puskás shoots... GOAL... A WONDERFUL GOAL! ... There is the lead. Öcsi's [i.e., Puskas'] foot is fine, this one could see with this shot. ... And now: calmly, boys, just as we played at the 8–3". Doubts started creeping in after Germany shortened

7482-550: The Hungarian defence. With a quarter of an hour to play Juan Hohberg scored for Uruguay; Hungary defended desperately until the 86th minute, when Hohberg scored his second to force extra time. Appearing to have much more energy than their opponents, Hungary retook the lead midway through the second period of extra-time when Sándor Kocsis headed home from close range; Kocsis scored again four minutes from injury time. Uruguay were beaten 4–2, their first ever World Cup loss, while Hungary went on to their second World Cup final. The game

7611-553: The Olympic silver medalists of 1952 – with 2–0. The team then went on to defeat Austria in the semi-finals, with an unexpectedly lopsided score of 6–1. During the tournament, the Hungarian team took residence in a hotel in the town center of Solothurn . This had several repercussions. As Hungary's semi-final against Uruguay was decided only after extra time, the team missed the return bus from Lausanne, and had to organize private cars that arrived only late at night. The evening before

7740-643: The World Cup. Hungary did not have to play qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup, as opponent Poland withdrew for lack of prospects. The players of the Hungary national team were full-time professionals. Most played for the army club Budapest Honvéd FC , or for MTK Budapest FC , which, in the 1950s, was run by Hungary's secret police. Several members of the Golden Team were well known and highly regarded for their skills, including forwards Sándor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskás , attacking midfielder Nándor Hidegkuti , half-back József Bozsik , outside forward Zoltán Czibor and goalkeeper Gyula Grosics . Coach Gusztáv Sebes , who

7869-449: The ball but could only deflect it, and forward Max Morlock converted from close range. Eight minutes later Morlock dribbled through the Hungarian defense, but center back Gyula Lóránt cleared for a corner. Fritz Walter played the corner short, Buzánszky cleared for another corner. The second corner kick came long and high, finding Rahn, who leveled the score. Hungary took control after the equalizer and came to several good chances. In

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7998-411: The ball hard and low past Grosics for the third German goal. Two minutes later, Puskás appeared to have leveled the score once more when he converted a through ball from Tóth flicked on by Kocsis, but the attempt was ruled offside. In the final minute of the game, Czibor had another chance to equalize, but his shot from close range was again stopped by Turek. The whistle soon thereafter ended not only

8127-480: The best international football team ever in football history. The team is generally credited for successfully implementing an early form of " Total Football ", later used effectively by the Dutch in the 1970s. The team is also generally recognized for introducing new, scientific coaching and tactical innovations, which were subsequently adopted throughout the game. The team's success became a subject of national pride in

8256-573: The biggest upsets in footballing history. The game was played in Landskrona , Sweden, as there were no grass fields on the Faroe Islands. It was a sign for things to come, as Austria suffered another couple of years of botched qualifying campaigns, despite playing some entertaining football in the closing stages of UEFA Euro 1996 qualification. In the 1998 World Cup , Austria were drawn in Group B alongside Italy, Cameroon and Chile. Their appearance

8385-517: The course of the tournament, finding its final formation only in the semi-finals. In particular, central defender Liebrich and right winger Helmut Rahn secured places in the starting lineup only after strong performances in the quarter-finals against Yugoslavia. In the final, Herberger had Hidegkuti marked by a midfielder, Horst Eckel , to prevent Hidegkuti from pulling Liebrich out of the defence when he dropped deep into midfield. He also instructed left winger Hans Schäfer to cover Bozsik when Hungary

8514-831: The defeat at Wembley, and a return match was scheduled in Budapest for 23 May 1954, three weeks before the start of the 1954 World Cup . Any hopes that the Wembley game had been an aberration were immediately dispelled as Hungary won 7–1, inflicting England's heaviest ever defeat that still stands to this day. Hungary went to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland as firm favourites; they were unbeaten since 1950, and had issued served notice of their ability with 6–3 and 7–1 thrashings of England. The 16 finalists were assigned to four groups, with each group having four teams in it. Each group contained two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were scheduled for each group, each pitting

8643-472: The domestic Hungarian league . The West German players became instantaneously famous in Germany as the Heroes of Bern . Several received lucrative offers to play abroad, but none accepted, continuing instead as semi-professionals in German clubs. Herberger overhauled the national team after the tournament. Hence, of the winning 1954 side, only Eckel, Rahn, Schäfer, and a 37-year old Fritz Walter still played at

8772-464: The emerging Soviet Union and a draw against England (who were rebuilding after the loss of several of their key players due to the Munich air disaster ), preventing the team from reaching the next round. Due to budgetary problems and the increased cost to travel to South America rather than some European location, Austria took the unprecedented decision, though having qualified, not to participate in

8901-405: The end, Puskás appeared to equalise, but he was ruled off-side. The match ended Hungary's unbeaten run in one of the biggest upsets in the history of football; West Germany won 3–2 in the "Miracle of Bern". There were three controversial incidents in the final, each favouring the Germans; Hungarian goalkeeper Grosics was allegedly obstructed for the second German goal, Puskás apparently equalised in

9030-406: The end... The boys are standing there, distraught. The crowd screams. Six more minutes. The Hungarian team has played brilliantly – I cannot say anything else. My tears are flowing, but believe me, the boys gave it all." – and Puskás disallowed equalizer – "Puskás, you have the ball!!! SHOT!!! GOAL!!! ... OFFSIDE, offside; Griffiths indicated offside, my listeners, Griffiths has given offside – oh what

9159-482: The final group stage match, Austria only needed a draw against Ukraine to advance as one of the best third-place teams while a win guaranteed second place. They beat Ukraine 1–0 to secure their first knockout stages at the European Championship in second place in Group C, in addition to it being their first time advancing past the first round of a tournament since the 1982 World Cup. They faced Italy in

9288-455: The final, a village fair took place in front of the hotel that lasted until the early morning hours and disrupted the players' sleep. Further, Herberger's assistant Albert Sing checked into the hotel, from where he reported about the Hungarian team preparations. By contrast, the German team resided in the tranquil lake town of Spiez , where it was unaffected from such disturbances. The Spirit of Spiez became proverbial in Germany for describing

9417-406: The final. These included: Immediately after the match, rumors emerged that the German team had taken performance-enhancing substances. Several members of the team fell ill with jaundice , presumably from a contaminated needle, and of them, winger Richard Herrmann , died just eight years later of cirrhosis , at the age of 39. Members of the team later claimed they had been injected glucose , and

9546-406: The first European, non-British countries to play international matches, three full decades after the first ever international football match . The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.    Win    Draw    Loss    Fixture The following players have also been called up to

9675-486: The first continental European side to defeat Scotland . In the 1934 FIFA World Cup , Austria finished fourth after losing 0–1 to Italy in the semi-finals and 2–3 to Germany in the third place play-off. They were runners-up in the 1936 Olympics in Germany, again losing to Italy 1–2, despite having been beaten in the quarter-finals by Peru, following the Peruvians' withdrawal. However, according to an investigation,

9804-406: The former Austrian territory. Theoretically, a united team could have been an even stronger force than each of the separate ones, but German coach Sepp Herberger had little time and very few matches to prepare and merge the very different styles of play and attitude. The former Austrian professionals outplayed the rather athletic yet amateur players of the "Old Empire" in a "reunification" derby that

9933-411: The goal line from Tóth, and three minutes later Kocsis headed a cross by Tóth against the cross bar. In the 67th minute, Turek saved a shot by Puskás with his foot, and in the 78th minute he left the goal line to block a through ball from Bozsik ahead of the onrushing Czibor. Hidegkuti picked up the loose ball but shot into the side netting. West Germany's first good chance of the second half came in

10062-570: The home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution erupted in Budapest. The players decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return with Athletic to be played at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. Honvéd were eliminated 6–5 on aggregate, and the Hungarian players were left in limbo. They summoned their families from Budapest, and despite opposition from FIFA and the Hungarian football authorities, they organised

10191-407: The ideal would be for any of his players to be able to play in any position. This was a revolutionary idea – most players were used to playing in one specific position. This was an early form of Total Football . Ferenc Puskas commented, "When we attacked, everyone attacked, and in defence it was the same. We were the prototype for Total Football." Finally, the influence of Jimmy Hogan on Sebes and

10320-465: The influence of Jimmy Hogan cannot be underestimated. The tactics of Sebes – especially the concept of a deep lying centre forward – revolutionised a game where the majority of club and international sides had played the WM formation for the previous 20 years. The introduction and success of the Hungarian 3–2–3–2 formation led other managers and countries to experiment, with the 3–2–3–2 eventually evolving into

10449-432: The lead via Zoltán Czibor. Uruguay rallied but were unable to even the scores before half-time. Almost immediately after the restart, Nándor Hidegkuti scored a second goal for Hungary. Uruguay's unbeaten World Cup record seemed to be over, but they still had most of the second half to recover. The champions were not going to give up without a fight, and spent much of the remainder of the match launching attack after attack at

10578-407: The lead – "the clouds are piling up in front of the mountains... hopefully this is not a bad sign" – and grew stronger at half time – "it will be even more difficult than the matches before, more difficult perhaps than against Brazil and Uruguay". Szepesi's doubts gave way to desperation with Germany's winning goal – "dear listeners, Rahn's shot is in the goal, in the right corner, six minutes before

10707-452: The lowest rating and ranking reached by each nation. The team that has achieved the highest rank in each confederation is shown in color. The Mighty Magyars feature in three of the top 10 highest rated matches all-time. A list of the 10 matches between teams with the highest combined Elo ratings (the nation's points before the matches are given) as of July 16, 2010. 1954 FIFA World Cup final The 1954 FIFA World Cup final

10836-521: The main vehicles for transmitting the World Cup final live to the Hungarian and West German populations. Both commentaries became legendary for their passionate, emotional reporting styles, and are sometimes credited with contributing to the charged atmosphere in both countries after the final. Szepesi – who later became the chairman of the Hungarian Football Federation – had been a household name in Hungary since his report of

10965-465: The manager of several Hungarian teams. Sebes also managed several Hungarian clubs in the 1960s ( Ujpesti Dozsa , Budapest Honvéd FC and Diosgyori VTK ) with moderate success. The historical significance of the team lay in three areas; the introduction of new tactics, the concept of using a core set of well trained players used to playing as a team, and the idea that each player could play in any position if necessary. The importance of Gusztáv Sebes and

11094-666: The match a lasting impact on both German and Hungarian post-World War II history, contributing in West Germany to a sense of regained international recognition after the lost Second World War and denazification , and in Hungary to discontent with the communist-authoritarian regime in the run-up to the 1956 Hungarian revolution . In Germany, the 1954 final is known as the Miracle of Bern (German: Wunder von Bern , pronounced [ˌvʊndɐ fɔn ˈbɛʁn] ). The win earned Germany its first of four World Cup titles, with

11223-535: The match after a previous Austrian goal a minute before was controversially disallowed. A week later, the team played a friendly away game against Brazil , losing 2–1. Austria finished its Euro 2016 qualifying campaign by topping the group undefeated. Despite this successful performance in qualification, the tournament itself turned out to be a nightmare for the Austrians. Placed in group F with Hungary , Portugal and Iceland , Austria opened their campaign with

11352-405: The match, but also the Golden Team's unbeaten run. Assistant referees : Vincenzo Orlandini ( Italy ) Sandy Griffiths ( Wales ) Match rules A match analysis by the website spielverlagerung.de , produced 60 years after the game based on data extracted from Herbert Zimmermann 's live radio commentary, shows Hungary ahead in most categories, except goals scored. Hungarian superiority

11481-567: The natural successors to the Hungarians as the world's premier footballing side. In addition, the Soviet team and players were regarded as ideals of socialist principles by senior communist authorities, who expected the Soviet Union to win comfortably, as befitting the senior member of the Eastern Bloc . However, a single goal from Zoltán Czibor ended the Soviet Union's unbeaten home record; the result did little to encourage good relations between

11610-403: The opener, but among the three teams that had won two matches, was eliminated based on goal difference, having conceded two late goals in their 3–2 win over Chile . This match caused outrage between supporters of multiple national teams; as a result, all future tournaments would see the last group matches played simultaneously. Austria and Northern Ireland were eliminated by losing to France in

11739-433: The other half-back, József Zakariás , covering for Bozsik; requesting full-backs to assist in attack and wingers to assist in defence; and introducing flexible positional play that created confusion among opponents used to fixed roles and strict man-marking. The three German entities emerging from the Second World War – West Germany, East Germany and the Saar protectorate – were not admitted to FIFA until late 1950. As

11868-477: The other titles to follow in 1974 and 1990 as West Germany, and in 2014 as reunified Germany . West Germany was the third country to win a World Cup, following Uruguay ( 1930 and 1950 ) and Italy ( 1934 and 1938 ), although, different from Uruguay and Italy, West Germany won its maiden title as a guest rather than host. For Hungary, the second place in 1954 remains the best World Cup result to date, jointly with finishing runners-up in 1938. The 1954 tournament

11997-408: The penalty box, who dribbled past Lóránt and forced a save at full stretch from Grosics. The loose ball fell to Rahn, but Buzánszky cleared on the goal line. Hungary came out attacking in the second half and created plentiful chances. Two minutes after the restart, Bozsik played Puskás free in the penalty box, but Puskás fired the ball straight at Turek. In the 54th minute, Kohlmeyer cleared twice on

12126-416: The preliminary rounds, before meeting the 1948 defending Olympic champions, Sweden , in the semi-finals. Hungary demolished Sweden 6–0 to set up a final against Yugoslavia . Goals from Ferenc Puskás and Zoltán Czibor ensured a 2–0 victory and the Olympic gold for Hungary. Hungary took part in the 1948-53 Central European International Cup , a nations cup for teams from Central Europe and the forerunner of

12255-480: The quarter- and semi-finals. From a statistical perspective, on the eve of the 1954 World Cup final, the Hungarian team held the highest Elo score for a national side to that date. Its rating was surpassed only in 2014 by Germany. West Germany first played Turkey, winning 4–1. In the subsequent 3–8 loss to Hungary, Herberger rested several key players and played others out of position (for example, Fritz Walter as central striker instead of playmaker). The main purpose

12384-503: The quarter- and semi-finals. In the quarter-finals, Hungary beat co-favorites Brazil – runners-up of the 1950 World Cup – with 4–2, despite Puskás' absence. The hard-fought, grueling match became famous as the Battle of Berne . In the semi-finals, Hungary defeated defending World Cup champions Uruguay 4–2 after extra time. Also this match is regarded a classic for the high quality of both sides' attacking game. Kocsis scored twice in both

12513-459: The quarter-final and semi final stages. Hungary met Brazil in an eagerly anticipated quarter final; both sides had a reputation for open, attacking football. The Brazilians had lost the last and deciding match of the 1950 World Cup to Uruguay , and were anxious to reach the final again. Unfortunately, the game was notable for the number of cynical fouls performed by both sides rather than as an exhibition of footballing technique; Hungary took

12642-452: The quarter-finals. Hungary shared Group B with Turkey , West Germany and South Korea ; Hungary and Turkey were the two seeded sides in the group. Hungary won their opening game against South Korea 9–0, with Kocsis scoring a hat-trick. In the second game, Hungary thrashed West Germany 8–3, with Kocsis scoring another 4 goals; however, fouling on Puskás left him with a hairline fracture of the ankle which left him unavailable for selection for

12771-488: The radio commentator Edi Finger (" I werd narrisch! ") became famous in Austria, where it is considered the " Miracle of Cordoba ", while the West Germans regard the game and the Austrian behaviour as a disgrace. During the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Austria and West Germany met again, in the last match of the group stage. Because the other two teams in the group had played their last match the previous day, both teams knew that

12900-409: The round of 16 at Wembley Stadium and lost 2–1 after extra time with Saša Kalajdžić scoring their only goal of the game in the 114th minute. While the match-up between Austria and Hungary is the second most-played international match in football (only Argentina and Uruguay , another two neighboring countries, have met each other in more matches), Austria's arch rival, especially since World War II,

13029-411: The same vein, with Partick Thistle winger John Mackenzie constantly beating Hungary full back Mihály Lantos . Bobby Johnstone scored a second goal for Scotland on 46 minutes, and only poor finishing prevented Scotland from equalising. The home side continued to press forward, but were caught on a counter break right at the end of the match when Kocsis scored to make the final score 2–4 to Hungary. It

13158-565: The second round group stage of three teams. Led by striker Toni Polster , Austria qualified for the 1990 World Cup but were eliminated in the first round, despite defeating the United States 2–1. Much worse was the stunning 1–0 loss against the Faroe Islands , a team made of amateurs, in the qualifying campaign for the 1992 European Championship , considered the worst embarrassment in any Austrian team sport ever, and one of

13287-488: The second round, held in team group matches that replaced the knockout quarter-finals. This Austria team, coached by Helmut Senekowitsch , is widely regarded as the best post-World War II Austrian football team of all-time. In the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the Austrians lost their first two matches but defeated defending champions West Germany 3–2 with goals from Hans Krankl, and an own goal. The celebrating report of

13416-416: The second time Austria qualified for a major tournament consecutively since the 1954 and 1958 World Cups. Austria was drawn into UEFA Euro 2020 Group C alongside the Netherlands , Ukraine , and debutants North Macedonia. Austria kicked off the opener with a 3–1 victory against North Macedonia, their first win at a European Championship and the first time scoring more than one goal in a group stage game. In

13545-575: The senior squad, including Sebastian Prödl , Markus Suttner , Martin Harnik , Veli Kavlak , Erwin Hoffer , Zlatko Junuzović and Rubin Okotie . The team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but finished third with a 5–2–3 record with 17 points and a +10 goal difference in their qualifying group. Notable results include home victories over the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, as well as

13674-421: The streets in the hours after the match. On the pretext of football, they demonstrated against the regime ... in those demonstrations, I believe, lay the seeds of the 1956 uprising. " Sebes was severely criticized for the team's selection and tactics, and blamed the negative reaction in part on Szepesi's emotional radio report. Sebes achieved that Szepesi was temporarily removed from commenting football matches for

13803-459: The surprise victory by Peru was deliberately annulled by Adolf Hitler to favour the Austrians. The team then qualified for the 1938 World Cup finals, but Austria was annexed to Germany in the Anschluss on 12 March of that year. On 28 March, FIFA was notified that the ÖFB had been abolished, resulting in the nation's withdrawal from the World Cup. Instead, the German team would represent

13932-532: The team cannot be underestimated. The then president of the Hungarian Football Association, Sandor Barcs, said: "Jimmy Hogan taught us everything we know about football". and Sebes himself said of Hogan, "We played football as Jimmy Hogan taught us. When our football history is told, his name should be written in gold letters". The Hungarians arrived at the 1952 Summer Olympics unbeaten for two years. The team easily defeated opponents in

14061-570: The team physician Franz Loogen said in 2004 that the players had only been given Vitamin C before the game. In 2010, Erik Eggers  [ de ] of the Humboldt University of Berlin challenged the validity of these claims, stating: "Vitamin C is not injected. This is very unusual. They could have just eaten an orange instead." As the co-author of a study conducted by the University of Leipzig , he also hypothesized that

14190-527: The team's morale and comradeship. Puskás returned to the Hungarian squad for the final, despite doubts about his fitness. Further, Sebes replaced the customary right winger László Budai with Mihály Tóth , as he considered Budai too exhausted after the semi-finals. He also placed left winger Czibor on the right in the first half (switching with Tóth), to exploit Czibor's speed against Germany's left fullback Werner Kohlmeyer . Other than this, Sebes fielded his standard formation. The German team had evolved in

14319-488: The team) – but were unable to repeat earlier success. In the 1960s and beyond, Hidegkuti, Puskás, and Lóránt became prominent international coaches, managing clubs such as Panathinaikos (Puskás), Fiorentina (Hidegkuti), and Bayern Munich (Lóránt). Lóránt's admission to the German Sport University Cologne was arranged by Herberger. Several other Golden Team members had success as coaches in

14448-492: The technically most gifted squad that one knows!". Self-esteem grew as the match progressed – "six minutes still to play in Bern in the first half. Score: 2–2. This is more than what we dared to hope in our wildest dreams" – including after Buzánszky cleared Rahn's shot on the goal line: "now, dear Hungarians, we have to say: now you have been lucky". When Turek stopped Hidegkuti's volley from close range, Zimmermann famously called him

14577-514: The time neglected. As a consequence, the Hungarian side were able to outrun, outpass and outplay their opposition. Finally, Sebes's successful implementation of Jimmy Hogan 's theory that every player should be able to play in all positions was critical to the success of the team; previously, each player in a team was assigned a specific position or role, usually marking a specific opposition player. The Hungarian tactic of players constantly changing roles and positions could only be introduced by using

14706-475: The two countries, and was a minor contributing factor to a wave of patriotic fervour that resulted in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Hungary continued to dominate international football; between July 1954 and February 1956, Hungary played a further 19 games, winning 16, drawing 3 and losing none. From 1950 until their demise in 1956 the team played a total of 69 games, winning 58, drawing 10 and losing just once and scored 436 goals. Despite this, manager Sebes

14835-403: The wingers back to the midfield when necessary. This effectively created an extremely flexible 3–2–3–2 formation, allowing the team to quickly switch between attack and defense. The tactic also drew defenders out of position, as centre halves used to man-marking a centre forward would follow the deep-lying centre forward back to the midfield. Thirdly, Sebes encouraged his players to be versatile –

14964-516: The world. Whether politics and religion had something to do with it I don't know, but they behaved like animals. It was a disgrace. It was a horrible match. In today's climate so many players would have been sent off the game would have been abandoned. My only thought was that I was determined to finish it." Uruguay were the defending champions, and had never lost a World Cup match in their history, winning both tournaments they had previously entered. Hungary were without Puskás, but still managed to take

15093-412: Was also Hungary's Deputy Minister for Sport, and MTK coach Márton Bukovi are credited with developing further the rigid WM formation that was standard in European football in the early 1950s. Innovations included pulling Hidegkuti – who was nominally listed as centre-forward – back into midfield to create space for the inside forwards, Puskás and Kocsis; employing Bozsik as deep-lying playmaker, with

15222-508: Was attacking, to help Fritz Walter – who normally would have been Bozsik's marker – preserve energy and concentrate on organising the German game. The match was played in heavy rain, conditions that the German side had christened "Fritz Walter weather", as Walter was known for playing his best football in the wet. In addition, the German team was equipped with boots supplied by Adidas that featured hitherto unknown, exchangeable, screw-in studs. The boots could be adapted to any weather, enabling

15351-411: Was brief, and they achieved the feat of only scoring in stoppage time in each of their matches. Against Cameroon, Pierre Njanka 's goal was cancelled out by Toni Polster 's late strike. In their second match, it was Ivica Vastić who curled a last minute equalizer, cancelling out Marcelo Salas ' disputed opener. In their last match, Italy scored twice after half-time: a header from Christian Vieri and

15480-598: Was built around a core of six key players: Ferenc Puskás , Sándor Kocsis , Nándor Hidegkuti , Zoltán Czibor , József Bozsik and Gyula Grosics . The manager of the team was Gusztáv Sebes , who had been a trade union organizer in Budapest and pre-war Paris at Renault car factories, and was therefore accorded a political clean bill of health to run affairs by the Deputy Sports Minister. Sebes can be credited with three key innovations. Firstly, he implemented fitness regimes for his players, as well as

15609-425: Was especially pronounced during minutes 20–40 and 45–70, while West Germany had good phases towards the end of the first and second halves. The analysis also suggests that many Hungarian attacks went through the centre, in most cases orchestrated by Bozsik, who played numerous accurate through balls to Hungary's forwards. By contrast, the German team attacked almost exclusively from the wings, with Fritz Walter playing

15738-528: Was in direct contrast to the quarter-final between Hungary and Brazil; both Hungary and Uruguay had played attractive, attacking football in what was arguably one of the finest displays of football in a World Cup. The final was between Hungary and West Germany. Hungary were in their second World Cup Final (their 1938 team had lost to Italy 4–2 in Paris ); in addition, they had a record of 34 wins, 6 draws, and 1 defeat since August 1949, and were unbeaten in their last 32 matches. Hungary had beaten West Germany 8–3 in

15867-495: Was replaced with Bukovi in early 1956. After the revolution, Puskás, Czibor and Kocsis emigrated and, ultimately, continued their careers in Spain, playing for Real Madrid (Puskás) and FC Barcelona (Czibor and Kocsis), respectively. At the 1958 FIFA World Cup , only four players from the Mighty Magyars still featured – Bozsik, Budai, Grosics, Hidegkuti (Grosics would additionally play at the 1962 World Cup as captain of

15996-535: Was sacked in June 1956, and was replaced by Márton Bukovi ; however, Sebes remained President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee from 1948 to 1960, and was also Vice President of UEFA from 1954 to 1960. The majority of the team played for Budapest Honvéd , who entered the 1956–57 European Cup and were drawn against Athletic Bilbao in the first round. Honvéd lost the away leg 3–2, but before

16125-495: Was soon named as his replacement. After only eight months, Brückner was released in March 2009 and the position was subsequently taken by Didi Constantini . In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 , the Austrians played against Kazakhstan , Azerbaijan , Belgium , Turkey and Germany. A number of players from the 2007 U-20 team that finished fourth in the World Cup that year ended up developing and becoming full starters for

16254-446: Was supposed to finish as a draw, yet in the waning minutes, the Austrians scored twice, with Matthias Sindelar also demonstratively missing the German goal, and subsequently declining to be capped for Germany. In a later rematch, the Germans took revenge, winning 9–1. In early April, Herberger inquired whether two separate teams could enter anyway, but "Reichssportführer" Hans von Tschammer und Osten made clear that he expected to see

16383-625: Was the closest any team had come to beating Hungary in a friendly competition since 1950. Afterwards, Puskas complimented the excellent work of Mackenzie, stating that he had "never seen wing play of such a high standard". On 23 September 1956, the Soviet Union played Hungary in a friendly game at the Lenin Central Stadium in Moscow, before a crowd of 102,000. The Soviet Union were unbeaten at home, and were generally regarded as

16512-663: Was the final match of the 1954 FIFA World Cup , the fifth World Cup in FIFA history. The game was played at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern , Switzerland, on 4 July 1954, and saw West Germany beat the heavily favoured Golden Team of Hungary 3–2. Earlier in the group stage , Hungary had defeated West Germany 8–3. The 1954 final is often listed as one of the greatest matches in World Cup history, and also one of its most unexpected upsets. Beyond football, some historians ascribe

16641-427: Was to preserve energy for the upcoming decider against (once more) Turkey. However, by sparing his strongest eleven, Herberger may have obscured the real strength of the German team to its subsequent opponents, including Hungary. Germany won the decider against Turkey 7–2. West Germany went as outsider into both its quarter- and semi-final matches. In the quarter-finals, West Germany beat highly regarded Yugoslavia –

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