World Cup stunning moments: the Miracle of Bern


Hungary were unbeaten in four years. West Germany had no chance. Yet in the 1954 final the underdogs produced one of the great World Cup shocks

The rain was teeming down in Bern and Hungary were about to win the World Cup. Ferenc Puskas had put the Mighty Magyars ahead after six minutes and Zoltan Czibor had doubled the advantage after eight. They were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes and they had not lost in four years. They were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes against a team that they had beaten 8-3 barely a fortnight earlier. They were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes against a side who, four years earlier, did not even exist.

What unfolded over the next 80 minutes, if you subscribe to the more romantic interpretations, created one country and fanned the flames of a revolution in another. Even the most mundane reading of events would still need to use the phrase “greatest comeback ever seen in a World Cup final”. Hungary were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes but it was West Germany who were about to win the World Cup.

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