1950's

bicycle kick.jpg (9147 bytes)

Football In the 1950's

Soon after the first few World Cups had been successfully staged, World War 2 broke out, and the Cup was stashed away somewhere until the next competition was finally held some 12 years later, in 1950.

1950 World Cup 1954 World Cup 1958 World Cup

Bra50.jpg (33119 bytes) The 1950 World Cup

The 1950 World Cup was held in Brazil, and Brazil really looked set to take it, stopped only by a spectacular final effort by Uruguay, bringing back the title to Montevideo for the second time. Many accomplished teams were absent from te tournament though, still bruising from the effort of the war and for both political and personal reasons. Argentina, still pouting from 1938, refused to turn up even with Brazil right beside them, while Germany, Austria, Sweden and Hungary all did not turn up. Russia was still hiding behind the Iron Curtain.

Final Match

Brazil 1-2 Uruguay (0-0) a tie would have given Brazil the title!

Stadium: Maracana

Referee: G. Reader (England)

Spectators: 200.000+

Goals: 1-0, 1-1, 1-2

Brazil: Friaça (1)

Uruguay: Schiaffino (1), Ghiggia (1)

Final Standings

1. Uruguay

2. Brazil

3. Sweden

4. Spain

The 1954 World Cup

The 1954 World Cup was remembered for the great Hungarian side that graced it. Scoring 17 goals in their three opening matches, they were eventually humbled by a German side that just grew stronger as the tournament progressed, and won a remarkable victory in the final against Hungary.

Final Match

Germany FR 3-2 Hungary (2-2)

Stadium: Bern

Referee: W. Ling (England)

Spectators: 60.000

Goals: 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2

Germany FR: Morlock (1), Rahn (2)

Hungary: Puksas (1), Czibor (1)

Third-Place Match

Austria - Uruguay: 3-1

Semi-Final Matches

Germany FR - Austria: 6-1

Hungary - Uruguay: 4-2 (after extra time)

The 1958 World Cup

The 1958 World Cup Finals marked the end of Hungarian prowess and the beginning of a era in which the Brazilians rose to become undisputed world champions. It was the beginning of Pele, the greatest striker Brazil and even the world had ever seen. Their superiority could be seen by the extent of the final result, with Brazil thrashing 5-2 to finally claim back the title as theirs after more than 20 years of waiting.

Final

Brazil 5-2 Sweden (2-1)

Stadium: Stockholm

Referee: M. Gigue (France)

Spectators: 49.737

Goals: 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2

Brazil:Vavà (2), Pelé (2), Zagalo (1)

Uruguay: Liedholm (1), Simonsson (1)

Third-Place Match

France - Germany FR: 6-3

Semi-Final Matches

Brazil - France: 5-2

Sweden - Germany FR: 3-1