World Cup countdown: 1954 produces an insane amount of goals | OneFootball

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Alex Mott·21 April 2018

World Cup countdown: 1954 produces an insane amount of goals

Article image:World Cup countdown: 1954 produces an insane amount of goals

You like goals, right? And you’re into the World Cup? Then boy would you have loved the 1954 edition in Switzerland.

The first tournament in Europe post-WW2, Hungary went into it as clear a favourite as there has probably ever been.


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With the fabled forward line of Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Koscis and Nándor Hidegkuti, the Magic Magyars entered their first group game against South Korea on a 37-match unbeaten run.

As would be commonplace that summer, the goals flew in. Hungary beat the Asian nation 9-0, but you didn’t have to be one of the game’s greatest teams to hammer an opponent that year – other results included: Uruguay 7-0 Scotland, England 4-4 Belgium and Germany 7-2 Turkey.

The quarter-final between Austria and Switzerland made history as the game with the most goals at any World Cup ever. It ended – and God only knows what José Mourinho would have made of this – 7-5.

Austria then got a battering themselves in the semi-final, losing 6-1 against West Germany.

Our old friends the Hungarians naturally made it to the final in Bern but against all the odds, lost in controversial circumstances to West Germany. It ended, somewhat tamely, 3-2, and would go on to be one of the most talked-about matches in the history of football.

So, in total that summer, 140 goals were scored in 26 matches, with an average of 5.4 goals per game. Good luck matching that, Russia.