What is up, people of the internet? So, you may know that the World Cup is just around the corner and we here at BFW are putting together a series of articles about Germany in the build-up to the tournament itself. Teddy is already working on the top 10 goals that Germany has scored in World Cup history, so I proposed an idea that we should relive the best wins that Die Mannschaft has experienced. Which is why I’m here to introduce my top 10 Germany wins at the World Cup.
For this, I’m going to include
matches that I know and watched in person (live, on the TV, haven’t got the facilities to watch Germany live in the stadium yet) and I will also rank each match based on how special the match is to me.
10. West Germany 3-2 Hungary, 1954 World Cup Final
We’ll start off easy with Germany’s first ever World Cup triumph. Playing as West Germany, the eventual winners of this tournament only lost once in their entire run in the tournament. Unsurprisingly, it came against the legendary Hungarians who whacked the West Germans 8-3 in the second group match which came after a 4-1 win over Turkey and before a 7-2 win against the Turks in the playoff for the final knockout spot.
Die Mannschaft then beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in the Quarterfinals and smashed Austria 6-1 in the Semifinals. Then came the final, and it was said that the West Germans were somewhat surprised to have reached the final.
Their opponent was the same Hungary team that put eight past them earlier in the tournament. Star man Ferenc Puskás wasn’t fully fit, but this didn’t matter to the Magical Magyars who went 2-0 up inside eight minutes, with Puskás himself scoring the first goal. Hungary’s best finish at a World Cup was runners-up back in 1938, so maybe this is the time where they would finally win the highest honor in international football (and maybe in all of football).
The Hungarians must’ve been dreaming after scoring a second goal, so much that they didn’t realize it was already 2-1. What?! Max Morlock had pulled the West Germans back into contention. This goal injected confidence into the underdogs and before anyone knew it, Helmut Rahn scored the equalizer.
The great dream is slipping away from Hungary. This team is an all-timer team and they knew it: they played 45 games since 1949 and lost just once during that period leading up to the final. Something must be done to score the winner. They tried everything they could and threw everything at the Germans, who stood resolute to keep the score level for now.
Unfortunately for Hungary, they couldn’t capitalize on their chances. It was West Germany who did something to score the winner. The clock read 83 minutes when Rahn collected a loose ball just inside the box and fired a low, left-footed shot past Gyula Grosics in the Hungarian net.
Rahn couldn’t believe it. Germany couldn’t believe it. Hungary especially couldn’t believe it. In 1953 and 1954, Hungary beat England 6-3 (away) and 7-1 (home) in the build-up to the World Cup. There was no way some team they scored eight against in the tournament were going to win the World Cup ahead of them. Soon after Rahn scored, Puskás leveled the scores at 3-3. The West Germans were surprisingly calm about this; they weren’t troubled at all. Something was raised, and it’s not the Hungarian spirits or the frustration of the Germans: it was the linesman’s flag. Puskás was offside and the score remained 3-2.
West Germany held on to win 3-2 and to win the World Cup against a prime Hungary team was nothing short of a miracle. The match was henceforth dubbed “The Miracle of Bern” (Wunder von Bern) and there would be more World Cup success to come for the Germans. The same couldn’t be said for Hungary as they were grouped in the next World Cup in 1958 where they drew with debutants Wales, lost to hosts Sweden, and lost to Wales again in the playoff for the final knockout spot. They have since not achieved the same success as that star-studded team of the 1950s.
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