FIFA World Cup 1954 was the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup and was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. The defending champions were Uruguay, who had won the 1950 tournament. Switzerland was chosen as host in part because it was neutral, and also because of its excellent facilities and infrastructure. It was won by West Germany, who defeated Hungary 3–2 in the final, giving them their first title.
The hosts (Switzerland) and the defending champions (Uruguay) qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, 11 were allocated to Europe (including Egypt, Turkey, and Israel), two to the Americas, and one to Asia. Scotland, Turkey, and South Korea made their World Cup debuts at this tournament. South Korea became the first independent Asian country to participate in a World Cup tournament. Austria appeared following a hiatus from 1934. A lot of the teams, like Hungary and Czechoslovakia (the pre-war World Cup runners-up) back into the tournament after missing out 1950 World Cup.
The knockout stage of the 1954 FIFA World Cup was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. The knockout stage began on 26 June with West Germany, Yugoslavia, Austria, Switzerland, Brazil, Hungary, Uruguay and England. The top two teams from each group (eight in total) advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament.
Semi-Final matches were played on 30 June 1954, both matches on one day. In the first match, West Germany easily defeated Austria with 6-1 goals. In the 2nd Semi-Final defending Champions Uruguay was defeated by Hungary with a 2-4 goal.
West Germany beat Hungary in the final 3-2. The 1954 FIFA World Cup is remembered for one of the most dramatic moments in football history: the “Miracle of Bern”. This was the nickname given to West Germany’s come-from-behind victory over Hungary in the final. Hungary had been the favorite to win the tournament. They had won all of their matches in the group stage and had beaten West Germany in the group Match.
They took the lead in the final against West Germany and led 2-0 . Then, Germany leveled the score in the 10th and 18th minutes. Then in the last minutes of the match, West Germany scored a goal to make the final score 3-2.