The 1954 FIFA World Cup was staged at six venues in Switzerland from June 16, 1954, with the final taking place at the 64,600-capacity Wankdorf Stadium in the Swiss capital, Bern, on July 4, 1954. The tournament format was unusual insofar as, while the group stage featured four groups of four teams, each group included two seeded and two unseeded teams, such that the seeded teams played only unseeded rivals and vice versa. Extra-time was also included at the group stage.
In any event, eventual champions West Germany, readmitted to the tournament for the first time since World War II, came from behind to beat Turkey 4-1 in their first Group 2 match at the Wankdorf Stadium, but then lost 8-3 to the free-scoring pre-tournament favourites Hungary at the St. Jakob Stadium in Basel in their second. Consequently, they needed a playoff against Turkey to advance to the knockout stage, but came through with flying colours, winning 7-2 at the Hardturm Stadium in Zurich to secure second place in Group 2.
In their quarter-final at the Charmilles Stadium in Geneva, West Germany faced Group 1 runners-up Yugoslavia at ran out 2-0 winners, courtesy of an early own-goal by Yugoslav
centre-back Ivan ‘Ivica’Horvat and a late strike by outside-right Helmut Rahn. The semi-final, against Austria, back at the St. Jakob Stadium, became a one-sided affair in the second half, with West German captain Fritz Walter scoring twice from the penalty spot and his brother, Ottmar, also scoring twice in a resounding 6-1 victory.
In the World Cup final, at the Wankdorf Stadium, West Germany faced Hungary for a second time in the tournament and trailed 2-0 within the first 10 minutes after early goals from captain Ferenc Puskás and outside-right Zoltán Czibor. Nevertheless, within another 10 minutes, Germany were level, courtesy of a close-range efforts from inside-right Maximilian Morlock and Rahn, the latter from a Fritz Walter corner. The score remained 2-2 until six minutes from time, when Rahn jinked into the penalty area and fired a left-foot shot beyond Gyula Grosics to complete a memorable 3-2 victory. Indeed, in his homeland, the match would become known as the ‘Miracle of Bern’.