BRAZIL FALTERS IN THE FINAL
ranks Ferenc Puskas, Jozsef Boszik and Sandor Kocsis, showed their class by thrashing Korea (9-0) and an admittedly under-strength West German side, 8-3. In the quarterfinals, Hungary, still on a roll, beat Brazil (4-2) in a high-tension match that ende
In front of a crowd of 200,000, Brazil, though it opened the score just after half-time, seemed tense, never displayed its characteristic Samba-style football. The Uruguayans equalised — far from being overawed by the partisan crowd — and then, with just 11 minutes to go, scored the winner.
The first post-war FIFA Congress meeting, held on 25 July 1946 in Luxembourg, was historic for several reasons. Firstly, by paying tribute to the FIFA President, who during the War years did everything in his power to keep the spirit of football alive. The World Cup was henceforth to be known as the “Jules Rimet Cup”.
The Congress also heralded the return of the British federations, absent since 1929. It was the Brazilian Sports Confederation, however, whose team had made such an impact on the 1938 World Cup, that was granted the responsibility of hosting the next World Cup, scheduled for 1950.
Football in Brazil had become so popular that it decided to build a brand new stadium with a capacity of 220,000 in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Work began on August 2, 1948. The deadline however, proved too ambitious, and building work was soon running behind schedule. Five weeks before the opening match, the Brazilian organisers found themselves somewhat overwhelmed
by the situation, and FIFA decided to send Ottorino Barassi, the president of the Italian Football Federation, who had so brilliantly organised the 1934 World Cup, to Rio. On June 24, 1950, the Maracana Stadium was officially inaugurated, though still looking like a building site and without a Press stand. But the stadium was ready to play host to the 13 teams qualified for the finals. The teams were divided into four groups (two groups of four teams, one group of three teams and one group of two teams).
After an easy victory over Mexico (4-0), the Brazilians, to everybody’s surprise, were held to a draw (2-2) by the Swiss. Yugoslavia, having won its first two matches, needed only a draw against the Brazilians to qualify for the next round. But in front of a fervent 150,000-strong crowd at Maracana, Brazil ran out winners (2-0). Brazil, then, qualified with three other teams, Spain, Uruguay and Sweden, not for the semifinals, but for a final series of matches in round robin format, in which England and Italy were surprising absentees. After a week’s rest, the Brazilians ran riot, thrashing Sweden (7-1) and then Spain (6-1). Nobody doubted for a minute that this impressive string of results would continue against Uruguay, which having drawn against Spain, had just three points to its credit. The Brazilians therefore needed only a draw to become the World champions. But in front of a crowd of 200,000, Brazil, though it opened the score just after half-time, seemed tense, never displayed its characteristic Samba-style football. The Uruguayans equalised — far from being overawed by the partisan crowd — and then, with just 11 minutes to go, scored the winner. Brazil had lost “its” World Cup. A whole nation was plunged instantly into mourning.
The Brazilian officials even forgot to present the Uruguayans with the World Cup trophy.
And it was left to Jules Rimet to go down onto the pitch in search of the Uruguayan captain to perform the task. Brazil could only console itself in the knowledge that the Taca de Mondo proved to be a tremendous sporting and financial success story. Football had entered a new era. •
West Germany confidently pursued its way through to the final for another meeting with its first-round conqueror, Hungary. The spectators were expecting the Hungarian magic to work again; and indeed, Hungary rapidly went two goals ahead. But it wasn’t to be.
The World Cup, staged in Switzerland at the foot of the Alps, was to soar to new heights in 1954. The qualifying rounds featured a higher number of nations than ever before (38), including several from Asia (Japan, Korea and China) and Africa (Egypt), giving the event a truly global dimension. Sixteen teams took part in the finals, three more than in Brazil four years earlier. This figure remained constant until the 1982 World Cup in Spain, when it rose to 24.
The quality of football in the games in Basle, Bern, Lausanne, Zurich and Geneva, the five host cities, reached dizzying heights. In 26 matches, an incredible total of 140 goals were scored, making an average of 5.38 goals per game. The Hungarians, Olympic gold medal winners two years earlier, and unbeaten since May 1950 (31 games: 27 wins and 4 draws), were the incontestable favourites.
From the outset of this fifth World Cup, the “Magic Magyars”, who included in their