4 THE WORLD CUP The World Cup is a month-long celebration of soccer which is held every four years Teams from 32 countries battle it out on the fi eld for the ultimate prize in soccer the World Cup trophy WHAT MAKES A GREAT TEAM The World Cup tournament brings out the best in every team Games are played at a high level of skill and often decided by a single goal in overtime It is considered a great accomplishment to reach the championship game even though only one team will take home the trophy BRAZIL BRAZIL In the history of the World Cup there have been many excellent teams In the past Brazil has often been a dominant force and two of their teams are featured in this book However many countries have had memorable teams through the years CLASS ACTS What qualities should a great team have Sometimes it is simply world-class players and dramatic goals such as Brazil in 1958 and 1970 or possessing a genius who inspires their teammates as was the case with Maradona’s Argentina in 1986 Or it might lie in a quality team packed with talent such as France in 1998 or with a brilliant short-passing game such as Spain in 2010 WORLD CUP FAST FACTS FOUNDED 1930 NUMBER OF TEAMS THAT TAKE PART 32 expanded from 16 in 1978 and again from 24 in 1982 MOST SUCCESSFUL TEAM Brazil TOP GOAL-SCORER Ronaldo above with 15 FORMAT For the group stage teams are put in eight groups of four teams Each team plays all the other three teams once The top two teams from each group qualify for the knock-out stages where the winner of one group plays the runner-up of caption another The winners of this qualify for the eight-team quarterfi nals which are followed by the semifi nals and the long-awaited World Cup fi nal itself
WORLD CUP EXPERT INTRODUCTION Spain take on Honduras during a group match in the 2010 World Cup 5 CHARACTER AND TEAM SPIRIT But greatness can also lie in having the character to overcome adversity as was the case with the Italy side of 2006 Memorable teams also possess the mental strength and determination to overcome obstacles and a supposedly better team as West Germany proved by beating the Netherlands in 1974 In other cases it might simply be that the team is a perfect fi t and becomes more than the sum of its parts as was the case with England in 1966 Any selection of top ten World Cup teams will always be open to debate and we hope that this book will inspire many discussions But we hope you agree that these teams all deserve to be included England players celebrate a controversial goal against West Germany in the 1966 World Cup
6 The Hungarian team line up for their national anthem FAST FACTS 1954HUNGARY UNIFORM Red shirts white shorts white socks with red trim MANAGER Gusztáv Sebes CAPTAIN Ferenc Puskás KEY PLAYER Nándor Hidegkuti the deep-lying centre forward BEST PERFORMANCE Thrashing the eventual winners West Germany 8 3 in a group game Hungary’s Golden Team of 1954 was one of the best team not to win a World Cup A year earlier they had beaten England 6-3 at Wembley in the so-called match of the century The Magical Magyars were clear favorites to win the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland
7 WORLD CUP EXPERT HUNGARY PLAYERS AND TACTICS Under coach Gusztáv Sebes the Magyars had a modern fi tness program and tactics Sebes played Nándor Hidegkuti as a deep-lying center-forward a tactic that confused defenses He introduced near post crosses and an early version of total soccer with a short passing game and players swapping positions Central to the team was its striker and captain the incredibly skillful Ferenc Puskás Striker Sándor Kocsis was lethal in the air and on the ground The side had a fi ne left winger in Zoltán Czibor and a world-class goalkeeper in Gyula Grosics TO THE FINAL The Hungarians started the World Cup strongly beating South Korea 9 0 with Kocsis scoring a hat-trick and Puskás scoring twice then thrashing a weakened West Germany side 8 3 Unfortunately Puskás received a hairline ankle fracture in the Germany match Without their captain the Hungarians showed their battling side by beating Brazil 4 2 in a fi erce quarterfi nal known as the battle of Berne with Kocsis scoring twice again in a game that saw three players ejected from the game The semifi nal was a classic The Hungarians were two goals up against world champions Uruguay before being pulled back to 2 2 In overtime Kocsis scored with two great headers to propel his team into the fi nal FIGHTING SPIRIT All seemed to be going to plan in the fi nal against West Germany Puskás scored the fi rst goal playing through his injury Zoltán Czibor put them 2 0 up after eight minutes But they didn’t count on a muddy fi eld some great saves by Toni Turek and the unbeatable spirit of the Germans who tied the game Hungary hit the post and bar and then incredibly West Germany scored a third goal through Rahn after 84 minutes Even then with two minutes left in the game Puskás put the ball in the net only to have the goal to be controversially disallowed for an offside call MEMORABLE MAGYARS Before losing to West Germany the Hungarians were unbeaten for 32 games and they scored 27 goals in the World Cup tournament The West Germans staged one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history but that Hungary team has never been forgotten DID YOU KNOW Ferenc Puskás was nicknamed the Galloping Major His fi rst club team Budapest Honvéd was taken over by the Ministry of Defense and the players were given military ranks so he really was Major Puskás Max Morlock of West Germany scores his team’s fi rst goal in the 1954 World Cup fi nal
