Football World Cup 1954 / Austria
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The Austrian national soccer team took part in a soccer world championship for the second time in 1954 after the association had canceled participation in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil due to the high travel costs. The national team clearly won the duel in qualifying and traveled as a secret favorite for the title in Switzerland, which was spared the war .
The Austrians were able to confidently win their group without conceding a goal and played one of the most famous games in the history of the World Cup in the quarter-finals against Switzerland in the “ Heat Battle of Lausanne ”. The team reached a world championship semi-final for the second time since 1934, where, after a defeat against Germany, they were able to assert themselves in the game for third place against the reigning world champions Uruguay.
Third place in this world championship is considered to be the greatest success in the history of post-war Austrian football. In particular, the attacking performance of the Austrians with 16 goals, of which the vice scorer of the World Cup, Erich Probst , scored six goals, was convincing. However, since a large part of the Austrian players moved abroad after the tournament, this team never played together in the team again.
qualification
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Austria
|
9: 1 | 3: 1 |
| 2 |
 Portugal |
1: 9 | 1: 3 |
Austria was assigned to group 5 in the qualification . It was the smallest group because it consisted of only two teams: Austria and Portugal . With a 9-1 win in Vienna in front of 60,000 spectators, qualification was already clear after the first leg. Man of the day was the five-time goalscorer Erich Probst, between the 14th and 31st minute he even scored a flawless hat - trick to make it 4-0. The other hits were scored by Ernst Happel, Theodor Wagner, Ernst Ocffekt and Robert Dienst. The second leg in Lisbon ended 0-0. After 1934 and 1938 , when Austria could no longer take part in the World Cup finals due to the annexation of Austria by the German Reich, Austria qualified for a World Cup for the third time when it participated for the third time.
Preparation and aftermath
The preparation for the World Cup in Switzerland was carried out intensively and began a year earlier. Coach Walter Nausch , a former player in the wonder team , who was unable to take part in the 1934 World Cup due to injury, promised the veterans, together with the ÖFB, that they would be released abroad. After the World Cup, the offer was taken up by, among others, Happel, Ocffekt, Probst and Stojaspal, which, as with the wonder team twenty years earlier, led to the disintegration of one of the best teams in the history of Austrian football. The players of this World Cup never played together in the team again.
Austrian contingent
Games
Group stage
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Austria
|
6-0 | 4-0 |
| 2 |
 Uruguay
|
9-0 | 4-0 |
| 3 |
 Czechoslovakia |
0: 7 | 0: 4 |
| 4th |
 Scotland |
0: 8 | 0: 4 |
Austria was drawn into group 3 at the World Cup in Switzerland, together with the reigning world champions Uruguay, Czechoslovakia and Scotland. The red-white-red team played their two group games at the Hardturm in Zurich . In the first game, after a tough fight, Scotland was finally defeated 1-0, and the second qualifying game was won all the more clearly with 5-0 against Czechoslovakia. This meant that Austria and Uruguay, which also won both of their games, were first in Group 3, so the lot had to decide who was ranked first in the table. Austria was drawn - but this lot meant that you had to play against the hosts in the quarter-finals.
Thus Austria was group winner.
Group game against Scotland
Austria had a tough opponent with Scotland at the start of the World Cup, although the last two duels ended in their favor. The Scottish team was superior in the beginning and pressed on the first goal. But after half an hour Probst grabbed the ball and after a one-two with Körner II came free to the shot, scored the first of his six goals in this world championship and brought the red-white-red team 1-0 ahead. This narrow lead was defended by the Austrians until the final whistle, although the Scots almost hit the goal in the 89th minute. Kurt Schmied was able to parry a sharp shot from five meters.
| Austria - Scotland 1-0 | |
|---|---|
| Data | 250th international match on June 16, 1954 in Zurich |
| Austria | Blacksmith ; Hanappi , Happel , Barschandt ; Ocffekt , Koller ; R. Koerner , Schleger , Dienst , Probst , A. Koerner |
| Scotland | Martin ; Cunningham , Aird ; Docherty , Davidson , Cowie ; McKenzie , Fernie , Mochan , Brown , Ormond |
| Gates | Probst (33.) |
Group game against Czechoslovakia
The Austrian national team was clearly superior to the vice world champion from 1934 from the very first minute. After half an hour it was 4-0 for the Austrians. Ernstl Stojaspal made his comeback in the national dress in this game and opened the scoring in the third minute. Erich Probst was in no way inferior to Stojaspal and scored three more hits. In the second half, the Austrian team spared themselves a little from the quarter-finals. Ernstl Stojaspal still set the final point in a qualifying round that was successful from an Austrian point of view with his goal to make it 5-0. For Czechoslovakia, however, the 0: 5 meant the highest defeat in their history.
| Austria - Czechoslovakia 5-0 | |
|---|---|
| Data | 251st international match on June 19, 1954 in Zurich |
| Austria | Blacksmith ; Hanappi , Happel , Barschandt ; Ocffekt , Koller ; R. Koerner , Wagner , Stojaspal , Probst , A. Koerner |
| Czechoslovakia | Speedometer ; Safranek , Novak ; Trnka , Pluskal , Hertl ; Hlaváček , Hemele , Kacani , Pazicky , Kraus |
| Gates | Stojaspal (3rd, 65th), Probst (4th, 21st, 24th) |
Quarter-finals - "Heat Battle of Lausanne"
The quarter-final victory of Austria over Switzerland in the so-called heat battle of Lausanne is still the subject of numerous stories. Austria won the game with the most goals in the history of soccer world championships 7: 5. Goalkeeper Kurt Schmied suffered a sunstroke at the beginning of the game, but could not be replaced. The Swiss quickly took a 3-0 lead in front of almost 50,000 home fans. Kurt Schmied, meanwhile, was cooled by masseur Ulrich with thrown sponges. Ulrich stood behind the Austrian gate and began to direct Kurt Schmied, who was in a trance-like state, with every attack. Soon after the Swiss lead, the Austrian team tried to escape to the front and ten minutes later they themselves were 5-3 ahead. After a thrilling game in which Austria also missed a penalty, Kurt Schmied's team won 7: 5 and advanced to a semi-final of a world championship for the second time in history.
| Austria - Switzerland 7: 5 | |
|---|---|
| Data | 252nd international match on June 26, 1954 in Lausanne |
| Austria | Blacksmith ; Hanappi , Happel , Barschandt ; Ocffekt , Koller ; R. Koerner , Wagner , Stojaspal , Probst , A. Koerner |
| Switzerland | Parlier ; Bocquet , Neury , Casali ; Eggimann , kernels ; Antenen , Vonlanthen , Hügi , Ballaman , Fatton |
| Gates | Wagner (25th, 28th, 52nd), A. Körner (27th, 34th), Oc Wirk (32nd), Probst (76th); Ballaman (16th, 41st), Hügi (17th, 23rd, 58th) |
Semifinals
Austria went into the semi-final against Germany as the favorite and self-confidently - they were already dreaming of the final against their "arch rivals" Hungary . The omens before the game, however, did not speak for the Austrian team. The players were exhausted from the heat battle, Kurt Schmied was also unable to recover from his sunstroke and had to make way for Walter Zeman, who had a pitch-black day. The game was initially to the disadvantage of Austria - the half-time result was sobering. Thanks to a goal from Schäfer, the Germans led 1-0 at the break. In the second half, the Austrians pushed for the equalizer, but initially could not overcome Toni Turek and conceded the 2-0 after a corner in the middle of their urge phase. A short time later, however, Probst scored the first red-white-red goal in the semi-finals to make it 2-1. After a sharp shot from Turl Wagner, Turek dropped the ball and Probst shot in. However, the Germans re-established the 2-goal lead with a penalty kick - Austria again had a great chance to score. Turek was only able to parry a shot from Probst and deflect it onto the crossbar. Towards the end of the game, the Austrian team collapsed and could hardly resist.
| Austria - Federal Republic of Germany 1: 6 | |
|---|---|
| Data | 253rd international match on June 30, 1954 in Basel |
| Austria | Zeman ; Hanappi , Happel , Schleger ; Ocffekt , Koller ; R. Koerner , Wagner , Stojaspal , Probst , A. Koerner |
| BR Germany | Turek ; Posipal , Kohlmeyer ; Eckel , Liebrich , May ; Rahn , Morlock , Walter , Walter , Schäfer |
| Gates | Probst (51st); Schäfer (31st), Morlock (47th), F. Walter (55th FE, 66th FE), O. Walter (61st, 89th) |
Game for third place
In the game for third place, Austria was able to prevail against the reigning world champion Uruguay 3-1 and thus achieve the greatest success of Austrian football in the post-war period. The support team managed to get the broken players back up after the semi-final defeat against Germany, some of which were heavily criticized by the media. After Robert Dienst was placed in the opponent's penalty area, Stojaspal was able to convert the susceptible penalty specifically "half-center top left". However, the two-time world champions Uruguay scored an equalizer in the first half thanks to a long-range shot by Juan Hohberg. In the 60th minute the Austrians took the lead again after the combination of Stojaspal - Wagner - Körner. However, Körner's shot was deflected by the head of Uruguayan Cruz, so that the official tournament statistics speak of an own goal. A 30-meter bomb shot from Ocffekt marked the end of the last game in the most successful world championship in the history of the Austrian national soccer team.
| Austria 3-1 Uruguay | |
|---|---|
| Data | 254th international match on July 3, 1954 in Zurich |
| Austria | Blacksmith ; Hanappi , Kollmann , Barschandt ; Ocffekt , Koller ; R. Körner , Wagner , Dienst , Stojaspal , Probst |
| Uruguay | Máspoli ; Martinez , Santamaria ; Andrade , Carballo , Cruz ; Abbadie , Mendez , Hohberg , Schiaffino , Borges |
| Gates | Stojaspal (15th FE), Cruz (59th ET), Oc Wirk (79th); Hohberg (27.) |
Reception in Vienna
The players each received 38,000 schillings for their success at the World Cup - a handsome sum. The third place in the World Cup were greeted with great enthusiasm by several thousand fans at Vienna's Westbahnhof , who carried the players out of the station hall on their shoulders.
side note
In the ORF documentary "Heat Battle of Lausanne" from 2006, one of the players said that goalkeeper Walter Zeman and Ernst Happel had got out of the team's vehicle before the reception in Vienna, as the rumor was spreading back home that the two players should have been bribed in the game against Germany. This accusation particularly angered Happel, as it was made up out of frustration at the defeat.
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