Austria v Switzerland (1954)

On June 26, 1954, in a quarterfinal match of the 1954 Football World Cup, Austria beat Switzerland 7-5 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 12 goals scored in the match set a World Cup record, unequalled to date, for the highest scoring match ever. The match is known by its German name, "Hitzeschlacht von Lausanne" (roughly translated to "The heat battle of Lausanne"), due to the high temperature that it was played under – 35°C (95°F).de icon [http://www.goal.com/de/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=143220 "Die Hitzeschlacht von Lausanne"] - goal.com - Retrieved 2006-12-08.]

Match chronicle

Switzerland, the tournament hosts, took a notable lead early on. In four minutes, the Swiss scored three goals: Forward Robert Ballaman opened the score at the 16th minute, followed quickly by two goals by Josef Hügi. Austria then became the first team in World Cup history to recover from a 3-0 deficit, scoring 5 goals in the remainder of the first half; Theodor Wagner initiated the Austrian response at the 25th minute; forward Robert KörnerAccording to the official [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/pwc/mr_1237.html match report] by FIFA, Robert Körner scored the second and fifth Austrian goals, but most sources not related to FIFA, including RSSSF( [http://rsssf.com/tables/54full.html#4fin] ), de icon SportZeitung ( [http://www.sportzeitung.at/topicshow.php?id=2242] }, ESPN( [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=197597&cc=5739] ) and the BBC( [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A779808] ), state that Robert's younger brother, Alfred, scored those goals. The RSSSF page also states that Alfred Körner took and missed a penalty kick in the 42nd minute.] drew the score to 2-3 one minute later, and another minute later Wagner equalized to 3-3. Austria had tied the score in three minutes. In 11 minutes, between the 16th and the 27th minutes, six goals were scored, three by each team. At the 32nd minute, Ernst Ocwirk gave Austria the lead; Robert Körner added his second, making the score 5-3. Ballaman scored again for Switzerland at the 39th minute. The first half thus ended 5-4 in favour of Austria, being the highest scoring half in World Cup history, even after inside left Alfred Körner had missed a penalty kick in the 42nd minute. [http://rsssf.com/tables/54full.html#4fin World Cup 1954 full details] - by Gwidon S. Naskrent et al, RSSSF. Retrieved 2006-12-08.]

Nine minutes into the second half, Wagner put Austria up 6-4 with his third goal, recording the seventh hat-trick of the 1954 World Cup ("See List of World Cup hat-tricks"). Hügi would then emulate the feat, scoring his third at the 58th minute. Switzerland was not able to equalize, and Erich Probst made it 7-5 to end the scoring at the 76th minute. According to FIFA, the extreme heat adversely affected Switzerland [ [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/1954.html World Cup Switzerland 1954 overview - "Did you know?"] - fifaworldcup.yahoo.com - FIFA. Retrieved 2006-12-08.] after they led the match 3-0 at one point. Other sources add that at first, Switzerland had been able to take advantage of the temperature, when Austrian goalkeeper Kurt Schmied suffered from hyperthermia early in the match, quickly allowing the first three Swiss goals, before being assisted by the Austrian masseuse while in play.

Match details

footballbox
date = June 26, 1954
17:00
team1 = fb-rt|Austria
report = [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/pwc/mr_1237.html (Report)]
score = 7–5
team2 = fb|Switzerland
goals1 = Wagner goal|25, goal|27, goal|53
R. Körner goal|26, goal|34
Ocwirk goal|32
Probst goal|76
goals2 = Ballaman goal|16, goal|39
Hügi goal|17, goal|19, goal|58
stadium = Lausanne, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise
Ref: Faultless (Scotland)
Attendance: 35,000

Line-ups

Austria
* Erich Probst
* Ernst Happel
* Kurt Schmied
* Gerhard Hanappi
* Karl Koller
* Alfred Körner
* Ernst Ocwirk
* Leopold Barschandt
* Robert Körner
* Ernst Stojaspal
* Theodor Wagner

Switzerland
* Eugene Parlier
* Roger Bocquet
* Andre Neury
* Charles Casali
* Oliver Eggimann
* Willy Kernen
* Charles Antenen
* Robert Ballaman
* Jacques Fatton
* Josef Hügi
* Roger Vonlanthen

References and footnotes

External links

* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/pwc/mr_1237.html FIFA official match report]