Brazil hosted the World Cup in 1950 post the second world war which didn’t allow the 1942 World Cup to go through as planned.
Image not recoveredHowever, even though they were favourites to win the cup, they lost in the final to Uruguay by two goals to one. To this day the black players of the 1950 World Cup were shunned, holding them responsible for the loss at the World Cup final.
In 1954, the World Cup was held in Switzerland and Ferenc Puskas led Hungary’s charge with the largest unbeaten run by any team in the run up to the World Cup. Widely regarded as the best finisher the game has ever seen Ferenc Puskas had a defect in one of his feet leading him to sometimes play with two left feet boots. Hungary, however, lost in the final to winners, West Germany.
In Sweden, in 1958 was a World Cup where no substitutions based on tactical decisions were allowed. In the final, Brazil played a 2-4-4 formation and won against Sweden that played a 4-2-4 formation.
Gopal Sea writes for FootballKerala.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Tuesday 4 May 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.