[1] At the tournament, several all-time records for goalscoring were set, including the highest average number of goals scored per game.

The highest scoring match of a World Cup happened in the quarter-finals of this tournament, when Austria defeated hosts Switzerland 7-5.

Switzerland was awarded the tournament unopposed at a meeting in Luxembourg City on 22 July 1946, the same day Brazil was selected to host the 1950 World Cup.

[4] The draw for the semi-finals, held on Sunday 27 June, was delayed by a complaint from the Hungarian team concerning the manner in which their quarter-final against Brazil had been played.

When meeting the seeded Turkish side at Wankdorf stadium in Berne, the Turks scored early, but the Germans convincingly won the encounter, which would turn out as the first of two within six days.

West Germany, being denied the chance to play such an easy opponent, had to face the seeded team of Hungary, a favourite to win the World Cup.

Sepp Herberger, the West German coach, did not want his A-squad to suffer a possible defeat against a strong opponent while trying to qualify for a rather meaningless first place, and gambled by going the easier route into the play-offs and sending in a reserve side which lost 8–3 in Basel.

[12] In the quarter-finals, the favourites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the most violent matches in football history, which became infamous as the Battle of Berne.

West Germany dispatched Yugoslavia 2–0, and Austria beat the host nation Switzerland in the game that saw the most goals in any World Cup match, 7–5.

Adi Dassler of Adidas provided the West German team with a new kind of shoes, with exchangeable studs that were replaced during halftime.

The second goal from Rahn gave West Germany a 3–2 lead while the Hungarian reporter György Szepesi burst into tears.

The West Germans were handed the Jules Rimet Trophy as World Cup winners, while the crowd sang along to the tune of the national anthem of Germany–there was disquiet in the stadium as the Germans fans decided to sing the (too) well known anthem's first stanza Deutschland über alles,[13] instead of the uncontroversial third Unity and Justice and Freedom which was supposed to be sung at official events according to a 1952 decree.

Hungarian goalie Gyula Grosics jumped to catch Fritz Walter's corner shot, but Hans Schäfer obstructed him (in plain sight of TV cameras), allowing the ball to reach Rahn, who then scored.

The camera filming the official footage was in a bad position to judge the situation, but eyewitnesses claimed that the referee was wrong, including West German substitute player Alfred Pfaff.

[16] In 2004, North German regional public channel NDR aired unofficial footage appearing to show that Puskás was onside.

West Germany also became the first team to win the World Cup after having lost a match at the finals, losing 8–3 after pitting the backups against Hungary in the group stage with the intention of getting an additional play-off game.

This feat was repeated by West Germany in 1974 (beaten 1–0 by East Germans), Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 2010, who all lost group matches 1–0 (coincidentally, all three teams won against the Netherlands in the final), as well as by Argentina in 2022, who lost their first group match 2–1 against Saudi Arabia but would also defeat the Netherlands (although this time, it was in the quarter-finals).

Turkey had also been one of the few non-German speaking countries that had played West Germany after being reinstated as FIFA member in late 1950; and like most, did it twice, Switzerland even four times.

Thus, West Germany's coach and players had limited international experience in 1954, and no intercontinental game before the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

West Germany's victory in the final is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time and one of the finest achievements in German sporting history.

The West German team was made up of amateur "contract" players from several regional leagues, as German sports did not have a nationwide league nor professional play before 1963, while the Hungarians were de jure amateurs, like in all the communist countries at that time, but playing football as professionals, mainly for Budapesti Honvéd FC and later for major clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, and were ranked best in the world.

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.

[25][26] The rankings for the 1954 tournament were as follows: The final scene of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film The Marriage of Maria Braun takes place during the finals of the 1954 World Cup; in the scene's background, the sports announcer is celebrating West Germany's victory and shouting "Deutschland ist wieder was!"