Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Tournament details
Host country	Finland
Dates	15 July – 2 August
Teams	25 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	6 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Hungary
Runners-up	Yugoslavia
Third place	Sweden
Fourth place	Germany
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	135 (5.19 per match)
← 1948 1956 →

The Football tournament at the 1952 Summer Olympics was won by Hungary.^[1]

The games signalled the arrival (to Western Europeans at least) of the Hungarian national football team – the "Magical Magyars". Ferenc Puskás later said of the 1952 competition: "It was during the Olympics that our football first started to flow with real power."^[2] It was during the Games that Stanley Rous of English Football Association invited the Hungarians to play a friendly at Wembley the following year.

Venues[]

Helsinki	Olympic Stadium Kotkan urheilukeskus Töölön Pallokenttä Lahden kisapuisto Ratina Stadion Kupittaan jalkapallo-stadion		Kotka
Olympic Stadium			Kotkan urheilukeskus
Capacity: 70,470			Capacity: 11,400
Helsinki			Lahti
Töölön Pallokenttä			Lahden kisapuisto
Capacity: 18,050			Capacity: 8,067
Tampere			Turku
Ratina Stadion			Kupittaan jalkapallostadion
Capacity: 20,700			Capacity: 14,224

Squads[]

• Main article: Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads

The tournament[]

Preliminary round highlights[]

The preliminary round saw Hungary record a narrow victory against Romania, whilst there was an 8–0 victory for Italy against the United States, and a 5–1 victory for Brazil against The Netherlands. Great Britain succumbed to Luxembourg 5–3, whilst Egypt defeated Chile 5–4. Yugoslavia were drawn against the Indians and won 10–1.

First round highlights[]

The first round saw Scandinavian countries join the competition; the hosts Finland were beaten 3–4 by Austria, whilst Sweden defeated neighbours Norway 4–1. The game of the round was between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union; Yugoslavia had been 5–1 ahead with 30 minutes of the match to go, only for the Soviet captain Bobrov to score a hat-trick and inspire his team to an eventual 5–5 draw. A replay resulted in a 3–1 victory for Yugoslavia; the Soviet side had been expected by Moscow to win the 1952 Games, and their defeat by Yugoslavia was not mentioned in the Soviet press until after Stalin's death the following year.

Quarterfinals[]

Sweden defeated Austria to ensure a Scandinavian presence in the semifinals. Germany surprisingly beat Brazil 4–2 after extra time, whilst Yugoslavia won comfortably in a 5–3 defeat of Denmark. Hungary demolished Turkey 7–1 to complete the four semifinalists.

Semifinals[]

In the first semifinal, Hungary saw off Sweden with a comprehensive 6–0 victory, whilst Yugoslavia beat Germany 3–1 to set up a Hungary-Yugoslavia final.

Bronze Medal[]

There was some consolation for the Scandinavian countries as Sweden defeated Germany 2–0 in the third place play-off to secure the bronze medal.

Gold and Silver Medals[]

Two goals from Puskás and Zoltán Czibor saw Hungary beat Yugoslavia and take the gold medal.^[3]

Results[]

Preliminary round results[]

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First round results[]

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Quarterfinals results[]

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Semifinals results[]

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Bronze Medal match result[]

Gold Medal match result[]

showTeam details

Hungary Yugoslavia GK Gyula Grosics RB Jenő Buzánszky LB Gyula Lóránt RH József Bozsik CH Mihály Lantos LH József Zakariás OR Nándor Hidegkuti IR Sándor Kocsis CF Péter Palotás IL Ferenc Puskás OL Zoltán Czibor Manager: Gusztáv Sebes GK Vladimir Beara RB Branko Stanković LB Tomislav Crnković RH Zlatko Čajkovski CH Ivan Horvat LH Vujadin Boškov OR Tihomir Ognjanov IR Rajko Mitić CF Bernard Vukas IL Stjepan Bobek OL Branko Zebec Manager: Milorad Arsenijević

Bracket[]

	First Round					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	Hungary		3
	Italy		0
						Hungary		7
						Turkey		1
	Turkey		2
	Netherlands Antilles		1
											Hungary		6
											Sweden		0
	Sweden		4
	Norway		1
						Sweden		3
						Austria		1
	Finland		3
	Austria		4
																Hungary		2
																Yugoslavia		0
	Denmark		2
	Poland		0
						Denmark		3
						Yugoslavia		5
	Yugoslavia (p)		5 (3)
	Soviet Union		5 (1)
											Yugoslavia		3
											Germany		1
	Luxembourg		1
	Brazil		2
						Brazil		2
						Germany (a.e.t.)		4
	Germany		3
	Egypt		1

Medalists[]

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Hungary Gyula Grosics Jenő Dalnoki Imre Kovács László Budai Ferenc Puskás Zoltán Czibor Lajos Csordás Jenő Buzánszky Gyula Lóránt Mihály Lantos József Bozsik József Zakariás Nándor Hidegkuti Sándor Kocsis Péter Palotás	Yugoslavia Vladimir Beara Branko Stanković Tomislav Crnković Zlatko Čajkovski Ivan Horvat Vujadin Boškov Tihomir Ognjanov Rajko Mitić Bernard Vukas Stjepan Bobek Branko Zebec Ratko Čolić Slavko Luštica Zdravko Rajkov Vladimir Čonč Vladimir Firm	Sweden Karl Svensson Lennart Samuelsson Erik Nilsson Holger Hansson Bengt Gustavsson Gösta Lindh Sylve Bengtsson Gösta Löfgren Ingvar Rydell Yngve Brodd Gösta Sandberg Olof Åhlund

Goalscorers[]

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Own goal

• Gösta Lindh (Sweden, against Hungary)

Soviet Union vs Yugoslavia[]

The first meeting between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia is still the most famous one. On the political level, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito split in 1948, which resulted in Yugoslavia being excluded from the Communist Information Bureau. The origin of the conflict was Tito’s refusal to submit to Stalin’s interpretations and visions of politics and in process becoming a Soviet satellite state. Before the match, both Tito and Stalin sent telegrams to their national teams, which showed just how important it was for the two head of states. Yugoslavia led 5–1, but a Soviet comeback in the last 15 minutes resulted in a 5–5 draw. The match was replayed, Yugoslavia winning 3–1. The defeat to the archrivals hit Soviet football hard, and after just three games played in the season, CDKA Moscow, who had made up most of the USSR squad, was forced to withdraw from the league and later disbanded. Furthermore, Boris Arkadiev, who coached both USSR and CDKA, was stripped of his Merited Master of Sports of the USSR title.^[4]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Association football at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

• Olympic Football Tournament Helsinki 1952, FIFA.com
• RSSSF Archive