Injuries to Stanley Matthews and Nat Lofthouse caused England to make several changes to their team for this vital World Cup match against the host nation. The Wankdorf Stadium looked very impressive under a cloudless blue sky and it soon warmed to a cauldron-like atmosphere as the shirt-sleeved crwod, reminiscent of a Test match, basked in the conditions. Sadly, the football match, understandbly perhaps, never rose above the mediocre.

England, looking disjointed, never really got to grips with the game and far too often moves broke down before reaching the danger zone. The Swiss fared little better and it was hard to believe that they had already beaten Italy in these finals. On the plus side Billy Wright looked superb in his new role of centre-half and perhaps he will now settle down into a position that has been beckoning for some time.

Thirty minutes into the match, Tom Finney began to cause some flutters in the Swiss defence by moving to inside-right. Tommy Taylor also looked good and gave his market, Neury, a hard time. Five minutes before the break England broke the deadlock. Taylor headed a long through-pass in to space and Jimmy Mullen moved in to slide the ball past Parlier. It was a much-need boost for England.

The second half was very poor with the seering heat taking its toll on all the players, so, when midway through the half England settled the result with a second goal, the relief could be felt everywhere. The chance came with Billy McGarry finding Dennis Wilshaw with a ground pass. The inside-left sold two dummies before dribbling past Neury, Bigler and Bocquet to shoot a brilliant goal beyond Parlier. It was a fine effort by the Wolves player and effectively ended the contest.

There was only one other noteworthy moment when Switzerland almost set up a granstand finish. With 15 minutes to go Ballaman flicked his shot past Gil Merrick, only to see Ron Staniforth save a certain goal by running back to clear off the line to safety.

So England moved into the next round as Britain's only survivors but they would have to improve on this performance to have any chance of progressing any further.
   

Wolves left wing partners Dennis Wilshaw and Jimmy Mullen scored the goals, and their club captain Billy Wright started his first match as England's centre-half. Bill McGarry gave a solid debut performance in Wright's old position at right-half against the host nation and in searing-hot conditions that sapped the energy of the players. Mullen scored the first goal three minutes before half-time to silence a capacity 60,000 crowd. Wilshaw clinched the victory with a superb individual goal midway through the second-half, cleverly evading three Swiss defenders before steering a firm shot into the net. Syd Owen's injury had accidentally solved England's on-going centre-half crisis. Billy Wright slotted into the position as naturally as if born to the job, and the Swiss centre-forward was not allowed a sniff at goal.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
FIFA match report
Football.ch
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG