Hungary’s 1954 FIFA World Cup winning stamp was a failure, as the Hungarian team also failed to win. The Hungarians were certain to win (depending on their previous results against the Germans), so 2 million stamps were produced to celebrate the victory. On the night of 4 July 1954, all hope was lost and the government ordered all 2 million stamps destroyed. Some sheets were stolen that night, so the issue survived the devastation and was reborn as a rarity of European philately. The price of a single stamp is now around EUR 2000.
