The Hungarian football team of the 1950’s redefined the sport of soccer, revolutionising the way the game was approached and breaking records by the bucket load. Between June 1950 and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 the Magnificent Magyars compiled a competitive record of forty-two wins, seven draws and only one defeat. The tragedy is that the defeat came in the final of the 1954 World Cup.
Puskas Led a Team of Stars
Rarely has a single national side been blessed with as many truly world class players inhabiting a single era. Yet Hungary during the 1950’s could call upon the services of a plethora of international stars. The incomparable Ferenc Puskas, arguably the greatest goalscorer in the history of the modern game, with 84 goals in 85 games, captained the team.
His strike partner was the equally predatory Sandor Kocsis, a forward whose 75 international goals were plundered in only 68 matches. Completing the triumvirate of attacking geniuses was the deep-lying centre forward Nandor Hidekuti (39 goals in 69 games), the last man to score a hat trick against England at Wembley, way back in 1953.
Aside from the strikers Hungary could call on the services of two other genuinely world class talents. Jozef Bozik in central midfield was the schemer and playmaker, the man who loaded the bullets for the strike force to fire. On the wing the mobile and visionary Zoltan Czibor epitomised the speedy and skilful wide player. Quite simply no other team in the international arena could match the Hungarian juggernaut over an unbeaten run, encompassing four years, between 1950 and 1954.
International Football Trophies For Hungary in the 1950s
The Hungarian national team of the 1950’s won two notable international tournaments in preparation for the 1954 World Cup. Firstly they claimed the 1952 Olympic title in Helsinki, defeating holders Sweden 6-0 in the semi-final, before claiming the title with a 2-0 win over Yugoslavia. In their five tournament matches they scored twenty goals while conceding only two.
The Magnificent Magyars also claimed the Central European International Cup, an embryonic version of the present European Championship, defeating Italy 3-0 in Rome in front of 80,000 spectators. This defeat was Italy’s heaviest for a generation and the only time they had conceded more than two goals since 1934.
Hungary 6 England 3
Hungary’s match against England at Wembley on 25th November 1953 is rightly lauded as one of the pivotal matches in the history of world football. On this day Hungary elevated football to an art form, mocking England’s pretensions of invincibility and handing them their first defeat at home by continental opposition.
Weaving hitherto unimagined tactical patterns and lining up in a formation that is now rightly regarded as the precursor to the famous Total Football of the Dutch, the Magyars took England apart, winning 6-3. The England team that day featured such luminaries as Stanley Matthews, Alf Ramsay, Billy Wright and Stan Mortensen. Yet they were torn asunder by Gustav Sebes’ side. The memory of Puskas leaving England captain Wright prone and helpless on the turf, before rifling home inside Gil Merrick’s near post will linger as long as the game of football endures.
England’s Record Defeat
Hungary had stretched their unbeaten record to twenty-eight games as the World Cup in Switzerland approached. The team’s final warm up before leaving for the tournament was a rematch against a clearly chastened England. In front of 90,000 screaming fans in Budapest the Hungarian players arguably reached the apogee of their brilliance, destroying England 7-1 in a performance of such coruscating luminosity that it remains, to this day, the record defeat ever suffered by the English national team.
History Beckons for the Best Team in the World
The Hungarian national football team of the 1950s had established itself as the number one in the world by June 1954. Unbeaten in four years and twenty eight matches Puskas, Kocsis et al looked ready to fulfil their destiny in Switzerland at the upcoming World Cup.
Steven Pink - Steven Pink is an experienced teacher and lecturer in English and History. He has worked across the age and ability spectrum in both the ...
Join the Conversation