Golden Team
The Golden Team refers to the Hungary national football team of the 1950s. It is associated with several notable matches, including the quarter-final against Brazil, semi-final and final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. The team inflicted notable defeats on then-footballing world powers Uruguay, Soviet Union, England, Germany, Brazil and Italy before the 1956 Hungarian Revolution caused the breakup of the side. The Golden Team was also known by different nicknames, such as the "Mighty Magyars", the "Magical Magyars", and the "Magnificent Magyars".
Between 1950 and 1956, the team played 69 games, recorded 58 victories, 10 draws, and is generally considered to have suffered only one defeat, in the 1954 World Cup final against West Germany. During this process, they scored 436 goals. Under the Elo rating system, they achieved the highest rating recorded by a national side. In 2016, the BBC listed the team as the best international football team ever in football history.
The team is generally credited for successfully implementing an early form of "Total Football", later used effectively by the Dutch in the 1970s. The team is also generally recognized for introducing new, scientific coaching and tactical innovations, which were subsequently adopted throughout the game. The team's success became a subject of national pride in a period of oppression by the Communist regime imposed on Hungary by the Soviet Union. In this period, any "nationalistic" or even patriotic expression was strongly disapproved of, since these were considered being against the internationalist ideal of the Communist government. In this atmosphere, international sport events were the only tolerated fields of expression of national pride.
Key people
The team was built around a core of six key players: forwards Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, defensive midfielder József Bozsik, and goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, all Kispest Honvéd players, as well as MTK offensive midfielder Nándor Hidegkuti. The manager of the team was Gusztáv Sebes, who had been a trade union organizer in Budapest and pre-war Paris at Renault car factories, and was therefore accorded a political clean bill of health to run affairs by the Deputy Sports Minister.Sebes can be credited with three key innovations. Firstly, he implemented fitness regimes for his players, as well as a club-like policy at international level to give impetus to regular practice sessions. Secondly, he was responsible for the tactical concept of a deep-lying centre forward. At the time, the majority of footballing sides adopted the WM formation, where the centre forward spearheaded an attack line of 3 forwards and 2 wingers. Sebes's tactic was to withdraw the centre forward back to the midfield, as well as dropping the wingers back to the midfield when necessary. This effectively created an extremely flexible 3–2–3–2 formation, allowing the team to quickly switch between attack and defense. The tactic also drew defenders out of position, as centre halves used to man-marking a centre forward would follow the deep-lying centre forward back to the midfield. Thirdly, Sebes encouraged his players to be versatile – the ideal would be for any of his players to be able to play in any position. This was a revolutionary idea – most players were used to playing in one specific position. This was an early form of Total Football. Ferenc Puskas commented, "When we attacked, everyone attacked, and in defence it was the same. We were the prototype for Total Football."
Finally, the influence of Jimmy Hogan on Sebes and the team cannot be underestimated. The then president of the Hungarian Football Association, Sandor Barcs, said: "Jimmy Hogan taught us everything we know about football". and Sebes himself said of Hogan, "We played football as Jimmy Hogan taught us. When our football history is told, his name should be written in gold letters".
Notable matches
1952 Olympic Games (Yugoslavia vs. Hungary)
The Hungarians arrived at the 1952 Summer Olympics unbeaten for two years. The team easily defeated opponents in the preliminary rounds, before meeting the 1948 defending Olympic champions, Sweden, in the semi-finals. Hungary demolished Sweden 6–0 to set up a final against Yugoslavia. Goals from Ferenc Puskás and Zoltán Czibor ensured a 2–0 victory and the Olympic gold for Hungary.1953 Central European Championship (Italy vs. Hungary)
Hungary took part in the 1948-53 Central European International Cup, a nations cup for teams from Central Europe and the forerunner of the European championship. The competing teams included Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Switzerland. Hungary eased their way to a final against Italy on 17 May 1953, which they won 3–0 with a goal from Nándor Hidegkuti and two from Puskás.1953 "Match of the Century" (England vs. Hungary)
A friendly match was arranged for 25 November 1953 against England. England had never been defeated on home soil by a team from outside the British Isles, and the FA were complacent – as the inventors of the game, they were assured that their players were technically and tactically superior to any other countries. At the time, England were ranked as the 3rd best team in the world and Hungary were ranked as the best team in the world. The game was eagerly anticipated; the British Press reported it as "the Match of the Century".The game was played in front of 105,000 in Wembley Stadium. Hungary scored in the first minute, and after 27 minutes they were 4–1 up. The final score was 6–3, with a hat-trick from Hidegkuti, two goals from Puskás and one from Bozsik. It was a footballing lesson that sent shockwaves through English football, and which ultimately caused English clubs to adapt more modern coaching and tactics.
1954 Hungary 7 England 1
England were anxious for revenge after the defeat at Wembley, and a return match was scheduled in Budapest for 23 May 1954, three weeks before the start of the 1954 World Cup. Any hopes that the Wembley game had been an aberration were immediately dispelled as Hungary won 7–1, inflicting England's heaviest ever defeat that still stands to this day.1954 World Cup First Round Games
Hungary went to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland as firm favourites; they were unbeaten since 1950, and had issued served notice of their ability with 6–3 and 7–1 thrashings of England. The 16 finalists were assigned to four groups, with each group having four teams in it. Each group contained two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were scheduled for each group, each pitting a seeded team against an unseeded team. In a further oddity, extra time would be played if the teams were level after ninety minutes in the group games, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 minutes.The top two teams from each group would qualify for the quarter-finals. Hungary shared Group B with Turkey, West Germany and South Korea; Hungary and Turkey were the two seeded sides in the group. Hungary won their opening game against South Korea 9–0, with Kocsis scoring a hat-trick. In the second game, Hungary thrashed West Germany 8–3, with Kocsis scoring another 4 goals; however, fouling on Puskás left him with a hairline fracture of the ankle which left him unavailable for selection for the quarter-final and semi final stages.
1954 World Cup Quarter-final: "Battle of Berne" (Brazil vs. Hungary 1954)
Hungary met Brazil in an eagerly anticipated quarter final; both sides had a reputation for open, attacking football. The Brazilians had lost the last and deciding match of the 1950 World Cup to Uruguay, and were anxious to reach the final again. The game was notable for the number of cynical fouls performed by both sides rather than as an exhibition of footballing technique; Hungary took a 2–0 lead after 7 minutes, and after that the game descended into a series of fouls, free kicks and fights on the pitch resulting in three dismissals. The game ended 4–2 to Hungary. Fighting continued off the pitch in the tunnels and in the players' dressing rooms. The game's English referee Arthur Ellis commented: "I thought it was going to be the greatest game I'd ever see. I was on top of the world. Whether politics and religion had something to do with it I don't know, but they behaved like animals. It was a disgrace. It was a horrible match. In today's climate so many players would have been sent off the game would have been abandoned. My only thought was that I was determined to finish it."1954 World Cup Semi-final (Uruguay vs. Hungary)
Uruguay were the defending champions, and had never lost a World Cup match in their history, winning both tournaments they had previously entered. Hungary were without Puskás, but still managed to take the lead via Zoltán Czibor. Uruguay rallied but were unable to even the scores before half-time. Almost immediately after the restart, Nándor Hidegkuti scored a second goal for Hungary. Uruguay's unbeaten World Cup record seemed to be over, but they still had most of the second half to recover.The champions were not going to give up without a fight, and spent much of the remainder of the match launching attack after attack at the Hungarian defence. With a quarter of an hour to play Juan Hohberg scored for Uruguay; Hungary defended desperately until the 86th minute, when Hohberg scored his second to force extra time. Appearing to have much more energy than their opponents, Hungary retook the lead midway through the second period of extra-time when Sándor Kocsis headed home from close range; Kocsis scored again four minutes from injury time. Uruguay were beaten 4–2, their first ever World Cup loss, while Hungary went on to their second World Cup final. The game was in direct contrast to the quarter-final between Hungary and Brazil; both Hungary and Uruguay had played attractive, attacking football in what was arguably one of the finest displays of football in a World Cup.