Hungary national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Hungary
Badge = MLSZ.png FIFA Trigramme = HUN
Nickname = "The Magical Magyars" (In the 1950's)
Association = Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség
Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
Coach = flagicon|NED Erwin Koeman
Captain = Zoltán Gera
Most caps = József Bozsik (101)
Top scorer = Ferenc Puskás (84)
Home Stadium = Stadium Puskás Ferenc
FIFA Rank = 62 |1st ranking date = August 1993
FIFA max = 36
FIFA max date = December 1992
FIFA min = 87
FIFA min date = July 1996

Elo Rank = 63
Elo max = 1
Elo max date = 1953–57, 1958, 1964, 1965
Elo min = 80
Elo min date = November 2003
pattern_la1 = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half | pattern_b1=_shoulder_stripes_white_stripes| pattern_ra1 = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half | pattern_sh1 = _red stripes | pattern_so1 = _3_stripes_white
leftarm1 = dd0000 | body1 = dd0000 | rightarm1 = dd0000 |shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=007819
pattern_la2=_shoulder stripes red stripes half |pattern_b2 = _ shoulder stripes red stripes lfca0809 |pattern_ra2=_shoulder stripes red stripes half | pattern_sh2 = _white stripes | pattern_so2 = _3 stripes red| leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=007819|socks2=FFFFFF

First game =flagicon|Austria Austria 5–0 Hungary flagicon|Hungary|1867 (Vienna, Austria 12 October, 1902)
Largest win = flagicon|Russian Empire Russia 0–12 Hungary flagicon|Hungary|1867 (Moscow, Russia; 14 July, 1912) flagicon|Hungary|1940 Hungary 13–1 France flagicon|France (Budapest, Hungary; 12 June, 1927) flagicon|Hungary|1949 Hungary 12–0 Albania flagicon|Albania|1946 (Budapest, Hungary; 24 September, 1950)
Largest loss = flagicon|Hungary|1867 Hungary 0–7 England flagicon|England
(Budapest, Hungary; 10 June 1908)
flagicon|England England Amateurs 7–0 Hungary flagicon|Hungary|1867
(Solna, Sweden; 30 June, 1912)
flagicon|Germany|Nazi Germany 7–0 Hungary flagicon|Hungary|1940 (Cologne, Germany; 6 April, 1941)

World cup apps = 9
World cup first = 1934
World cup best = Runners-up, 1938 and 1954
Regional name = European Championship
Regional cup apps = 2
Regional cup first = 1964
Regional cup best = Third place, 1964The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. It has a rich and proud pedigree in the game and a rightful place in football annals as one of the first original footballing nations in continental Europe and an innovator in the sport in the 1950s. In recent times the team's strength has diminished greatly, failing to qualify for any major tournament since 1986. However they hold the record for going the most number of consecutive games unbeaten-32, a record which still stands today.

The Golden Team (aka The Magical Magyars)

Hungarian football is best known for one of the most formidable and influential sides in football history, which revolutionized the play of the game. Centered around the dynamic and potent quartet of strikers Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, attacking half-back József Bozsik and withdrawn striker Nándor Hidegkuti, the "Aranycsapat" (Hung. lit Golden Team) of the "Magnificent Magyars", captivated the football world with an exciting brand of play drawn from new tactical nuances and amassed, barring the 1954 World Cup Final, a remarkable record of 43 victories, 7 ties, and no defeats from the 15th of June 1952 to the end of its historic unbeaten run on February 18th 1956. Hungary has the unique distinction of posting the highest ever Elo football rating of 2173 points in June (1954) along with the second highest with 2153 (1956); surpassing that of Brazil, England, Argentina and Germany in all-time competition.

The Hungarians were runners-up twice in the World Cup, losing to Italy 4–2 in 1938 and 3–2 to West Germany in 1954, despite beating them 8–3 earlier in the competition. The team, built around the legendary Ferenc Puskás, led early 2–0 in that match, but ended up 3–2 losers in a game the Germans subsequently christened "The Miracle of Bern". Two highly controversial calls surround this final game: firstly when Puskas apparently equalized the match in the 89th minute only to have the goal disallowed for offside, the second being a blatant foul on Kocsis in the penalty area which would have given Hungary a penalty in the final minute.

Hungary has won gold at the Olympic three times, in 1952, 1964, and 1968. The under-23 team, which was the age limit for Olympic teams, won the UEFA U-23 Championship in 1974. Since the 1976 reshuffle by UEFA, the under-23s are now classified with the under-21s.

Records

The match between Austria and Hungary in Vienna in 1902 was the first international match played between two non-British European countries.

Hungary was the first team from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland to beat England at home, famously winning 6–3 at Wembley on November 25, 1953. This victory had worldwide significance as it effectively ended England's 90 year old mythical reign since the creation of association football in 1863 against all sides outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. They beat England 7–1, this time in Budapest a year later, in 1954. This still ranks as England's record defeat.

Hungary holds the longest consecutive run of matches unbeaten with 33 international games between 14 May 1950 and 4 July 1954, when they lost the World Cup final to Germany. Argentina and Spain jointly hold the second longest string of 31 unbeaten matches (Argentina from 1991 to 1993 and Spain from 1994 to 1998).

After the Golden Team

Hungary remained a force in European football for two to three decades after the era of the "Magnificent Magyars". Reaching the quarter-finals of both 1962 and 1966 World Cups, Hungary was blessed with a dazzling array of talent including Lajos Tichy, Ferenc Bene, Flórián Albert, János Farkas, Gyula Rákosi, Zoltán Varga, János Göröcs, Károly Sándor and Máté Fenyvesi. They also reached the semi-finals of the European Championship in 1964 and 1972.

Returning to the World Cup in 1978 and 1982, Hungary did not reach the same heights but nonetheless performed respectably—indeed, the talents of László Fazekas, Tibor Nyilasi and László Kiss inspired Hungary to a 10–1 win over El Salvador in 1982, which remains a World Cup record.The 1986 World Cup is seen by many fans as the final confirmation of Hungary's decline. Expectations were very high, but poor performances in defeats to the Soviet Union and France were a bitter blow, despite the presence of talent like Lajos Détári. Since then, Hungary has continued to produce fine individual talent- notably Béla Illés and Krisztián Lisztes　– but further success as a team has eluded them.

Most recently, in Euro 2004 qualifiers, Hungary found themselves within sight of qualification with two games remaining, but was scuppered by defeats to Latvia and Poland.

Modern times

Today, Hungary are a lesser force and haven't qualified for a World Cup since 1986, or for the European Championship finals since 1972.

Euro Cup '80 Qualifying

They finished 2nd in their group behind Greece.

1–2 Finland (in Finland)
2–0 U.S.S.R. (in Hungary)
1–4 Greece (in Greece)
0–0 Greece (in Hungary)
2–2 U.S.S.R. (in U.S.S.R.)
3–1 Finland (in Hungary)

Euro Cup '84 Qualifying

They finished 4th out of 5 positions.

6–2 Luxembourg (in Luxembourg)
6–2 Luxembourg (in Hungary)
0–2 England (in Hungary)
2–3 Greece (in Hungary)
1–3 Denmark (in Denmark)
0–3 England (in England)
1–0 Denmark (in Hungary)
2–2 Greece (in Greece)

Euro Cup '88 Qualifying

They came in 3rd out of 5 positions (behind Holland & Greece).

0–1 Holland (in Hungary)
1–2 Greece (in Greece)
1–0 Cyprus (in Hungary)
0–2 Holland (in Holland)
5–3 Poland (in Hungary)
2–3 Poland (in Poland)
3–0 Greece (in Hungary)
1–0 Cyprus (in Cyprus)

*In the World Cup 1990 qualifiers, they were again third, following Spain and the Republic of Ireland.

Euro Cup '92 Qualifying

They came 4th out of 5 positions, only being over Cyprus.

0–0 Norway (in Norway)
1–1 Italy (in Hungary)
4–2 Cyprus (in Hungary)
2–0 Cyprus (in Cyprus)
0–1 Russia (in Hungary)
1–3 Italy (in Italy)
2–2 Russia (in Russia)
0–0 Norway (in Hungary)
*In the World Cup 1994 qualifiers they were again fourth, this time after Greece, Russia and Iceland.

Euro Cup '96 Qualifying

They came in 4th out of 5, only getting over Iceland.

2–2 Turkey (in Hungary)
0–2 Sweden (in Sweden)
2–2 Switzerland (in Hungary)
1–0 Sweden (in Hungary)
1–2 Iceland (in Iceland)
0–2 Turkey (in Turkey)
0–3 Switzerland (in Switzerland)
1–0 Iceland (in Hungary)

*In the World Cup 1998 qualifiers, they were second in their group after Norway, and played off against FR Yugoslavia, but lost both of those games (1–7, 5–0). Predrag Mijatović scored seven times in two games.

Euro Cup 2000 Qualifying

This campaign ended with Hungry in fourth place, the team finishing ahead of only minnows Azerbaijan & Liechtenstein.

1–3 Portugal (in Hungary)
4–0 Azerbaijan (in Azerbaijan)
1–1 Romania (in Hungary)
5–0 Liechtenstein (in Hungary)
0–0 Slovakia (in Slovakia)
0–2 Romania (in Romania)
0–1 Slovakia (in Hungary)
0–0 Liechtenstein (in Liechtenstein)
3–0 Azerbaijan (in Hungary)
0–3 Portugal (in Portugal)

The same thing happened in the World Cup 2002 qualifiers, when they trailed after Italy, Romania and Georgia, and in the Euro 2004 qualifiers, where they were surpassed by Sweden, Latvia and Poland. In the World Cup 2006 qualifiers they finished fourth after Croatia, Sweden and Bulgaria. The Euro 2008 qualifiers did not provide much cheer, as they ended sixth in their group, even dropping a match to unfancied Malta. On August 22, 2007, they surprisingly upset world champions Italy in a friendly game, beating them 3–1 at Puskás Ferenc Stadium in Budapest. This resulted in Hungary becoming the Unofficial Football World Champions.

FIFA World Cup record

;Midfielders

;Defenders

Hungary current line-up for versus Greece May 24 2008

Coaching staff

Top goalscorers

Former head coaches

ee also

* Hungary national under-21 football team
* Hungary national under-19 football team
* Hungary women's national football team

External links

* [http://www.mlsz.hu Hungarian Football Federation]
* [http://nb1.quaestor.hu/valogatott.php www.nb1.hu/National team page/]
* [http://www.nemzetisport.hu/cikk.php?cikk=13143& National Team (some statistics)] (Hun)
* [http://www.xtratime.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=186 Hungarian Football Forum (In English)]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesh/hong-intres.html RSSSF archive of results 1902-]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/hong-recintlp.html RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/hong-coach.html RSSSF archive of coaches 1902-]
*IFFHS Archive: [http://www.iffhs.de/?00e42a15ff3c09f3685ca66810f83e04e43717f7370eff3702bb1c2bbb6828fa3800f83d0e 1902-1910]
* [http://www.planetworldcup.com/NATIONS/hun.html Hungary in World Cups/Planet World cup/]
* [http://www.hirado.hu/cikk.php?id=102205 Chronological listing of Hungary's coaches]
* [http://www.sportmuzeum.hu/aranycsapat/merkozes.php?id=1 Aranycsapat - 'The Golden Team'] (Hun)
* [http://labdarugo.be/Intro.htm The best website about Hungary's football history] (in Dutch)
* [http://sportmuzeum.hu/kiallitasok/szazeves_a_magyar_foci/index.html sportmuzeum]
* [http://www.magyargolok.extra.hu/index.php?oldal=gollovolista.html Hungarian goals (Magyar Gólok)]