Hungary at the FIFA World Cup

Hungary lining up for their semi-final match against Uruguay at the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Lausanne.

The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.

Hungary have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on nine occasions, the first being at the 1934 where they reached the quarter-final. They have been runners-up on two occasions, in 1938 and 1954. They have failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup since 1986.

Record at the FIFA World Cup

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter
1934	Quarter-finals	6th	2	1	0	1	5	4
1938	Final	2nd	4	3	0	1	15	5
1950	Did not enter
1954	Final	2nd	5	4	0	1	27	10
1958	Group Stage	10th	4	1	1	2	7	5
1962	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	8	3
1966	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	0	2	8	7
1970	Did not qualify
1974
1978	Group Stage	15th	3	0	0	3	3	8
1982	Group Stage	14th	3	1	1	1	12	6
1986	Group Stage	18th	3	1	0	2	2	9
1990	Did not qualify
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026	To be determined
2030
2034
Total	Runners-up	9/25	32	15	3	14	87	57

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks

Hungary's World Cup record
First Match	Hungary 4–2 Egypt (27 May 1934; Naples, Italy)
Biggest Win	Hungary 9–0 South Korea (17 June 1954; Zürich, Switzerland) Hungary 10–1 El Salvador (15 June 1982; Elche, Spain)
Biggest Defeat	Soviet Union 6–0 Hungary (2 June 1986; Irapuato, Mexico)
Best Result	Runners-up in 1938 and 1954
Worst Result	Group stage in 1958, 1978, 1982 and 1986

By Match

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Scorers
1934	Round of 16	Egypt	4–2	W	Naples	G. Toldi (2), P. Teleki, J. Vincze
	Quarter-finals	Austria	1–2	L	Bologna	G. Sárosi
1938	Round of 16	Dutch East Indies	6–0	W	Reims	G. Sárosi (2), G. Zsengellér (2), V. Kohut, G. Toldi
	Quarter-finals	Switzerland	2–0	W	Lille	G. Sárosi, G. Zsengellér
	Semi-finals	Sweden	5–1	W	Paris	G. Zsengellér (2), S. Jacobsson (o.g.), P. Titkos, G. Sárosi
	Final	Italy	2–4	L	Paris	P. Titkos, G. Sárosi
1954	Group stage	South Korea	9–0	W	Zürich	S. Kocsis (3), F Puskás (2), P. Palotás (2), M. Lantos, Z. Czibor
		West Germany	8–3	W	Basel	S. Kocsis (4), N. Hidegkuti (2), F. Puskás, J. Tóth
	Quarter-finals	Brazil	4–2	W	Bern	S. Kocsis (2), N. Hidegkuti, M. Lantos
	Semi-finals	Uruguay	4–2 (a.e.t.)	W	Lausanne	S. Kocsis (2), Z. Czibor, N. Hidegkuti
	Final	West Germany	2–3	L	Bern	F. Puskás, Z. Czibor
1958	Group stage	Wales	1–1	D	Sandviken	J. Bozsik
		Sweden	1–2	L	Solna	L. Tichy
		Mexico	4–0	W	Sandviken	L. Tichy (2), K. Sándor, J. Bencsics
		Wales	1–2	L	Solna	L. Tichy
1962	Group stage	England	2–1	W	Rancagua	L. Tichy, F. Albert
		Bulgaria	6–1	W	Rancagua	F. Albert (3), L. Tichy (2), E. Solymosi
		Argentina	0–0	D	Rancagua	—
	Quarter-finals	Czechoslovakia	0–1	L	Rancagua	—
1966	Group stage	Portugal	1–3	L	Manchester	F. Bene
		Brazil	3–1	W	Liverpool	F. Bene, J. Farkas, K. Mészöly
		Bulgaria	3–1	W	Manchester	I. Davidov (o.g.), K. Mészöly, F. Bene
	Quarter-finals	Soviet Union	1–2	L	Sunderland	F. Bene
1978	Group stage	Argentina	1–2	L	Buenos Aires	K. Csapó
		Italy	1–3	L	Mar del Plata	A. Tóth
		France	1–3	L	Mar del Plata	S. Zombori
1982	Group stage	El Salvador	10–1	W	Elche	L. Kiss (3), T. Nyilasi (2), L. Fazekas (2), G. Pölöskei, J. Tóth, L. Szentes
		Argentina	1–4	L	Alicante	G. Pölöskei
		Belgium	1–1	D	Elche	J. Varga
1986	Group stage	Soviet Union	0–6	L	Irapuato	—
		Canada	2–0	W	Irapuato	M. Esterházy, L. Détári
		France	0–3	L	León	—

Record by Opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Argentina	0	1	2	3	2	6
Austria	0	0	1	1	1	2
Belgium	0	1	0	1	1	1
Brazil	2	0	0	2	7	3
Bulgaria	2	0	0	2	9	2
Canada	1	0	0	1	2	0
Czechoslovakia	0	0	1	1	0	1
Dutch East Indies	1	0	0	1	6	0
Egypt	1	0	0	1	4	2
El Salvador	1	0	0	1	10	1
England	1	0	0	1	2	1
France	0	0	2	2	1	6
Italy	0	0	2	2	3	7
Mexico	1	0	0	1	4	0
Portugal	0	0	1	1	1	3
South Korea	1	0	0	1	9	0
Soviet Union	0	0	2	2	1	8
Sweden	1	0	1	2	6	3
Switzerland	1	0	0	1	2	0
Uruguay	1	0	0	1	4	2
Wales	0	1	1	2	2	3
West Germany	1	0	1	2	10	6

FIFA World Cup Finals

1938 World Cup Final v Italy

Main article: 1938 FIFA World Cup Final

The third edition of the FIFA World Cup was the first without the host team competing in the final. At half-time, defending champions Italy were leading by 3-1 and Hungary did not manage to get back into the game.

19 June 1938

17:00 (WEST)

Italy	4–2	Hungary
Colaussi 6', 35' Piola 16', 82'	Report	Titkos 8' Sárosi 70'

Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Georges Capdeville (France)

GK Aldo Olivieri RB Alfredo Foni LB Pietro Rava RH Pietro Serantoni LH Ugo Locatelli CH Michele Andreolo IR Giuseppe Meazza (c) IL Giovanni Ferrari OR Amedeo Biavati CF Silvio Piola OL Gino Colaussi Manager: Vittorio Pozzo

GK Antal Szabó RB Sándor Bíró LB Gyula Polgár RH Gyula Lázár LH Antal Szalay CH György Szűcs IR Gyula Zsengellér IL Jenő Vincze OR Pál Titkos CF György Sárosi (c) OL Ferenc Sas Manager: Alfréd Schaffer

1954 World Cup Final v West Germany

Main article: Miracle of Bern

The Hungarian Golden Team were favourites for winning the World Cup in Switzerland in 1954 after 31 unbeaten games in the previous five years, among them a recent 7-1 against England and an 8–3 against their West German opponents in the group stage only two weeks before the final.

In one of the greatest comebacks in football history, the favoured Hungarians were defeated 2-3 despite an early 2–0 lead.

4 July 1954 (1954-07-04)

17:00 CET

West Germany	3–2	Hungary
Morlock 10' Rahn 18', 84'	Report	Puskás 6' Czibor 8'

Wankdorf Stadium, Bern

Attendance: 62,500

Referee: William Ling (England)

GK 1 Toni Turek RB 7 Josef Posipal CB 10 Werner Liebrich LB 3 Werner Kohlmeyer HB 6 Horst Eckel HB 8 Karl Mai IR 13 Max Morlock IL 16 Fritz Walter (c) OR 12 Helmut Rahn CF 15 Ottmar Walter OL 20 Hans Schäfer Manager: Sepp Herberger

GK 1 Gyula Grosics RB 2 Jenő Buzánszky CB 3 Gyula Lóránt LB 4 Mihály Lantos HB 5 József Bozsik HB 6 József Zakariás RW 11 Zoltán Czibor AM 9 Nándor Hidegkuti LW 20 Mihály Tóth CF 8 Sándor Kocsis CF 10 Ferenc Puskás (c) Manager: Gusztáv Sebes

Record players

Rank	Player	Matches	World Cups
1	Sándor Mátrai	12	1958, 1962 and 1966
	Ferenc Sipos	12	1958, 1962 and 1966
3	Gyula Grosics	11	1954, 1958 and 1962
4	József Bozsik	8	1954 and 1958
	László Sárosi	8	1958 and 1962
	Lajos Tichy	8	1958 and 1962
	Kálmán Mészöly	8	1962 and 1966
8	Flórián Albert	7	1962 and 1966
	Gyula Rákosi	7	1962 and 1966
10	Nándor Hidegkuti	6	1954 and 1958
	Máté Fenyvesi	6	1958 and 1962
	Károly Sándor	6	1958 and 1962
	Győző Martos	6	1978 and 1982
	Imre Garaba	6	1982 and 1986
	Sándor Sallai	6	1982 and 1986

Top goalscorers

With 11 goals in five matches in 1954, Sándor Kocsis beat Brazilian Ademir's existing record of nine goals in one tournament from 1950. However, only four years later the record was in turn beaten by Just Fontaine.

Rank	Player	Goals	World Cups
1	Sándor Kocsis	11	1954
2	Lajos Tichy	7	1958 (4) and 1962 (3)
3	György Sárosi	6	1934 (1) and 1938 (5)
4	Gyula Zsengellér	5	1938
5	Nándor Hidegkuti	4	1954
	Ferenc Puskás	4	1954
	Flórián Albert	4	1962
	Ferenc Bene	4	1966
9	Géza Toldi	3	1934 (2) and 1938 (1)
	Zoltán Czibor	3	1954
	László Kiss	3	1982

Goalscoring By Tournament

World Cup	Goalscorer(s)
1934	Géza Toldi(2), György Sárosi, Pál Teleki, Jenő Vincze
1938	György Sárosi(5), Gyula Zsengellér(5), Pál Titkos(2), Vilmos Kohut, Géza Toldi, Own Goal
1954	Sándor Kocsis(11), Nándor Hidegkuti(4), Ferenc Puskás(4), Zoltán Czibor(3), Mihály Lantos(2), Péter Palotás(2), József Tóth
1958	Lajos Tichy(4), József Bencsics, József Bozsik, Károly Sándor
1962	Flórián Albert(4), Lajos Tichy(3), Ernő Solymosi
1966	Ferenc Bene(4), Kálmán Mészöly(2), János Farkas, Own Goal
1978	Károly Csapó, András Tóth, Sándor Zombori
1982	László Kiss(3), László Fazekas(2), Tibor Nyilasi(2), Gábor Pölöskei(2), Lázár Szentes, József Tóth, József Varga
1986	Lajos Détári, Márton Esterházy

See also

• Hungary at the UEFA European Championship

External links

• Hungary at FIFA
• World Cup Finals Statistics