Hungary national football team

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Hungary

Nickname

The Magical Magyars (In the 1950's)

Association

Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Péter Várhidi

Captain

Zoltán Gera

Most caps

József Bozsik (101)

Top scorer

Ferenc Puskás (84)

Home stadium

Stadium Puskás Ferenc

FIFA code

HUN

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

42 (August 1993)

Lowest FIFA ranking

87 (July 1996)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

1 (1953-57, 1958, 1964, 1965)

Lowest Elo ranking

80 (November 2003)





First kit





Second kit

First international

Austria 5 - 0 Hungary

(Vienna, Austria 12 October 1902)

Biggest win

Russia 0 - 12 Hungary

(Russia; 14 July 1912)

Hungary 13 - 1 France

(Budapest, Hungary; 12 June 1926)

Hungary 12 - 0 Albania

(Tirana, Albania; September 24, 1950)

Biggest defeat

Hungary 0 - 7 England

(Budapest, Hungary; 10 June 1908)

Germany 7 - 0 Hungary

(Cologne, Germany; 6 April 1941)

World Cup

Appearances

9 (First in 1934)

Best result

Runners-up, 1938 and 1954

European Championship

Appearances

2 (First in 1964)

Best result

Third place, 1964

Men's Football
Olympic medal record
Gold	1952 Helsinki	Team
Bronze	1960 Rome	Team
Gold	1964 Tokyo	Team
Gold	1968 Mexico City	Team
Silver	1972 Munich	Team

The Hungary national football team is the national football team of Hungary and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation.

With a rich and proud pedigree in the game, Hungary has 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 however, the team's strength has diminished greatly, failing to qualify for any major tournament since 1986.

1 The Golden Team (aka The Magical Magyars)
2 Records
3 After the Golden Team
4 Modern times
5 World Cup record
6 European Championship record
7 Current squad
- 7.1 Coaching staff
8 Famous players
9 External links

[edit] 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around the dynamic and potent quartet of strikers Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, attacking half-back József Bozsik and withdrawn striker Nándor Hidegkuti, the "Aranycsapat" (Hung.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.

[edit] 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 outside the British Isles 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 foreign sides outside the British Isles. They beat England 7-1, this time in Budapest a year later, in 1954. This is still ranks as England's record defeat (as of March 2007).

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. This record is still unbroken as of January 2007. Argentina and Spain jointly hold the second longest string of 31 unbeaten matches (Argentina from 1991 to 1993 and Spain from 1994 to 1998).

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 They came in 4th out of 6, only getting over 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 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.

[edit] World Cup record

1930 - Did not enter
1934 - Quarterfinals
1938 - Finals
1950 - Did not enter
1954 - Finals
1958 - Round 1
1962 - Quarterfinals
1966 - Quarterfinals
1970 - Did not qualify
1974 - Did not qualify
1978 - Round 1
1982 - Round 1
1986 - Round 1
1990 to 2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] European Championship record

1960 - Did not enter
1964 - Third place
1968 - Did not qualify
1972 - Fourth place
1976 to 2004 - Did not qualify

[edit] Current squad

The following players were named for UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Moldova on March 28, 2007.[1]

Caps and goals as of 28 March 2006, included against Moldova.

Goalkeepers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Zoltán Végh	April 7, 1971	MTK Budapest	23 (0)	v El Salvador, 8 December 1991
Márton Fülöp	May 3, 1983	Sunderland	4 (0)	v France, 31 May 2005
Balázs Rabóczki	January 9, 1978	FC Sopron	2 (0)	v Mexico, 14 December 2005
Szabolcs Balajcza	July 14, 1979	Újpest FC	0	N\A

Defenders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Roland Juhász	July 1, 1983	Anderlecht	24 (1)	v Japan, 25 April 2004
Vilmos Vanczák	June 20, 1983	Sint-Truidense	20 (0)	v Slovakia, 30 November 2004
Boldizsár Bodor	May 27, 1982	Roda JC	10 (0)	v Estonia, 19 November 2003
Béla Balogh	December 30, 1984	MTK Budapest	5 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006
Csaba Csizmadia	May 30, 1985	SV Mattersburg	4 (0)	v Cyprus, 6 February 2007
Zoltán Szélesi	November 22, 1981	Energie Cottbus	3 (0)	v China, 1 June 2004
Tamás Vaskó	February 20, 1984	Újpest FC	3 (0)	v Latvia, 7 February 2007
Zoltán Pollák	January 13, 1984	MTK Budapest	2 (1)	v Estonia, 2 December 2004
István Rodenbücher	February 22, 1984	MTK Budapest	2 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006
Adam Vass	September 9, 1988	Stoke City	2 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006

Midfielders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Zoltán Gera	April 22, 1979	West Bromwich Albion	42 (13)	v Switzerland, 13 February 2003
Szabolcs Huszti	April 18, 1983	Hannover 96	28 (6)	v Japan, 25 April 2004
Tóth Balázs	September 24, 1981	Kayseri Erciyesspor	20 (0)	v Latvia, 19 February 2004
Tamás Hajnal	March 1981	1. FC Kaiserslautern	12 (0)	v Sweden, 9 October 2004
Krisztián Vadócz	May 30, 1985	Motherwell F.C.	6 (1)	v Slovakia, 30 November 2004
Dániel Tőzsér	May 12, 1985	AEK Athens FC	5 (0)	v Mexico, 14 December 2005
György Sándor	March 20, 1984	Újpest FC	3 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006
András Horváth	September 6, 1980	FC Sopron	2 (0)	v Austria, 16 August 2006
József Kanta	March 24, 1984	MTK Budapest	2 (0)	v Cyprus, 6 February 2007
Gábor Bori	January 16, 1984	MTK Budapest	1 (0)	v Antigua and Barbuda, 18 December 2005
Attila Filkor	July 12, 1988	Internazionale	1 (0)	v Latvia, 7 February 2007
László Zsidai	July 16, 1986	MTK Budapest	1 (0)	v Latvia, 7 February 2007
Balázs Dzsudzsák	December 26, 1986	Debrecen	0	N/A

Strikers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Péter Rajczi	April 3, 1981	Barnsley (on loan from Újpest FC)	10 (3)	v Slovakia, 30 November 2004
Tamás Priskin	September 17, 1986	Watford	8 (6)	v Argentina, 17 August 2005
Balázs Farkas	April 24, 1988	Dynamo Kyiv	3 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006
Ádám Hrepka	May 4, 1987	MTK Budapest	3 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006
Tibor Tisza	November 10, 1984	Újpest FC	3 (0)	v Cyprus, 6 February 2007
Krisztián Németh	January 5, 1989	MTK Budapest	0	N/A

[edit] Coaching staff

Head Coach	Péter Várhidi
Assistant Coaches	Teodoru Vaszilisz
Assistant Coaches	Gábor Neumann
Goalkeeping Coach	László Kakas
Team Doctors	Dr. Zsolt Knoll
Team Doctors	Dr. Miklós Kormos
Scientific associate	Dr. Máté Petrekanics
Psychologist	Sándor Nagy
Masseurs	Ferenc Berta
Masseurs	László Lukács
Kit Manager	Imre Ambrus