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Hungary

Nickname(s)	The Magical Magyars (In the 1950's)
Association	Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Erwin Koeman
Captain	Zoltán Gera
Most caps	József Bozsik (101)
Top scorer	Ferenc Puskás (84)
Home stadium	Stadium Puskás Ferenc
FIFA code	HUN
FIFA ranking	50
Highest FIFA ranking	36 (December 1992)
Lowest FIFA ranking	87 (July 1996)
Elo ranking	T65
Highest Elo ranking	1 (1953–57, 1958, 1964, 1965)
Lowest Elo ranking	80 (November 2003)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Austria 5–0 Hungary (Vienna, Austria 12 October 1902)
Biggest win
Russia 0–12 Hungary (Moscow, Russia; 14 July 1912) Hungary 13–1 France (Budapest, Hungary; 12 June 1927) Hungary 12–0 Albania (Budapest, Hungary; 24 September 1950)
Biggest defeat
Hungary 0–7 England (Budapest, Hungary; 10 June 1908) England Amateurs 7–0 Hungary (Solna, Sweden; 30 June 1912) 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

The 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. They are current holders of the Unofficial Football World Championship.

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around the dynamic and potent quartet of strikers Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, attacking half-back József Bozsik and withdrawn striker Nándor Hidegkuti, the "Aranycsapat" (Hung.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

[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.

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] FIFA World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did Not Enter	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1934	Quarter-Finals	6	2	1	0	1	5	4
1938	Final	2	4	3	0	1	15	5
1950	Did Not Enter	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1954	Final	2	5	4	0	1	27	10
1958	Round 1	10	4	1	1	2	7	5
1962	Quarter-Finals	5	4	2	1	1	8	3
1966	Quarter-Finals	6	4	2	0	2	8	7
1970	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1974	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1978	Round 1	15	3	0	0	3	3	8
1982	Round 1	14	3	1	1	1	12	6
1986	Round 1	18	3	1	0	2	2	9
1990	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1994	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1998	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–
2002	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2006	Did Not Qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	9/18	2 Finals	32	15	3	14	87	57

**Silver background color indicates second place finish in the tournament.

[edit] UEFA European Football Championship record

• 1960 – Did not enter
• 1964 – Third place
• 1968 – Did not qualify
• 1972 – Fourth place
• 1976 to 2008 – Did not qualify

[edit] Matches 2008

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Comp	Hungary scorers	Attendance
2008-02-06	Limasol	Slovakia	1–1	Friendly	Gera	100
2008-03-26	ZTE Arena	Slovenia	0–1	Friendly		6 000
2008-05-24	Stadium Puskás Ferenc	Greece	3–2	Friendly	Dzsudzsák, Juhász, Vadócz	7 000
2008-05-31	Ferenc Szusza Stadium	Croatia	1–1	Friendly	Niko Kovac(og)	10 000
2008-08-20	Stadium Puskás Ferenc	Montenegro	3–3	Friendly	Priskin, Hajnal(2)	1 500
2008-09-06	Stadium Puskás Ferenc	Denmark	0–0	FIFA World Cup qual.		19 000
2008-09-10	Råsunda	Sweden	–	FIFA World Cup qual.
2008-10-11		Albania	–	FIFA World Cup qual.
2008-10-15		Malta	–	FIFA World Cup qual.
2008-11-19		Northern Ireland	–	Friendly

[edit] Last match

Sept 6, 2008 19:45 CET	Hungary	0–0	Denmark	Puskás Ferenc Stadium, Budapest Attendance: 19.000 Referee:Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)

[edit] Next match

Sept 10, 2008 CET	Sweden	–	Hungary	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm Attendance: Referee:

[edit] Hungary squad

[edit] Current squad

(for FIFA World Cup qualification Sweden, 10 September 2008)

Caps and goals as of game against Denmark on 6 September 2008, .

Goalkeepers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debu
Gábor Babos	October 10, 1974 (age 33)	NEC Nijmegen	19 (0)	v Croatia, 19 March 1997
Márton Fülöp	May 3, 1983 (age 25)	Sunderland	15 (0)	v France, 31 May 2005
László Köteles	September 1, 1984 (age 23)	Diósgyőr	0	v N/A

Defenders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Roland Juhász (vice-captain)	July 1, 1983 (age 25)	Anderlecht	38 (3)	v Japan, 25 April 2004
László Bodnár	February 25, 1979 (age 29)	Red Bull Salzburg	35 (0)	v Lithuania, 11 October 2000
Vilmos Vanczák	June 20, 1983 (age 25)	Sion	33 (0)	v Slovakia, 30 November 2004
Zsolt Löw	April 29, 1979 (age 29)	Hoffenheim	25 (1)	v Croatia, 8 May 2002
Zoltán Szélesi	November 22, 1981 (age 26)	Strasbourg	17 (0)	v China, 1 June 2004
Boldizsár Bodor	April 27, 1982 (age 26)	Roda	14 (0)	v Estonia, 19 November 2003
Tamás Vaskó	February 20, 1984 (age 24)	Avellino	11 (0)	v Latvia, 7 February 2007

Midfielders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Zoltán Gera (captain)	April 22, 1979 (age 29)	Fulham	54 (16)	v Switzerland, 13 February 2002
Pál Dárdai	March 16, 1976 (age 32)	Hertha BSC	52 (5)	v Slovenia, 19 August 1998
Szabolcs Huszti	April 18, 1983 (age 25)	Hannover	34 (6)	v Japan, 25 April 2004
Tamás Hajnal	March 15, 1981 (age 27)	Borussia Dortmund	25 (3)	v Sweden, 9 October 2004
Balázs Tóth	September 24, 1981 (age 26)	Genk	24 (0)	v Latvia, 19 February 2004
Péter Halmosi	September 25, 1979 (age 28)	Hull City	19 (0)	v Czech Republic, 12 February 2002
Krisztián Vadócz	May 30, 1985 (age 23)	CA Osasuna	14 (2)	v Slovakia, 30 November 2004
Balázs Dzsudzsák	December 23, 1986 (age 21)	PSV Eindhoven	12 (1)	v Greece, 2 June 2007

Strikers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Sándor Torghelle	May 5, 1982 (age 26)	FC Augsburg	26 (7)	v Armenia, 18 February 2004
Gergely Rudolf	March 9, 1985 (age 23)	Debreceni VSC	2 (0)	v Montenegro, 20 August 2008

[edit] Recent call-up

Caps and goals as of 20 August 2008, included against Montenegro.

Goalkeepers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
Péter Gulácsi	May 6, 1990 (age 18)	Liverpool	0	v N/A	v Croatia, 31 May 2008

Defenders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
Csaba Csizmadia	May 30, 1985 (age 23)	Mattersburg	12 (0)	v Cyprus, 6 February 2007	v Croatia, 31 May 2008
Béla Balogh	December 30, 1984 (age 23)	Real Murcia	9 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006	v Moldova, 17 November 2007
Krisztián Timár	October 4, 1979 (age 28)	Plymouth Argyle	2 (0)	v Slovenia, 26 March 2008	v Montenegro, 20 August 2008
Tamás Kádár	March 14, 1990 (age 18)	Newcastle United	0	v N/A	v Greece, 24 May 2008

Midfielders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
Dániel Tőzsér	May 12, 1985 (age 23)	Genk	15 (1)	v Mexico, 14 December 2005	v Slovenia, 26 March 2008
Ákos Buzsáky	May 7, 1982 (age 26)	Queens Park Rangers	11 (1)	v Malta, 3 September 2005	v Slovenia, 26 March 2008
Ádám Vass	September 9, 1988 (age 19)	Brescia	11 (0)	v Canada, 15 November 2006	v Montenegro, 20 August 2008
Leandro de Almeida	March 19, 1982 (age 26)	Debrecen	10 (0)	v China, June 1, 2004	v Greece, 21 November 2007
Attila Filkor	July 12, 1988 (age 20)	Sassuolo	6 (0)	v Latvia, 7 February 2007	v Croatia, 31 May 2008
Tibor Tisza	November 10, 1984 (age 23)	Újpest	5 (0)	v Cyprus, 6 February 2007	v Slovenia, 26 March 2008
László Zsidai	July 16, 1986 (age 21)	MTK Budapest	2 (0)	v Latvia, 7 February 2007	v Slovenia, 26 March 2008
Tamás Koltai	April 30, 1987 (age 21)	Győri ETO FC	1 (0)	v Greece, 24 May 2008	v Croatia, 31 May 2008

Strikers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
Tamás Priskin	September 17, 1986 (age 21)	Watford	18 (7)	v Argentina, 17 August 2005	v