The Hungarian national soccer team was once one of the greatest in the world, but over time, they have fallen off the pace.

Still, the memories of Ferenc Puskas and co live on in the hearts of football fans and Hungary's history has not been forgotten.

Hungary finished runners-up at the 1938 and 1954 World Cups and third and fourth at the 1964 and 1972 European Championships respectively.

However, it's been pretty bleak since then. They haven't qualified for a World Cup since 1986, and after 1972 they have only managed to qualify for the Euros in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

 

The early years

Hungary played their first international match against Austria on October 12, 1902, losing 5-0. They participated in the 1912 Summer Olympics, but had to seek donations in order to do so and were eliminated after a 7-0 defeat to England.

After the Olympics, Hungary played Russia twice in Moscow, winning the first match 9-0 and the second 12-0, which remains a joint-record for the national team to this day for the biggest winning margin in a match.

Bela Guttmann was one of the first players in the Hungarian national team who went on to become an icon, although that was as much due to his managerial career as anything else. He played for Hungary from 1921 to 1924.

Guttmann went on to be hugely successful as a manager for clubs including AC Milan and Benfica after the Second World War, a remarkable achievement for a man who had been tortured in a Nazi forced labour camp during the war.

Hungary picked up a joint-record 13-1 win over France in Budapest in 1927, but they were not invited to the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.

In 1934, they played in their first World Cup tournament in Italy, beating Egypt 4-2 in their first ever FIFA World Cup match. In the quarter-finals, Hungary lost 2-1 to arch-rivals Austria.

At the 1938 World Cup in France, Hungary won the opening match 6-0 against the Dutch East Indies. They then beat Switzerland 2-0 in the quarter-finals. After a 5-1 drubbing of Sweden in a semi-final encounter at the Parc des Princes, Hungary were beaten 4-2 by Italy in the final of the World Cup.

In the 1950s, soccer was revolutionised by a Hungarian team featuring the likes of strikers Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis, attacking half-back Jozsef Bozsik and second striker Nandor Hidegkuti.

Hungary beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in the final of the 1952 Summer Olympics to win the gold medal.

On November 25, 1953, Hungary beat England 6-3 at Wembley in a game dubbed "The Match of the Century". It was only England's second-ever defeat on home soil.

Hungary's "Golden Team" led by Puskas qualified for the final of the 1954 World Cup, losing 3-2 to West Germany after being 2-0 up in a match which has often subsequently been referred to as "The Miracle of Bern".

Hungary then won the bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics and were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the 1962 World Cup.

Hungary's success continued as they picked up the gold medal at the 1964 Olympics with Puskas playing a starring role. Then, in 1967, Florian Albert of Ferencvaros was named European Footballer of the Year.

In the 1968 Olympics, Hungary defended their title, beating Bulgaria 4-1 and becoming the most successful team in Olympic soccer history.

Hungary finished fourth at Euro 1972 and would not appear at another European Championship until 44 years later, in 2016.

Defeats to Argentina, Italy and France saw them suffer an early exit from the 1978 World Cup and the cracks were beginning to show in a nation which had undoubtedly stunned the world in the previous generation.

In their first group stage match of the 1982 World Cup, Hungary beat El Salvador 10-0, but they subsequently suffered a 4-1 defeat to Argentina and drew to Belgium, crashing out of the tournament.

In 1986, Hungary suffered a disastrous World Cup campaign. They began with a shocking 6-0 defeat to the Soviet Union in a match which some observers have claimed was the beginning of a crisis in Hungarian soccer.

Hungary momentarily recovered with a 2-0 win over Canada, with goals coming from Marton Esterhazy and Lajos Detari, but they lost 3-0 to Michel Platini's France in their last group game and crashed out of the tournament in Mexico. They have not appeared at a FIFA World Cup tournament since then.

 

Period in the wilderness and gradual rebuilding

In the whole of the 1990s, Hungary failed to qualify for any major tournaments apart from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. They dropped as low as 87th in the FIFA World Rankings in 1996.

Even Puskas was unable to save his country after being appointed as coach in 1993, as his reign lasted only four matches.

Hungary were close to qualifying for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, but were eliminated by FR Yugoslavia in a playoff.

Hungary missed out on all of the European Championship and World Cup tournaments in the 2000s as well despite efforts to appoint recognisable figures in coaching positions.

Bernd Storck took over as national team head coach in 2015 and he led them to their first European Championships in 44 years when qualifying for Euro 2016.

They were placed in a group with Iceland, Portugal and Austria and qualified for the round of 16 with a game to spare. However, Hungary were subsequently eliminated by Belgium in a crushing 4-0 defeat.

Hungary missed out on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but won promotion to the B division of the UEFA Nations League after an impressive showing at the inaugural edition in 2018/19 under manager Marco Rossi.

Hungary were able to qualify for Euro 2020 via the playoffs. They were then drawn in Group F alongside France, Germany and Portugal. They opened their campaign with a 3-0 defeat to the Portuguese, with all three goals coming in the final 10 minutes of the game.

They had held out strongly against Cristiano Ronaldo's side in the opening 80 minutes and put in equally impressive displays against France and Germany. They drew both of these games, 1-1 and 2-2 respectively, taking the lead in both encounters, but they finished bottom of Group F.

Hungary again failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, but reached the 2024 European Championships after winning their qualification group.

At the tournament Hungary lost their opening game 3-1 to Switzerland, and were then defeated by the host Germany 2-0.

They beat Scotland 1-0 in last minute of the final group match but it wasn't enough to secure qualification to the last 16, as they were pipped on goal difference by Slovakia in the best third placed teams rankings.

 

National team legends

Puskas remains the most culturally influential Hungarian national team legend and the Puskas award for the best goal of the year at the FIFA awards ceremony has been named in his honour.

He is also Hungary's all-time top scorer with 84 goals in 85 appearances.

Hungary's most capped player is Balazs Dzsudzsak with 109, closely followed by legendary goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly on 108.

Biggest rivalries

Hungary have fierce and longstanding rivalries with Romania and Austria, both of which they have had the better of historically.

 

The fanbase

Football is the most popular sport in Hungary, a country which has a population of just under 10million people.