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The Golden Team  - The Magical Magyars

1954 World Cup runners-up

The legendary Ferenc Puskas led the fabled Magnificent Magyars, with a fair bit of help from Sandor Kocsis, to within fingertips of ultimate glory. The attacking trailblazers were cruelly beaten by West Germany in the World Cup final, 16 years after suffering the same fate at the hands of Italy.

Hungarian football is best known for being 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around the dynamic and potent quartet of strikers Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, attacking half-back József Bozsik and withdrawn striker Nándor Hidegkuti, the "Aranycsapat" (Golden Team) of the "Magnificent Magyars", captivated the football world with an exciting brand of play drawn from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 14th of May 1950 to the end of its historic unbeaten run on February 19th 1956. Hungary has the 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. read more

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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 defeating 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". Three highly controversial calls surround this final game: firstly when Grosics (the Hungarian goalkeeper) was interfered with in the goal area by Hans Schaefer on the second German goal, second when Puskas apparently equalized the match in the 89th minute only to have the goal disallowed for offside, the third 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 Olympics 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.

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