Hungary is back.
In Euro 2016, the Nemzeti Tizenegy will play in their first major tournament for three decades, and six after the events of 1956, in which a brave uprising of Hungarians against a Communist dictatorship was followed by the exits of Ferenc Puscas, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor – all of whom would feature in Spain (their club side, Honved, was playing a European Cup tie away to Athletic Bilbao). Over a long time a myth developed connecting the departures of these players and the breakup of the Aranycspat (Golden Team) to the decline of Hungarian football, one of the game’s sad tales, which is a far deeper and more complex subject. It could only be considered all the more tragic given that Hungary, in common with neighbours Austria and Czechoslovakia, contributed so much to the development of the modern game in a tactical sense.
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In fact, for three decades after 1956, Hungary remained a respectable force in European football, as evidenced by their continued qualification for the World Cup up until 1986, and concurrently the performances of the countries club sides in Europe. However, even in those headier days, all was not well behind the scenes. There has always been much talk about when exactly did the decline begin, and how much of an impact the political system of the day and the subsequent transition of 1989-90 had, with the legacy problems affecting many areas of life afterwards. What is certain is that years of corruption and mismanagement clearly took its toll, and this was ever more evident in the 1980s when the decline became all the more obvious. It is clear that the sporting successes of the Soviet Union and countries under imposed dictatorships were despite the system, not because of it, even as it was used for propaganda purposes and athletes, including footballers, lived a better life than the average citizen (and usually could not move West until they reached a certain age).
During the 1958 Sweden World Cup, in which Gyula Grosics, Jozsef Bozsik and Nandor Hidegkuti all played, along with other experienced names such as Sandor Matrai, Ferenc Sipos, Karoly Sandor, Mate Fenyvesi and Dezso Bundzsak. It was a disappointing tournament for Hungary, who had come close to winning the tournament four years earlier. However, in 1962, a new generation had emerged led by Erno Solymosi, Lajos Tichy, Florian Albert, Janos Göröcs and Gyula Rakosi. Along with wingers Sandor and Fenyvesi, they formed a team that performed well in Chile by beating England 2-1 and Bulgaria 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by eventual finalists Czechoslovakia.
Hungary reached the semi-finals of the 1964 European Championship, the same year MTK Budapest reached the Final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup. Ferencvaros won the Fairs Cup in 1965 and reached the Final again three years later, while Ujpest appeared on the same stage in 1969.
Two years later at the 1966 World Cup, Hungary again reached the quarter-finals. At Goodison Park in their second game, Nemzeti Tizenegy faced reigning champions Brazil and won 3-1 in a moment that is long remembered for the spectacular quality of football. It was also a severe blow to the South American giants defending the trophy they had won twice, and would ultimately go out at the hands of Portugal. This time it was the Soviet Union who ended Hungary’s campaign, and the same situation occurred in the quarter-finals of the 1968 European Championship. It is worth noting that Johann Cruyff made his international debut for the Netherlands in a qualifying match against Hungary in 1966.
However, they narrowly failed to qualify for the 1970 and 1974 World Cups – in the first losing a play-off to Czechoslovakia, in the latter finishing level on points with Sweden and Austria and not losing a game, thus becoming one of the select group of teams to miss out on a World Cup despite going unbeaten in qualifying. In between those, Hungary reached the semi-finals of the 1972 European Championships. In addition to the stars of Ferencvaros and Ujpest who dominated the national team, there was also Bela Varadi and Lajos Kocsis. When Hungary were beaten at home by Wales in 1975, it was the first time in decades they had lost at home.
The next generation, including Tibor Nyilasi, Zoltan Kereki, Andras Torocsik and Sandor Pinter, took Hungary to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. There they were drawn in a difficult group with the hosts, as well as France and Italy, and would lose all three games. They lost 2-1 in the opener against Argentina, causing a stir when they took the lead but saw red cards to star names Torocsik and Nyilasi. Defeats followed to Italy and France.
Hungary were back four years later in Spain, and set a World Cup record unbroken to this day when they beat El Salvador 10-1. Torocsik, Nyilasi and Fazekas were still there, while substitute Laszlo Kiss scored a hat-trick in only seven minutes. After losing to Argentina, Hungary still had a chance to progress to the next phase but drew 1-1 with Belgium, when a win would have taken them through at the expense of the defending champions.
Look out for part two of our look at Hungary’s long journey to Euro 2016 later tonight on Outside90.
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