page_title: Hungary national football team
section_title: 1960s
hierarchical_section_title: Hungary national football team / History / 1960s
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Zentralbild-MTI Tre-Hr 17.4.61 Großer Fußballtag in Budapest. Weltmeisterschaft - Ausscheidungsspiel DDR-Ungarn in Budapest 0:2. UBz. Die beiden Mannschaften vor dem Spiel.
context_page_description: The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in men's international football and it is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation, The team has made nine appearances in the FIFA World Cup finals and 3 appearances in the European Championship, and plays its home matches at the Puskás Aréna, which opened in November 2019.
  Hungary has a respectable football history, having won three Olympic titles, finishing runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 World Cups, and third in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. Hungary revolutionized the sport in the 1950s, laying the tactical fundamentals of Total Football and dominating international football with the remarkable Golden Team which included legend Ferenc Puskás, top goalscorer of the 20th century, to whom FIFA dedicated its newest award, the Puskás Award. The side of that era has the all-time highest Football Elo Ranking in the world, with 2230 in 1954, and one of the longest undefeated runs in football history, remaining unbeaten in 31 games, spanning over four years and including matches such as the Match of the Century.
context_section_description: In 1960, Hungary again entered the Olympics held in Italy and was drawn into Group D with France, Peru and India. Hungary finished top of the group with all wins and a goal difference of +12. In the semi-finals, they lost to Denmark 0–2, but beat Italy in the bronze medal match 2–1 thanks to a goal each from Orosz and Dunai.
  Hungary qualified for the 1962 World Cup, held in Chile. On 31 May 1962, in the first group match, Hungary beat England by 2–1 thanks to the goals of Lajos Tichy and Flórián Albert at El Teniente stadium in Rancagua in front of 7,938 spectators. The second match on 3 June 1962 was even more convincing against Bulgaria; the match was won 6–1 in Rancagua. The last group match was against Argentina on 6 June 1962 and the final result was a goalless draw in front of 7,945 spectators in Rancagua. Hungary qualified for the quarter-finals by gaining five points and winning the group. In the quarter-finals, however, Hungary was eliminated by Czechoslovakia by 1–0 at El Teniente in front of 11,690 spectators.
  In 1964, Hungary again qualified for the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo and was drawn into Group B with defending champions Yugoslavia, Morocco and North Korea, the latter withdrawing. In their first match against Morocco, Hungary won 6–0 with all six goals scored by Ferenc Bene. In their second match, Hungary won narrowly (6–5) against Yugoslavia and advanced into the next round along with runners-up Yugoslavia. In the quarter-finals, Hungary beat Romania 2–0 with goals from Csernai. In the semi-finals, Hungary beat United Arab Republic (Egypt) 6–0 with four goals from Bene and two from Komora. In the finals, Hungary beat Czechoslovakia 2–1 thanks from an own goal by Weiss and a goal by Bene, thus won their second gold medal.
  Hungary qualified for the 1964 European Nations' Cup which was organised in Spain. Hungary played against Spain in the semi-finals of the tournament. The final result was 2–1 after extra time. The only Hungarian goal was scored by Ferenc Bene. In the third place play-off Hungary beat Denmark 3–1 after extra time. Dezső Novák scored twice in the extra time.
  Hungary also managed to qualify for the 1966 World Cup which was held in the home of football, England. On 13 July 1966, Hungary lost their first group match against Eusébio's Portugal (3–1) at Old Trafford, Manchester. Two days later, in the second group match Hungary beat Brazil thanks to the goals of Ferenc Bene, János Farkas and Kálmán Mészöly at Goodison Park, Liverpool. In the last round of the group matches, on 20 July 1966, Hungary beat Bulgaria 3–1. The goals were scored by Mészöly and Bene. Hungary finished second in the group and qualified for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Hungary were eliminated by the Soviet Union on 23 July 1966 by 2–1 at the Roker Park in Sunderland in front of 26,844 spectators.
  In 1968 Olympics, Hungary qualified as defending champions to defend their title and was drawn into Group C with Israel, Ghana and El Salvador. Hungary finished top and advanced into the next round with Israel. In the quarter-finals, Hungary beat Guatemala narrowly with 1–0 from a goal by Szűcs. In the semi-finals, they beat Japan 5–0 thanks to Szűcs with three goals and two from Novák. In the finals, they beat Bulgaria 4–1 and won their third title, being the most successful team at the Olympics in football (Great Britain also won three titles but their first title is in 1904, and football only became an official event in 1908).
  Flórián Albert was named European Footballer of the Year in 1967. He was the most successful footballer of Ferencváros since the formation of the club, scoring 255 goals in 351 matches from 1958 to 1974.
caption: Hungary–East Germany 0–2 in Budapest
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