Ferenc Puskás Leads Magical Magyars to Victory

Ferenc Puskás scored 50 goals in 1948, the most of any player in the world that year.

He made his club debut at 16 and scored on his first start for Hungary at 18.

Puskás began his career with Kispest AC, which later became Budapest Honvéd when it was absorbed by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence.

Every player was assigned a military rank, with Puskás becoming a major, and so the famous moniker ‘the Galloping Major’ was born.

He was four times the top scorer in Hungary.

The gold medal in 1952 went to Hungary, for whom Puskás scored four goals in five games.

Suddenly, the world knew all about the Magical Magyars and their talismanic genius.

Puskás scored the first and last goals in a 9-0 victory over South Korea in their opening game in Switzerland.

Nándor Hidegkuti scored a hat-trick, but the name on English lips after the game was not his.

Puskás had to settle for two goals, but the first was truly sublime.

With Billy Wright racing in to tackle him in the box, Puskás casually dragged the ball back, leaving Wright charging past him.

Still England didn’t get the message, and demanded a rematch, this time to be played in Budapest.

Hungary were clearly very impressive, but come on-they couldn’t score six again, could they?

No, they couldn’t, Puskás and co scored seven goals instead, and England managed just one in response.

It remains the Three Lions’ heaviest ever defeat.

And the rematch was a testament to Puskás' skill, as he led his team to a dominating victory,

But Sir Bobby Robson, who was yet to make his England debut, said “None of these players meant anything to us, We didn’t know about Puskás”.

So the Magical Magyars continued to impress, with Puskás at the forefront,

And their reputation was only enhanced by their performances on the world stage