6:3 – Golden Team vs. England, The Match of the Century- Video

The Hungarian National football team played an international match against England on 25 November 1953. At the time, Hungary was one of the best national teams and the Olympic Champions. The game was played in England, at the Wembley Stadium, where England had never lost an international game.

The date of the match was already fixed during the Olympics. However, Mátyás Rákosi almost cancelled it because of fear of failure. However, not only the two countries but the whole of Europe and the football world were waiting for the match, and this huge expectation had to be met. The English press proclaimed this game as the “match of the century” where two worlds, two football powers, two giants, the style of play of the past, the innovators, the inventors of the sport, and the Olympic Champion clashed, the “English lions” and the “magical Hungarians”. The preparation of the Hungarian team was extremely precise. The advantages and disadvantages of the opponent’s tactics have been filtered out. They felt this match was so important that the parameters of Wembley Stadium were remodelled to a Hungarian field so that the players got even more accustomed to the outdoor conditions.

The starting team of the Hungarians: Gyula Grosics, Jenő Buzánszky, Gyula Lóránt, Mihály Lantos, József Bozsik, József Zakariás, László Budai, Sándor Kocsis, Nándor Hidegkuti, Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor. Coach: Gusztáv Sebes.

The starting team of England: Gil Merrick, Alf Ramsey, Harry Johnston, Bill Eckersley, Billy Wright, Jimmy Dickinson, Stanley Matthews, Ernie Taylor, Stan Mortensen, Jackie Sewell, George Robb. Coach: Walter Winterbottom.

The referees of the match were from the Netherland. The match was played on the afternoon of 25th November 1953 in front of more than 100,000 spectators. Before the match, the two captains, Billy Wright and Ferenc Puskás, welcomed each other.

First half

Hungary started the match and scored within the first minute. The scorer was Nándor Hidegkuti with a powerful shot. After 15 minutes, the score was 1-1 after Jackie Sewell shot the ball into the goal of Gyula Grosics. However, Hungary proved undefeatable; in the 20th minute, Hidegkuti scored again after a bad English clearance, and four minutes later, Ferenc Puskás scored the third goal. Puskás made his famous “drag-back” – as Billy Wright attempted to tackle him, Puskas dragged back the ball with the sole of his foot an instant before, leaving the English captain chasing empty space. Puskás scored his second goal in the 27th minute after he hit the ball from József Bozsik’s free-kick. Near the end of the first half, Mortensen scored a goal for the English team. The halftime score was 4-2 for the Hungarians.