Every Monday, FIFA spotlights a World Cup record. Here, we reflect on Hungary’s incredible goalscoring exploits at Switzerland 1954.
Hungary’s ‘Golden Team’ of the 1950s will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest never to have won the FIFA World Cup™.
They came agonisingly close at Switzerland 1954, going down 3-2 to West Germany in a dramatic Bern final. While they came up short of their ultimate target, Hungary’s spellbinding performances at the tournament won admirers across the globe, and they set a record which stands to this day.
No team has scored more times in a single World Cup than the ‘Magical Magyars’ in 1954, with Gusztav Sebes’ side racking up a scarcely credible 27 goals across their five matches.
Hungary travelled to the tournament having firmly established themselves as one of the most feared teams on the planet. They were unbeaten in four years, a run which included a famous 6-3 win over England at Wembley in November 1953. That game – which became known as the ‘Match of the Century’ – saw them become the first nation outside the British Isles to inflict defeat on the Three Lions on their home turf.
Korea Republic were their first opponents at Switzerland 1954 – and were promptly blown away by the Hungarians’ devastating attacking firepower. Ferenc Puskas bagged a brace and Sandor Kocsis hit a hat-trick in a 9-0 Zurich trouncing. Their second group game was against West Germany and a much sterner test was expected. Hungary were again a class apart, however, with Kocsis scoring four times in an 8-3 success.
That victory came at a cost, with the great Puskas sustaining an ankle injury which would keep him out of the next two games – a quarter-final against Brazil and a last-four showdown with Uruguay. Even without their talismanic captain, they won both matches 4-2, with the relentless Kocsis scoring twice in each game.
Hungary had already beaten the previous record for goals at a World Cup – Brazil’s 22 in 1950 – by the time they lined up against West Germany in the final, having netted 25 times on their way to the showpiece match. Strikes from the returning Puskas and Zoltan Czibor saw them race into a 2-0 lead in Bern, but the Germans mounted a miraculous comeback to triumph.
Football’s most coveted title may have eluded them, but Hungary’s astonishing 27-goal World Cup haul is a record which may never be broken.
Highest-scoring teams in one World Cup edition
1st) Hungary in 1954 – 27 goals 2nd) West Germany in 1954 – 25 goals 3nd) France in 1958 – 23 goals 4rd) Brazil in 1950 – 22 goals 5th) Brazil in 1970 – 19 goals 6th) Argentina in 1930 – 18 goals 6th) Brazil in 2002 – 18 goals 6th) Germany in 2014 – 18 goals 9th) Austria in 1954 – 17 goals 9th) Portugal in 1966 – 17 goals 9th) West Germany in 1970 – 17 goals
