The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 48 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup final is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.

Hungary have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on nine occasions, the first being at the 1934, where they reached the quarter-finals. They have been runners-up on two occasions, in 1938 and 1954. They have failed to qualify for any World Cup tournament since 1986.

Record at the FIFA World Cup

Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA 1930 Did not enter 1934 Quarter-finals 6th 2 1 0 1 5 4 1938 Final 2nd 4 3 0 1 15 5 1950 Did not enter 1954 Final 2nd 5 4 0 1 27 10 1958 Group Stage 10th 4 1 1 2 7 5 1962 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 8 3 1966 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 0 2 8 7 1970 Did not qualify 1974 1978 Group Stage 15th 3 0 0 3 3 8 1982 Group Stage 14th 3 1 1 1 12 6 1986 Group Stage 18th 3 1 0 2 2 9 1990 Did not qualify 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 To be determined 2034Total Runners-up 9/23 32 15 3 14 87 57 *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks

Hungary's World Cup recordFirst Match 4–2 (27 May 1934; Naples, Italy)Biggest Win 9–0 (17 June 1954; Zürich, Switzerland) 10–1 (15 June 1982; Elche, Spain)Biggest Defeat 6–0 (2 June 1986; Irapuato, Mexico)Best ResultRunners-up in 1938 and 1954Worst ResultGroup stage in 1958, 1978, 1982 and 1986

By Match

World CupRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueScorers1934Round of 164–2WNaplesG. Toldi (2), P. Teleki, J. VinczeQuarter-finals1–2LBolognaG. Sárosi1938Round of 166–0WReimsG. Sárosi (2), G. Zsengellér (2), V. Kohut, G. ToldiQuarter-finals2–0WLilleG. Sárosi, G. ZsengellérSemi-finals5–1WParisG. Zsengellér (2), S. Jacobsson (o.g.), P. Titkos, G. SárosiFinal2–4LParisP. Titkos, G. Sárosi1954Group stage9–0WZürichS. Kocsis (3), F Puskás (2), P. Palotás (2), M. Lantos, Z. Czibor8–3WBaselS. Kocsis (4), N. Hidegkuti (2), F. Puskás, J. TóthQuarter-finals4–2WBernS. Kocsis (2), N. Hidegkuti, M. LantosSemi-finals4–2 (a.e.t.)WLausanneS. Kocsis (2), Z. Czibor, N. HidegkutiFinal2–3LBernF. Puskás, Z. Czibor1958Group 31–1DSandvikenJ. Bozsik1–2LSolnaL. Tichy4–0WSandvikenL. Tichy (2), K. Sándor, J. Bencsics1–2LSolnaL. Tichy1962Group 42–1WRancaguaL. Tichy, F. Albert6–1WRancaguaF. Albert (3), L. Tichy (2), E. Solymosi0–0DRancaguaQuarter-finals0–1LRancagua1966Group 31–3LManchesterF. Bene3–1WLiverpoolF. Bene, J. Farkas, K. Mészöly3–1WManchesterI. Davidov (o.g.), K. Mészöly, F. BeneQuarter-finals1–2LSunderlandF. Bene1978Group 11–2LBuenos AiresK. Csapó1–3LMar del PlataA. Tóth1–3LMar del PlataS. Zombori1982Group 310–1WElcheL. Kiss (3), T. Nyilasi (2), L. Fazekas (2), G. Pölöskei, J. Tóth, L. Szentes1–4LAlicanteG. Pölöskei1–1DElcheJ. Varga1986Group C0–6LIrapuato2–0WIrapuatoM. Esterházy, L. Détári0–3LLeón

Record by Opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)OpponentWinsDrawsLossesTotalGoals ScoredGoals Conceded01232600111201011120027320029210012000110110016010014210011011001210022160022371001400011131001900022181012631001201001420112231012106

FIFA World Cup Finals

1938 World Cup Final v Italy

The third edition of the FIFA World Cup was the first without the host team competing in the final. At half-time, defending champions Italy were leading by 3-1 and Hungary did not manage to get back into the game.

GK Aldo OlivieriRB Alfredo FoniLB Pietro RavaRH Pietro SerantoniLH Ugo LocatelliCH Michele AndreoloIR Giuseppe Meazza (c)IL Giovanni FerrariOR Amedeo BiavatiCF Silvio PiolaOL Gino ColaussiManager: Vittorio Pozzo GK Antal SzabóRB Sándor BíróLB Gyula PolgárRH Gyula LázárLH Antal SzalayCH György SzűcsIR Gyula ZsengellérIL Jenő VinczeOR Pál TitkosCF György Sárosi (c)OL Ferenc SasManager: Alfréd Schaffer

1954 World Cup Final v West Germany

The Hungarian Golden Team were favourites for winning the World Cup in Switzerland in 1954 after 31 unbeaten games in the previous five years, among them a recent 7-1 against England and an 8–3 against their West German opponents in the group stage only two weeks before the final.

In one of the greatest comebacks in football history, the favoured Hungarians were defeated 2-3 despite an early 2–0 lead.

GK 1 Toni TurekRB 7 Josef PosipalCB 10Werner LiebrichLB 3 Werner KohlmeyerHB 6 Horst EckelHB 8 Karl MaiIR 13Max MorlockIL 16Fritz Walter (c)OR 12Helmut RahnCF 15Ottmar WalterOL 20Hans SchäferManager:Sepp Herberger GK 1 Gyula GrosicsRB 2 Jenő BuzánszkyCB 3 Gyula LórántLB 4 Mihály LantosHB 5 József BozsikHB 6 József ZakariásRW 11Zoltán CziborAM 9 Nándor HidegkutiLW 20Mihály TóthCF 8 Sándor KocsisCF 10Ferenc Puskás (c)Manager: Gusztáv Sebes

Record players RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups1Sándor Mátrai121958, 1962 and 1966Ferenc Sipos121958, 1962 and 19663Gyula Grosics111954, 1958 and 19624József Bozsik81954 and 1958László Sárosi81958 and 1962Lajos Tichy81958 and 1962Kálmán Mészöly81962 and 19668Flórián Albert71962 and 1966Gyula Rákosi71962 and 196610Nándor Hidegkuti61954 and 1958Máté Fenyvesi61958 and 1962Károly Sándor61958 and 1962Győző Martos61978 and 1982Imre Garaba61982 and 1986Sándor Sallai61982 and 1986

Top goalscorers With 11 goals in five matches in 1954, Sándor Kocsis beat Brazilian Ademir's existing record of nine goals in one tournament from 1950. However, only four years later the record was in turn beaten by Just Fontaine.

RankPlayerGoalsWorld Cups1Sándor Kocsis1119542Lajos Tichy71958 (4) and 1962 (3)3György Sárosi61934 (1) and 1938 (5)4Gyula Zsengellér519385Nándor Hidegkuti41954Ferenc Puskás41954Flórián Albert41962Ferenc Bene419669Géza Toldi31934 (2) and 1938 (1)Zoltán Czibor31954László Kiss31982

Goalscorers by tournament

World CupGoalscorer(s)1934 Géza Toldi(2), György Sárosi, Pál Teleki, Jenő Vincze1938 György Sárosi(5), Gyula Zsengellér(5), Pál Titkos(2), Vilmos Kohut, Géza Toldi, Own Goal1954Sándor Kocsis(11), Nándor Hidegkuti(4), Ferenc Puskás(4), Zoltán Czibor(3), Mihály Lantos(2), Péter Palotás(2), József Tóth1958 Lajos Tichy(4), József Bencsics, József Bozsik, Károly Sándor1962 Flórián Albert(4), Lajos Tichy(3), Ernő Solymosi1966 Ferenc Bene(4), Kálmán Mészöly(2), János Farkas, Own Goal1978 Károly Csapó, András Tóth, Sándor Zombori1982 László Kiss(3), László Fazekas(2), Tibor Nyilasi(2), Gábor Pölöskei(2), Lázár Szentes, József Tóth, József Varga1986 Lajos Détári, Márton Esterházy

See also Hungary at the UEFA European Championship

References

External links Hungary at FIFA World Cup Finals Statistics