Ferenc Puskás (né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian professional footballer and manager. Nicknamed the "Galloping Major", Puskás is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, the greatest Hungarian footballer of all time, and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking midfielder, he scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary and later played four international matches for Spain as well. He is the European all-time top assist provider in international football (53). He became an Olympic champion in 1952 and led his nation to the final of the 1954 World Cup. He won three European Cups (1959, 1960, 1966), ten national championships (five Hungarian and five Spanish Primera División) and eight top individual scoring honors. In 1995, he was recognized as the greatest top division scorer of the 20th century by the IFFHS. Scoring 802 goals in 792 official games during his career, he is the seventh top goal scorer of all time by the RSSSF.
The son of former footballer Ferenc Puskás Sr., Puskás started his career in Hungary playing for Kispest and Budapest Honvéd. He was the top scorer in the Hungarian League on four occasions, and in 1948, he was the top goal scorer in Europe. During the 1950s, he was both a prominent member and captain of the Hungary national team, known as the Mighty Magyars. After the Hungarian Revolution, Puskás served a two year ban from UEFA. Despite failing to sign for Ethnikos Piraeus in 1957 under pressure from rival clubs, in 1958, he emigrated to Spain where he successfully signed for Real Madrid at the age of 31. While playing with the club, Puskás won four Pichichi Trophies, which is awarded to the top goalscorer of La Liga each season, and scored seven goals in two European Cup finals, winning the competition three times with the club and claiming five consecutive La Liga titles. He scored 619 goals in 618 matches in the Hungarian and Spanish leagues and National Cups.
After retiring as a player, he became a coach. The highlight of his coaching career came in 1971 when he guided Panathinaikos to the European Cup final, where they lost 2–0 to Ajax. He also led the club to the championship in 1972, becoming an icon in the country. Afterward he'd have spells at various countries and clubs, including Spain, Paraguay and the Saudi Arabia national team, with varying success. He returned again to Greece to manage an exceptionally strong AEK Athens team for the 1978–79 season. In 1993, he returned to Hungary and took temporary charge of the Hungary national team. In 1998, he became one of the first ever FIFA/SOS Charity ambassadors. In 2002, the Népstadion in Budapest was renamed the Puskás Ferenc Stadion in his honor. He was also declared the best Hungarian player of the last 50 years by the Hungarian Football Federation in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. In October 2009, FIFA announced the introduction of the FIFA Puskás Award, awarded to the player who has scored the "most beautiful goal" over the past calendar year. In 2004, he was listed by Pelé in the FIFA 100, which featured his choices for the 100 best living footballers at the time of its release.
Contents
Early life and youth career
Ferenc Purczeld was born on 1 April 1927 to a German (Danube Swabian) family in Budapest and brought up in Kispest, then a suburb, today part of the city. His mother, Margit Biró (1904–1976), was a seamstress. He began his career as a junior with Kispest Honvéd, where his father, who had previously played for the club, was a coach.
In 1937, his father changed the family name to Puskás. He initially used the pseudonym "Miklós Kovács" to help circumvent the minimum age rules before officially signing at the age of 12. Among his early teammates was his childhood friend and future international teammate József Bozsik. He made his first senior appearance for Kispest in November 1943 in a match against NAC. It was here where he received the nickname "Öcsi" or "Buddy".
Club career
Budapest Honvéd
On 19 February 1949, Puskás scored seven goals for Kispest in a 11–3 win against Győr. Kispest was taken over by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence in 1949, becoming the Hungarian Army team and changing its name to Budapest Honvéd. As a result, football players were given military ranks. Puskás eventually became a major (Hungarian: Őrnagy), which led to the nickname "The Galloping Major". As the army club, Honvéd used conscription to acquire the best Hungarian players leading to the recruitment of Zoltán Czibor and Sándor Kocsis. During his career at Budapest Honvéd, Puskás helped the club win five Hungarian League titles. He also finished as top goal scorer in the league in 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950 and 1953, scoring 50, 31, 25 and 27 goals, respectively. In 1948, he was the top goal scorer in Europe.
Budapest Honvéd entered the European Cup in 1956 and were drawn against Athletic Bilbao in the first round. Honvéd lost the away leg 2–3, but before the home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution erupted in Budapest and was subsequently brutally repressed by Soviet forces. The players decided against going back to communist Hungary and arranged for the return with Athletic to be played at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. Puskás scored in the subsequent 3–3 draw, his first European Cup goal ever, but Honvéd were eliminated 6–5 on aggregate, and the Hungarian players were left in limbo. They summoned their families from Budapest, and despite opposition from FIFA and the Hungarian football authorities, they organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. After returning to Europe, the players parted ways. Some, including Bozsik, returned to Hungary while others, including Czibor, Kocsis and Puskás, found new clubs in Western Europe. Puskás did not return to Hungary until 1981.
After refusing to return to Hungary, Puskás initially played a few unofficial games for Espanyol. At the same time, both AC Milan and Juventus attempted to sign him, but then he received a two-year ban from UEFA for refusing to return to Budapest, which prevented him from playing in Europe. He moved to Austria and then Italy. After his ban expired, Puskás tried to play in Italy but was not able to find a top-flight club willing to sign him, as Italian managers were concerned about his age and weight. He was considered by Manchester United to strengthen a squad ravaged by the Munich air disaster in 1958, but because of FA rules regarding foreigners and Puskás' not knowing the English language, stand-in manager Jimmy Murphy could not fulfill his wish of signing the Hungarian. However, a few months later, Puskás joined Real Madrid and at the age of 31 embarked on the second phase of his career.
Real Madrid
During his first La Liga season, Puskás scored four hat-tricks, including one in his second game, against Sporting de Gijón on 21 September 1958. In the game against Las Palmas on 4 January 1959, Puskás and Alfredo di Stéfano scored hat-tricks in a 10–1 win. During the 1960–61 season, Puskás scored four times in a game against Elche and the following season, he scored five goals against the same team. Puskás scored two hat-tricks against Barcelona in 1963, one at the Bernabéu and one at the Camp Nou. During eight seasons with Real, Puskás played 180 La Liga games and scored 156 goals. He scored 20 or more goals in each of his first six seasons in the Spanish league, and won the Pichichi four times: in 1960, 1961, 1963, and 1964, scoring 25, 28, 26 and 21 goals, respectively. He helped Real win La Liga five times in a row between 1961 and 1965 and the Copa del Generalísimo in 1962. He scored both goals in the 2–1 victory over Sevilla in the final.
Puskás also played a further 39 games for Real in the European Cup, scoring 35 goals. He helped Real reach the final of the 1958–59 European Cup, scoring in the first leg and in the decisive replay of the semi-final against Atlético Madrid, but missed the final due to injury. In the following season he began Real's 1959–60 European Cup campaign with a hat-trick against Jeunesse Esch and in the semi-final against FC Barcelona, as Puskás once again guided Real into the final with three goals over two legs. In the final itself, Real beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7–3 with Puskás scoring four goals and di Stéfano scoring three. In subsequent European campaigns, he would score a further three hat-tricks, including one in the 1962 final against Benfica, which Real lost 5–3. In 1965, he scored five goals over two games against Feyenoord as he helped Real Madrid to the 1966 European Cup final – Real won the game against Partizan Belgrade, but Puskás did not play.
International career
Golden Team
Puskás made his debut for Hungary on 20 August 1945 and scored in a 5–2 win over Austria. He went on to play 85 games and scored 84 times for Hungary. His international goal record included two hat tricks against Austria, one against Luxembourg and four goals in a 12–0 win over Albania. Together with Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, and Nándor Hidegkuti, he formed the nucleus of the Golden Team that was to remain unbeaten for 32 consecutive games. During this run, they became Olympic Champions in 1952, beating Yugoslavia 2–0 in the final in Helsinki. Puskás scored four times at the Olympic tournament, including the opening goal in the final. They also defeated England twice, first with a 6–3 win at Wembley Stadium, and then 7–1 in Budapest. Puskás scored two goals in each game against England. In 1953, they also won the 1948-53 Central European International Cup. Hungary won the championship after finishing top of the table with 11 points. Puskás finished the tournament as top scorer with ten goals and scored twice as Hungary claimed the trophy with a 3–0 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in 1953.
Puskás scored three goals in the two first-round matches Hungary played at the 1954 FIFA World Cup. They defeated South Korea 9–0 and then West Germany 8–3. In the latter game, he suffered a hairline fracture of the ankle after a tackle by Werner Liebrich, and did not return until the final.
Puskás played the entire 1954 World Cup final against West Germany with a hairline fracture. Despite this, he scored his fourth goal of the tournament to put Hungary ahead after six minutes, and with Czibor adding another goal two minutes later, it seemed that the pre-tournament favorites would take the title. However, the West Germans pulled back two goals before half time, with six minutes left the West Germans scored the winner. Two minutes from the end of the match Puskás scored a late equalizer but the goal was disallowed due to an offside call. Ending the Golden years with a silver medal at the 1955-60 Central European International Cup, making it a grand total of two gold/titles and two silver for the Mighty Magyars.
Ferenc Puskás' statistics at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics
The scores contain links to the article on football in the Helsinki Olympics and the round in question.
Ferenc Puskás' statistics at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland
The scores contain links to the article on 1954 FIFA World Cup and the round in question. When there is a special article on the match in question, the link is in the column for round.
Other appearances
In 1962, Puskás became a naturalized Spanish citizen, and subsequently played four times for Spain. Three of these games were at the 1962 World Cup. In Spain, he was known as Cañoncito Pum (The Booming Cannon). On 28 October 1963, Puskás appeared in a game for the Madrid football team at the FFM Trofeo Bodas de Oro, and he scored two late goals in a 4–0 win over Andalusia. In 1967, at the age of 40, he appeared in a fundraising friendly game for South Liverpool, the English non-League side, in front of a 10,000-strong sell-out crowd at the club's stadium in Holly Park.
Managerial career
After retiring as a player, Puskás became a coach and managed teams in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
In 1971, he guided Panathinaikos of Greece to the European Cup final. This was the first time a Greek club has reached a European final, and this would remain the only time for more than half a century, until Olympiakos reached the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2024. En route to the final, Panathinaikos beat Everton in the quarter-finals on away goals, then defeated Red Star Belgrade in the semis, to become the only amateur football team to reach the European Cup/Champions League final. In the final, Panathinaikos lost 2–0 to Johan Cruyff's Ajax.
During his four-year tenure at Panathinaikos, Puskás helped the team secure one Greek Championship in 1972. At Panathinaikos he retained the nickname "Pancho" from Spain and is considered the greatest ever manager of Panathinaikos, in the same esteem with his predecessor Stjepan Bobek and has entered the Greek football pantheon after Panathinaikos' run to the Wembley Final. A few months after leaving Panathinaikos in 1974, he took over Real Murcia, placed last in La Liga when he was appointed in December, failing to save the club from relegation in his only season in charge, while the following year he coached Saudi Arabia and in the same year he also managed Colo-Colo, where he spent two years, without experiencing notable success.
In the summer of 1978 he returned to Greece and took the wheel of the domestic double winners, AEK Athens, where he reunited with his former captain at Panathinaikos, Mimis Domazos. Puskás led the club to its biggest ever victory in the European Cup, a 6–1 defeat of Portuguese champions Porto in Athens, before their continental run was cut short in the second round by eventual competition winners Nottingham Forest 7–2 on aggregate. However, in March 1979 the club's management, fearing the eventual loss of the league, replaced him with his assistant, Andreas Stamatiadis, on an interim role for the final 11 games until the end of the season, due to the unstable performances of the team, which saw them drop to third place in the league table. The club of Athens eventually won the championship with Stamatiadis in charge in a play–off match that was never contested, as rivals Olympiacos refused to play.
Despite his wide travels, his only other silverware came with Sol de América, where he led the club to its first ever league title in 1986, and South Melbourne Hellas, with whom he won the National Soccer League title in 1991, as well as the NSL Cup in 1990, the NSL League Cup in 1990 and two Dockerty Cup titles in 1989 and 1991, becoming the club's most successful manager. While managing the Australian club, one of his players was future South Melbourne, Australia, Glasgow Celtic F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou, who has spoken of the influence Puskás' all out attacking approach and tactical acumen had on his coaching style.
Style of play
Puskás had excellent ball control, mostly with his left foot, and had a great first touch of the ball giving very quick and precise passing and crossing. He was also able to maneuver and change positions quickly on the pitch by moving from inside left to centre forward. He was also able to dummy his opponents with fake dribbles and would confuse his markers by pretending to go one way before going another. He did this to Bill Eckersley and Harry Johnston when Hungary beat England 6–3 at Wembley. Puskás also used to move the ball in different directions and sideways to go past his opponents with ease. Puskás was also excellent at set pieces, often scoring powerful direct free-kicks. He also scored directly from a corner kick. Puskás had one of the most powerful left footed shots in history and often scored from 30 to 35 metres from goal.
Personal life and death
Puskás was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2000. He was admitted to a Budapest hospital in September 2006 and died on 17 November 2006 of pneumonia. He was 79 years old and was survived by his wife of 57 years, Erzsébet, and their daughter, Anikó. In a state funeral, his coffin was moved from Puskás Ferenc Stadion to Heroes' Square for a military salute. He was buried under the dome of St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest on 9 December 2006.
Career statistics
Club
Source:
International
Appearances and goals by national team and year
Honours
Player
Budapest Honvéd
Nemzeti Bajnokság I: 1949–50, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955
Real Madrid
La Liga: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65
Copa del Generalísimo: 1961–62
European Cup: 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66
Intercontinental Cup: 1960
Hungary
Summer Olympics: 1952
Central European International Cup: 1948–53; runner-up: 1955–60
Balkan Cup: 1947
FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1954
Individual
Ballon d'Or Silver Award: 1960
Hungarian Football Federation Player of the Year: 1950
Central European International Cup top scorer: 1948-53
Hungarian top scorer: 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950, 1953
Spanish League top scorer (Pichichi Trophy): 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64
European Cup top scorer : 1959–60, 1963–64
Golden Boot of the World: 1948
World Soccer World XI: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963
Manager
Panathinaikos
Alpha Ethniki: 1971–72
European Cup runner-up: 1970–71
Intercontinental Cup runner–up: 1971
Football Cup of Greater Greece: 1970
Sol de América
Paraguayan Primera División: 1986
South Melbourne Hellas
National Soccer League: 1990–91
NSL Cup: 1989–90
NSL League Cup: 1990
Dockerty Cup: 1989, 1991