May 23 – England’s Record Loss
GOOD old England, just when you think they have hit rock bottom, they start digging. The first ever home loss to a side from outside the British Isles against the Mighty Magyars of Hungary in 1953 was a historic match that finally put an end to England’s unshakable belief in their own superiority.
The visiting side which contained Ferenc Puskas thrashed England 6-3 at Wembley to stun the hosts and confirm the Golden Team from Hungary as a genuine world force.
Eager to reclaim some credibility after that hiding England agreed to a rematch in Hungary the following year as a warm-up for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.
It was on this day that the two sides squared up in the Népstadion in Budapest. Rather than exacting any revenge over their Wembley conquerers England were again taught a footballing lesson and ended up on the wrong end of a 7-1 scoreline. It remains England’s heaviest ever defeat.
Mihály Lantos opened the scoring with just nine minutes played as the England side containing Billy Wright and Tom Finney must have collectively thought ‘here we go again.’
Puskas of course had his say, bagging a brace while Sándor Kocsis also got two. A goal each from József Tóth and the man who had scored a hat-trick at Wembley Nándor Hidegkuti made this the only match in which five different players have scored against the Three Lions.
Newcastle United’s Ivor Broadis’ name cut a lonely figure in the ‘Visitors’ section of the scoreboard after he scored England’s only goal in reply.
As well as proving the Wembley game was no fluke, the match also ensured Hungary were installed as favourites for the up-coming world cup.
While England were knocked out at the now traditional stage of the quarter-finals, Hungary did get all the way to the final before losing to West Germany 3-2, despite being 2-0 up at half time.
See the Mighty Magyars destroying England again below, and come back tomorrow when we’ll be right here with more time-wasting trivia for you.
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