The Match of the Century: How Hungary’s 6–3 Victory Over England Changed Football Forever | OneFootball

On November 25th in 1953, Wembley sat under grey skies waiting for its 100,000 spectators to arrive. Unbeaten at home against opposition from outside the British Isles, England walked onto the pitch expecting another talented international side to be defeated by their hand.

A certain victory that would showcase the dominance of English football all collapsed within a breathtaking 90 minutes. When the final whistle blew it wasn’t just a defeat but a revelation, leaving the English side defeated and bewildered. The very essence of English football was reimagined, coining the name “The Match of the Century”.

The Match of the century

Hungary didn’t arrive in London as underdogs or some middle tier international squad; they arrived as Olympic champions and had not lost in nearly four years. They became a formidable side and earned the name “The Golden team”, led by their captain Ferenc Puskas and coached under Gusztav Sebes.

Even with this “Golden Team” arriving at their shores, the English side remained unshaken and full of confidence. After all, England is football’s natural home.

The press framed the match as a contest between the creators of the game and its fiercest opponents but no one predicted the embarrassment to land on the creator’s doorstep. Fortunately for the fans the wait wasn’t long, just one minute after kickoff Nándor Hidegkuti struck the ball into the back of the net.

Wembley was left stunned, silenced and with its mouth wide open after a quick exchange left Hidegkuti with a sudden opening. English keeper Gil Merrick couldn’t do much against the decisive strike. England right then and there knew this wasn’t their typical international match.

It didn’t take long for the home side to respond and through English forward Jackie Sewell  order was restored and levelled the occasion 1-1. The stadium roared and the Lions seemed to be back on top but what followed was less of your classic comeback but more of a tactical dismantling.

Hidegkuti struck once again to give the Hungarians the lead. The roar of the lions went silent and the hiccup at the start is looking less and less like a fluke.

The onslaught began, continuing through Puskas and what came along with him wasn’t your run of the mill goal this was something special, a moment that added a brick to the already stacked legacy of Puskas.

He received the ball inside the penalty area, like a small field mouse in the clinches of a Lions jaw he looked trapped with nowhere to go. English defender and Captain Billy Wright had him right where he wanted him, until a sudden drag-back and skillful dribble sent Wright on his behind sliding and struck the ball from an angle that seemed impossible right into the back of the net.

A goal so fast it was almost like thunder and lightening was right on the very pitch of Wembley, a place usually accustomed to English command was left speechless.

Hungary led by 4-2 with “The Blackpool Bombshell” Stan Mortensen bagging the second goal for England late into the second half. On the brink of making history and being the first team to ever beat the English on their own turf, the Hungarians knew themselves they had the ability in them to end this Empire of the sport.

The Golden Team

Hungary was a shooting star of modern football in a period where football was built in a more rigid structure and a more physical game. They built their game on movement, positional fluidity, moving the ball around fast and accurately.

The Golden Team wasn’t just a talented squad, they were simply revolutionary and featured many notable stars like Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti, Jozef Bozsik and Sandor Kocsis.

England were the opposite and played the traditional way, opting for the WM formation (3–2-2-3) created by Herbert Chapman in the 1920s. Their tactics relied on a central midfielder to drop back and stop a traditional centre forward who would play high and isolated in front of the back line.

They played right into the hands of Hungary and they showcased their style of play through centre forward Hidegkuti. He would drift deep into the midfield like a modern centre forward and this left the English defenders puzzled as they struggled to respond. If they followed him into the depths of midfield it would leave space behind but if they were to tighten up and hold their positions he was free to control possession. It would be like watching a modern centre forward dropped into the 1950s. He was a visionary of the false nine position that us modern observers are well used to seeing.

England were lost, they played the game in how they intended it to be played and watched as the world continued to innovate the very game they made decades before. Defined best by Football writer Jonathan Wilson who described the defeat years later as “the complacency and the insularity of the English game.”

The Future of Football

The second half was similar to the first as the scoreline continued to grow and the game was far from slowing down. Jozef Bozik thundered home from a great distance to make the game 5-2  and Hidegkuti completed his hat-trick to make the game 6-2.

A penalty came for England in the 60th minute and the ball was put into the back of the net by Alf Ramsey who would later manage England to win the World Cup in 1966. This penalty wasn’t a defining moment as the outcome had been long since decided. The score finished 6-3 and more than 100,000 were there to see England lose their first home defeat to a non-British team, later to be coined ‘The Match of the Century’.

The English and Hungarian captains, Ferenc Puskas (left) and Billy Wright leading out their teams at Wembley Stadium, London. (Photo by William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The news spread across the globe along with its headlines and fans declaring football is now in a revolution. England was met with nationwide embarrassment and to swallow a hard pill never imaged to be swallowed by the nation the very game was founded in. The Wembley crowd still in shock and awe applauded the Hungarians for their brilliance which left the players and officials dumbfounded considering the circumstances.

The defeat not only broke history and showcased the many different games within Football itself but raised many difficult questions for England. How did the mighty England who were long considered the perfect standard of the sport so tactically obsolete?

The Football Association came under scrutiny alongside England Manager Walter Winterbottom. Everything came under examination, from the training, the international preparation and even the very tactics themselves.

The examination came to no avail as when England arrived in Budapest for a rematch the very same reckoning that appeared in Wembley followed the Lions to Hungary. This time they were defeated 7-1 by the Golden Team which is still England’s biggest defeat in the sport.

That game in Wembley that we now know as the ‘Game of the Century’ was not only England’s humiliation but the awakening of modern football. The way Hungary moved gracefully on the pitch with intelligence and tactical freedom was the very pillars built on the modern game.

When that final whistle blew and echoed through Wembley, the old traditional era of football had finally ended and the new era was only beginning. England lost a history defining game but football had found a future, one that would elevate the game into the highly competitive sport it is today.