Ferenc Puskas
The most powerful and prolific forward Europe produced in first-division football.
via Wikipedia: FIFA Puskás Award · see source
Ferenc Puskás is the striker of Real Madrid during the late 1950s to the late 1960s, and central member of the highly successful Hungarian side of the same era. Puskás is widely considered by many to be the most powerful and prolific forward Europe produced in first-division football and was honoured by IFFHS in 1997 as the best top-tier goalscorer of the 20th century. Puskás scored 806 goals in 793 games and his 86 national team goals in 90 outings was a world record at the time.
Lore & Background
Ferenc Puskás scored 806 goals in 793 games across his career, a staggering rate that underlines his reputation as the most powerful and prolific forward Europe produced in first-division football. His 86 national team goals in 90 appearances for Hungary stood as a world record at the time. The FIFA Puskás Award, established on 20 October 2009 by FIFA at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, is named in his honour and awarded to the player judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or 'most beautiful', goal of the calendar year. The award reflects Puskás's own legacy of scoring goals of exceptional quality.
Reader's Guide
Puskás's career statistics are remarkable: he scored 806 goals in 793 games overall, with 86 goals in 90 appearances for Hungary — a world record at the time. He was honoured by the IFFHS in 1997 as the best top-tier goalscorer of the 20th century. The FIFA Puskás Award, named after him, was established on 20 October 2009 and first awarded on 21 December 2009 to Cristiano Ronaldo. The award criteria require the goal to be 'aesthetically beautiful', scored without the result of luck or a mistake, in support of fair play, and judged without distinction of championship or nationality. As of July 2026, no player has won the award twice.
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