Sándor Kocsis

Lore & Background

Kocsis was a prolific goalscorer for both Budapest Honvéd and Hungary. While playing for Honvéd, he was the top goalscorer in any European league in both 1952 and 1954. He also scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary – a 1.10 goal/game average at the game's highest level. Kocsis was the top goalscorer in the 1954 World Cup with 11 goals, a record at the time for goals in a single World Cup. That year he scored 23 goals with his national team, the most by any player during a calendar year. He was also the first player to score two hat-tricks in a World Cup. His 2.2 goal/game average in the World Cup finals is second only to that of Ernst Wilimowski (Poland) who scored four goals in his only World Cup match, and only Just Fontaine has scored more goals than Kocsis in a single World Cup. According to the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) he totalled 556 goals in 537 official games among which 123 goals in national team matches at all levels ranked third in recorded history. Kocsis was particularly known for scoring headers. His 1.103 goals/game average is ranked No.1 for players past 43 caps in FIFA class-A competition, closely followed by Gerd Müller with 1.097 goals/game (68 goals in 62 games). They are the only two players in history above a +1.0 goals/game average encompassing over 43 internationals. Ferenc Puskás with .99 goals/game (84 goals in 85 matches) is currently ranked 3rd. Sándor Kocsis registered a national record of seven hat-tricks for Hungary, including a four-goal haul against West Germany at the 1954 World Cup.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the Wankdorf Stadium hummed with a low, electric buzz. Kocsis stood at the edge of the box, his eyes tracking the ball's arc over the heads of the West German defenders. He didn't run yet. He never ran early. The full-back shifted, a half-step to his left, and that was the tell. Kocsis exploded — not a sprint, but a detonation, the kind of burst of speed that made the grass seem to slide beneath his boots. The defender's challenge came a fraction too late, fingers grazing the side of Kocsis's jersey as the Hungarian was already past, already turning, already looking up at the goal. The stadium of sixty thousand held its breath in a single, collective inhale. And then the whistle, the roar, the silence — the sequence of sound that would be replayed in Hungarian living rooms for decades, a moment of almost that became the defining 'almost' of a generation.

Reader's Guide

Kocsis made his debut for the senior Hungary team in 1948. Together with Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he formed the offensive nucleus of the Golden Team that went unbeaten for 32 consecutive games. The Hungarian national team suffered no defeats in Class-A international matches between 4 June 1950 and 4 July 1954, in the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final. Kocsis scored his first international hat-trick in a game against Sweden on 20 November 1949, and he scored a further one on 22 June 1952 against Finland. Kocsis also scored six goals at the Olympics in Helsinki as Hungary became Olympic Champions in 1952. On 19 October 1952, he scored his third international hat-trick in a game against Czechoslovakia. In 1953, Hungary defeated England 6–3 at Wembley Stadium and then in 1954 by 7–1 in Budapest. During the latter game, Kocsis added a further two goals. Hungary also won the 1948–53 Central European International Cup with Ferenc Puskás as top scorer. He finished the 1954 World Cup as top goalscorer, scoring 11 goals including two hat-tricks, the first of the three players that achieved this. In the opening game he scored his first hat-trick of the tournament against South Korea as Hungary cruised to a 9–0 win. In the next game against Germany, he went one further and scored four of the goals in an 8–3 win against the understrength team of coach Sepp Herberger. In the quarter-finals Hungary played Brazil in a game referred to as the Battle of Berne: Kocsis scored twice in an encounter which saw Hungary win 4–2. Hungary then reached the final after they defeated reigning World champions Uruguay in the semi-finals. The game was 2–2 in extra time until Kocsis scored twice to seal another 4–2 win. In the final they met Germany once again. However, for the first time in the competition Kocsis failed to score and the Germans won 3–2. On 24 October 1954, he scored his sixth international hat-trick and second against Czechoslovakia. He completed his seventh and last hat-trick for Hungary on 5 November 1955 in a game against the same opponents, Sweden, that he had scored his first. Ending the Golden years with a silver medal at the 1955-60 Central European International Cup, making it a grand total of 2 gold/titles and 2 silver for the Mighty Magyars.

Did You Know?

• Kocsis scored 11 goals in the 1954 World Cup, a record at the time for goals in a single World Cup.
• He is one of only two players in history with a goals-per-game average above 1.0 in over 43 internationals (1.103), alongside Gerd Müller.
• Kocsis scored two hat-tricks in the 1954 World Cup, the first player to achieve that feat.
• He scored 23 goals for Hungary in 1954, the most by any player during a calendar year at the time.
• Kocsis died on 22 July 1979 at age 49 after falling from a hospital in Barcelona; the cause is alleged to be suicide but may have been an accident.