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.
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".
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.
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.