The great Hungary of Ferenc Puskas, Ballon d'Or, made short work of the France team in the years 1950-1960.

Back on a decade of Hungarian domination on the occasion of the reunion between the two teams on Saturday, for the second day of Group F of Euro 2020.

A group stage meeting of Euro 2020 which may seem anecdotal.

Hungary await the French team in Budapest for the second day of the group stage on Saturday (3 p.m.).

The Blues start favorites against the "little thumb" of Pool F, but it was quite different in the history of football.

The Hungarians still lead in total direct confrontations against the French (12 wins for 8 losses, two draws), thanks in particular to an unprecedented domination during the decade 1950-1960.

Hungary's unbeaten streak against the Blues (nine games unbeaten) ended in the 1970s, when its football declined while that of France was reborn.

But the demonstration of the Magyars, another name of the Hungarian people, against the French marked a whole generation.

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Kopa facing Puskas

In 1956, the French football team totaled only two victories against Hungary in seven official matches. If the golden generation of the Blues is pointing the tip of its nose (Raymond Kopa, Just Fontaine, Roger Piantoni…), despite repeated failures, that of Hungary is already causing a sensation in the football world. The A selection of legendary striker Ferenc Puskas shines with its new collective game inspired by the Hungarian communist coach Gusztav Sebes. After a final at the 1954 World Cup, Hungary lost its splendor, and its coach was sacked. It is in this context that she comes to take her revenge against the French team in Colombes, where she had failed in 1935 (2-0), during a friendly match on October 7, 1956 (1-2). .

https://m.ina.fr/video/CAF95009762/football-france-hongrie-video.html

During this match, France narrowly failed to gain the advantage and finally bowed on a header.

It is the only meeting that Ferenc Puskas played against France under the Hungarian tunic, while the Russian tanks crushed the insurrection of the people in Budapest at the end of the year 1956. The Hungarian government is overthrown, and the football legend decides not to return to his home country.

The following year, a new friendly match was organized between the two countries, this time in Hungary where the team, forced to rebuild without its stars, easily won 2 goals to 0.

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Hungarian game demonstration

Water flowed under the bridges on November 11, 1962, the date of a new confrontation between the two nations. Ferenc Puskas won the second Ballon d'Or in history in 1960, but took Spanish nationality a year later. A choice that would no longer be allowed today, the striker having played meetings with the A team of Hungary. The Hungarian selection continues to rebuild itself, just like France which comes out of a non-qualification for the 1962 World Cup. In Colombes, the friendly match still turns to the advantage of the Hungarians who snatch the victory (2-3).

The following two oppositions between France and Hungary will really count.

It is a double opposition, in April and May 1964, to determine who will play the semi-finals of the second "European Cup of Nations".

The Habs welcome the Magyars to Colombes on April 25 in the first leg, but it is the visitors who recite their football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5af4ts83NFY

Hungary led quickly 2-0 at half-time thanks to their attacking duo Florian Albert-Lajos Tichy, and finally won the first leg with a score of 3 goals to 1. A delay of two goals too difficult to fill in the second leg for the players of the French team, who lost again against the Hungarians, in Budapest on May 23, 1964 (2-1).

6, the longest losing streak

Fifth consecutive defeat for France against Hungary, before a new disillusion.

On September 28, 1966, the partners of Philippe Gondet and Hervé Revelli, two of the French attackers, moved to Budapest for another friendly match against Hungary, after a disappointing 1966 World Cup (elimination in the first round).

The Magyars are in a completely different dynamic: semi-finalist at the 1964 European Cup and quarter-finalist at the 1966 World Cup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBJIto7u68c

That day, the Hungarian striker Janos Farkas achieved a high performance scoring four goals against France, enough to win once again despite the achievements of Gondet and Revelli (4-2). This is the sixth match won by Hungary against France, the longest series of defeats for the Blues against the Magyars. A series that ended during the following decade, in 1971, in qualifying for Euro 1972, where France conceded the draw in the first leg before losing at home on the return.

The direct confrontations between the two teams have since turned to the advantage of the France team, which has remained on five straight victories against Hungary since 1978. The two nations have not crossed so much since the 1970s, and they are meet again Saturday, in Budapest, for the second day of Euro 2020. Ironically, the Blues could inflict a sixth consecutive defeat against their Hungarian rivals, a nice nod to the past.