When Hungarian footballers played against Pelé

SERVETTE (Switzerland)–SANTOS (Brazil) 1:4
June 9, 1959, Geneva, Stade de Genève, 15 thousand spectators
Hungarians in Servette:Dezső Makay, Valér Németh
Pele scored one goal. The website that does Santos' stats lists Makay's name as McKay (he is known as Didier Makay in Switzerland), and the Brazilian source's report lists Németh as Nemetfűz, so it's probably a typo. Both of them stayed in the West after the 1956 revolution as members of the Hungarian youth national team, and together with Péter Pázmándy, they accepted an offer from Servette.

REAL MADRID (Spain)–SANTOS 5:3
June 17, 1959, Madrid, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, 70 thousand spectators
Hungarians in Real Madrid:Ferenc Puskás
Puskás, who replaced Mateos that produced a hat trick, and Pelé scored one goal each. It was Miguel Muñoz's farewell match in Madrid, probably the only time Puskás and Pelé played against each other. The photo of them, which first appeared in Tibor Hámori's 1982 Puskás book without any caption, was probably taken after the final whistle. At the 1962 World Cup, Puskás played against Brazil as a member of the Spanish national team, but Pelé did not play in that match (the Brazilians won 2-1). Interestingly, the referee in Madrid was Leo Horn from the Netherlands, who also refereed the England-Hungary game (3:6) in 1953.

FC BARCELONA (Spain)–SANTOS 1:5
June 28, 1959, Barcelona, Camp Nou, 40 thousand spectators
Hungarians in Barcelona:Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis
Pelé scored two goals.

STANDARD LIEGE (Belgium)–SANTOS 3:4
May 20, 1960, Liège, Stade de Sdhessin, 30 thousand spectators
Hungarians in Standard Liège:István Sztáni
Pelé and Sztáni scored one goal each.

ANDERLECHT (Belgium)–SANTOS 0:6
May 28, 1960, Brussels, Astrid Park, 20 thousand spectators
Hungarians in Anderlecht:Miklós Dacsev, Sándor Karsai, József Völgyi
Pelé scored two goals. Völgyi's name appeared in the statistics as Wölbling, as used in Belgium.

RACING PARIS (France)–SANTOS 1:4
June 9, 1960, Paris, Parc de Princes, no information on the number of spectators
Hungarians in Racing Paris:József Újlaki
Újlaki, the 21-time French national team winger from Ganz TE in Budapest, scored a header from a close range when Santos was leading 3-0. Pelé scored one goal and based on the video summary of the match that is available online, he played amazingly in Paris.

FC BARCELONA–SANTOS 4:3
July 2, 1960, Barcelona, Camp Nou, 40 thousand spectators
Hungarians in Barcelona:László Kubala
Kubala and Pelé scored two and one goals, respectively

RACING PARIS–SANTOS 2:5
October 17, 1962, Paris, Parc de Princes, 35 803 spectators
Hungarians in Racing Paris:József Újlaki
Pelé scored two goals. The clash brought in more than 200 thousand francs. The story goes that a blind French fan went to the stadium and fulfilled his dream of getting a signature from the Brazilian football king after the final whistle.

FC BARCELONA–SANTOS 2:0
June 12, 1963,Barcelona,CampNou,85thousand spectators
Hungarians inBarcelona:Tibor Szalay
Szalayjoined after the break.

SANTOS–VASAS 2:2
February 10, 1967, Santiago de Chile, Estádio Nacional, 65 thousand spectators
Vasas:László Varga (István Kenderesi) – Sándor Bakos, Kálmán Mészöly, Pál Berendi, Kálmán Ihász – Imre Mathesz, Ferenc Fister – Dezső Molnár, Tibor Pál, János Farkas, István Korsós
By the break, Santos led 2-0 with goals from Lima (12^th minute) and Pelé (35^th minute), while Korsós equalized in the 48^th and the 73^rd minute. The Chilean Hexagonal Tournament, which included Universidad de Chile, Colo-Colo, Penarol, and Universidad Católica, was won by Vasas ahead of Santos with a better goal difference.

SANTOS–VASAS 4:0
January 23, 1968, Santiago de Chile, Estádio Nácional, 36 060 spectators
Vasas:István Kenderesi – Sándor Bakos, Kálmán Mészöly, Balázs Makray, Kálmán Ihász (László Somogyvári) – Imre Mathesz, Iván Menczel, Ferenc Fister – Dezső Molnár, Lajos Puskás (István Korsós), János Farkas
Pelé scored the second goal. Santos won the 1968 Octagonal tournament, Vasas finished fourth. In a change from the previous year's field, Racing Club replaced Penarol, as did the Czechoslovak and East German national teams.

NEW YORK GENERALS (USA)–SANTOS 5:3
July 12, 1968, New York, Yankee Stadium, 15 645 spectators
Hungarians in New York Generals:László Kaszás
Kaszás scored the last goal for the home team. The unexpected defeat was excused by the extremely busy schedule of Santos' tour in the USA. This was their 11^th match in 16 days, and sometimes, they had to play three consecutive days...

BRAZIL–WORLD TEAM 2:1
November 6, 1968, Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã Stadium, 110 thousand spectators
Hungarians in the world team:Dezső Novák, Lajos Szűcs, János Farkas, Flórián Albert
The match was played on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Brazil's 1958 World Cup victory, and the World Team consisted of Jasin - Novák, Shesternyov, Schulz, Mazzolini - Beckenbauer, Szűcs, Overath - Amancio, Albert, Džajić. Rivellino and Tostao scored the Brazilian goals while Albert equalized. Ferencváros' Ballon d'Or winner was substituted during the break, and Farkas came on. Pelé played the whole game for Brazil.

LOS ANGELES AZTECS–NEW YORK COSMOS 5–1
July 3, 1975, Los Angeles, El Camino College, 12 176 spectators
Hungarians in Los Angeles Aztecs:Gyula Visnyei
Gyula Visnyei played in the United States under the name Juli Veee and scored a goal in this MLS league match. Pelé played the whole game for his new team, the New York Cosmos, and this was his sixth appearance for the American club.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES–NEW YORK COSMOS 3–2
August 27, 1975, San José, Spartan Stadium, 19 338 spectators
Hungarians in San Jose Earthquakes:Gyula Visnyei
In less than two months, the Hungarian striker played for two different clubs against Pelé. In the friendly match in August, he played as a substitute for his employer for the following year. After the match, he was photographed with his famous opponent.

NEW YORK COSMOS–TORONTO METROS-CROATIA 2–0
June 18, 1975, NewYork,DowningStadium,22500spectators
Hungarians inTorontoMetros-Croatia:Jenő Streniczer
In the United States, Jenő Streniczer went by the name Gene Strenicer, as he was listed in the minutes of the league game.

TORONTO METROS-CROATIA–NEW YORK COSMOS 3–0
July 19, 1975, Toronto, Varsity Stadium, 21 573 spectators
Hungarians in Toronto Metros-Croatia:Jenő Streniczer
Interestingly, Roberto Vieri, the father of future 49-time Italian national team footballer Christian Vieri, also played for the home team, which was made up mostly of Croatian and other Eastern European players.

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM–ENGLAND 1–3
May 31, 1976, Philadelphia, 16 239 spectators
Hungarians in the American League team: Gyula Visnyei
The match was part of a mini-tournament to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Both Pelé (New York Cosmos) and Gyula Visnyei (San José Earthquakes) started for the League team. They played for forty-five minutes together when the Hungarian player was substituted at the break. Interestingly, the English national team wore a yellow jersey, while the three stripes of Adidas on the Puma-sponsored Pelé jersey had to be covered due to a conflict of interest. The surviving video of the match shows that the teams did not take the game too seriously, and the hardy-filled stands added to the overall impression of the poor performance. England's Kevin Keegan scored two goals and Gerry Francis one, while Stewart Scullion scored for the Americans. Brazil won the jubilee tournament (Pelé did not play against his compatriots), while the US league team finished last with three defeats behind England and Italy, with a goal difference of 1-9. Visnyei came on as a substitute against the Brazilians and did not play against Italy.

NEW YORK COSMOS–TORONTO METROS-CROATIA 3–0
June 18, 1976, New York, Yankee Stadium, 18 612 spectators
Hungarian in Toronto Metros-Croatia:Jenő Streniczer
Note: Eusébio played in the same team as the Hungarian.

SAN JOSÉ EARTHQUAKES–NEW YORK COSMOS 2–1
August 7, 1976, San José, Spartan Stadium, 23 048 spectators
Hungarians in San José Earthquakes: Tibor Molnár
The information available on the league match is incomplete, Tibor Molnár probably came on as a substitute.

NEW YORK COSMOS–TORONTO METROS-CROATIA 6–0
June 5, 1977, New York, Giants Stadium, 31 208 spectators
Hungarians in Toronto Metros-Croatia: Jenő Streniczer
It is worth noting that none of the six home goals were scored by Pelé.

TORONTO METROS-CROATIA–NEW YORK COSMOS 1–2
June 16, 1977, Toronto, Varsity Stadium, 21 793 spectators
Hungarians in Toronto Metros-Croatia: Jenő Streniczer
The New York Cosmos won the league that year, crowning Pelé's time in America.

NASL NATIONAL TEAM–NEW YORK COSMOS 3–2
September 24, 1980, New York, Giants Stadium, 71 413 spectators
Hungarians in the NASL team: László Harsányi
In Franz Beckenbauer's farewell match for the NASL team, László Harsányi was a starter while Pelé was the guest of honor at the New York Cosmos. In fact, he even scored a goal.

WORLD TEAM–BRAZIL 2–1
October 31, 1990, Milan, Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, 20 thousand spectators
Hungarians in the World Team: Lajos Détári
The match was organized to celebrate Pelé's 50th birthday. The celebrated Brazilian was substituted in the 42^nd minute and was not on the pitch with the Hungarian midfielder, who came on for the World Team at the break.

Translated by Vanda Orosz