Background
Sándor Kocsis was born in Budapest in September 1929.
Sándor Kocsis
The 1950s Hungarian national side – the famous “Golden Team” featuring Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis – is considered by some to be the greatest international side of all time
Sandor Kocsis, Luis Suarez and Laszlo Kubala
FC Barcelona
The Hungarian national side line up before the 1954 World Cup Final in Bern, Switzerland. They would go on to lose the match 3-2 to West Germany.
The 1950s Hungarian national side – the famous “Golden Team” featuring Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis – is considered by some to be the greatest international side of all time
Sandor Kocsis, Luis Suarez and Laszlo Kubala
FC Barcelona
The Hungarian national side line up before the 1954 World Cup Final in Bern, Switzerland. They would go on to lose the match 3-2 to West Germany.
Sándor Kocsis was born in Budapest in September 1929.
Sándor Kocsis Peter began his playing career with KTC. After moving to struggling Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros in 1945, the striker helped his new club develop and, as the focal point of the side, helped them win the 1949 Hungarian title at the tender age of 19.
By the time he was conscripted to the army in 1950, Kocsis had scored 70 goals in just 94 matches, and all before he reached 21 years of age. As an infantryman, he joined the newly created army team Honved, and it was there that he established one of the great partnerships of the 20th century with Puskas. The duo helped the club to three league titles in just six years, and would go on to change the face of Hungarian football.
Kocsis and Puskás were incredibly effective together because they were completely different. Puskás was one of the most technically gifted players of his age, combining agility, ball control and a razor sharp footballing brain to dazzle defenders.
Kocsis, on the other hand, was a less refined talent. A bigger man than his partner, Kocsis was a powerful forward and a superb header of the ball. His talents in the air led him to the catchy and affectionate nickname “The Man with the Golden Head“.
However, while Puskás was regarded as the more skilful player, that did not stop Kocsis from being equally prolific. He finished as top goal scorer in the Hungarian league on three occasions; in 1951, 1952 and 1954, scoring 30, 36 and 33 goals respectively. During the 1952 and 1954 seasons, he was the most productive goal scorer on the planet in first division football, a feat the great Puskás only accomplished once.
In 1957, Kocsis moved away from his home nation when the Hungarian revolution began. As a refugee, he spent one uneventful season with Young Fellows Zürich in Switzerland before he was persuaded to join Spanish giants FC Barcelona. There he would go on to win two La Liga titles, including the domestic double in his first season.
With 272 goals in 325 matches in a career spanning 22 years, Kocsis retired in 1966 at the ripe age of 37. After coaching spells with Hercules and Alicante, he was diagnosed with leukaemia and then stomach cancer in the mid-1970s, and died in 1978 after falling from a hotel balcony. It is unknown whether he committed suicide or if it was simply an accident.
Kocsis was a prolific goalscorer for both Budapest Honvéd and Hungary. While playing for Honvéd, he was the top goal scorer 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 goal scorer in the 1954 World Cup with 11 goals, being 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 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. Kocsis was particularly known for scoring headers.
