Ferenc Puskás
Hungarian association football player (1927–2006)

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.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ferenc Puskás” is hungarian association football player (1927–2006). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ferenc, Puskás and Hungarian, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “hungarian association football player (1927–2006)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q482931. VIAF identifies the subject as 27872658. The Library of Congress control number is nb98008976. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1927, 2006, 1952 and 1954.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ferenc Puskás” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.