Géza Toldi (11 February 1909 – 16 August 1985) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a forward. He played for Ferencvárosi TC, and from 1934 to 1938 for the Hungarian national team, serving as captain in 1936. He scored a goal in the 1938 FIFA World Cup.

Club career He grew up in the railway houses of Avar Street in Buda, Németvölgy. He began playing football in his place of residence, featuring for one of the local teams, ITE, in the fourth division of the youth championship, and he was pivotal in helping the club climb one division at a time almost every year, and in 1928 they also won the first division championship.

In 1928, he was noticed at the youth federation's Christmas round-robin tournament. He received offers from several teams, including Oradea and Ferencvárosi, and in the end, he chose the latter, staying with them for more than a decade, until 1939, and again from 1942 to 1943. He played in a total of 324 Nemzeti Bajnokság I matches, scoring 270 goals.

In 1939, Ferencvárosi lost 1-3 at the home of Bologna. In the second leg, the player, who was already considered "old," was added to the team due to injury. Ferencváros won 4-1, and the goals were all scored by Géza Toldi.

International career Between 1929 and 1940, he earned 46 caps for Hungary and scored a total of 25 goals. The highlight of his international career came in the 1936-38 edition, where he scored 5 goals, a tally that includes a hat-tricks against Austria in a 5-3 win on 27 September 1936. With 10 goals in the Central European Cup, he is among the top goal scorers in the competition's history. Toldi was also part of the Hungary team that played in two World Cups in the 1930s, in 1934 and in 1938, helping his nation reach the final of the latter, which they lost 2-4 to Italy.

Managerial career Between 1950 and 1954 he coached Danish top-flight side Odense Boldklub, before he became head coach for AGF Aarhus from 1954 to 1956, where he became the first coach to win the Danish double and in his first season in 1954–55, which also was the first championship and Danish Cup tournament AGF had won. He went on to win his second Danish Championship with AGF in 1955–56, then took over as head coach of Zamalek in 1956–57, and won with the Cairo giants the 1957 Egypt Cup. He then went on and coached the Belgium national football team, the "Red Devils", for six games from 27 October 1957 to 26 May 1958. He was succeeded by Constant Vanden Stock.

Thereafter, he became coach of the Belgian first division team K. Berchem Sport in 1958–59 and 1959–60, before he once again returned to Denmark to coach AGF Aarhus from 1960 to 1964, winning the double in 1960 and thus becoming the most successful coach in the club's very long history. He also coached B 1909.

International goals Hungary score listed first, score column indicates score after each Sárosi goal. + list of international goals scored by Géza Toldi No. Cap Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 1 14 April 1929 Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland 5–4 1927-30 Central European Cup 2 3 13 April 1930 Stadion Rankhof, Basel, Switzerland 2–2 Friendly 3 4 5 8 June 1930 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 6–2 5 8 20 March 1932 Letná Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia 3–1 6 10 8 May 1932 Hungária körúti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 1–1 1931-32 Central European Cup 7 12 18 September 1932 Letná Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia 2–1 8 14 2 July 1933 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden 2–5 Friendly 9 18 25 March 1934 Stadion Balgarska Armia, Sofia, Bulgaria 4–1 1934 World Cup qualifying 10 22 29 April 1934 Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli, Naples, Italy 4–2 1934 World Cup round of 16 11 12 24 7 October 1934 Hungária körúti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 3–1 1933-35 Central European Cup 13 25 12 May 1935 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 6–3 Friendly 14 27 6 October 1935 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 4–4 1933-35 Central European Cup 15 28 10 November 1935 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 6–1 Friendly 16 31 27 September 1936 5–3 1936-38 Central European Cup 17 18 19 32 4 October 1936 Stadionul ONEF, Bucharest, Romania 2–1 Friendly 20 33 18 October 1936 Letná Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia 2–5 1936-38 Central European Cup 21 34 6 December 1936 Dalymount Park, Dublin, Ireland 3–2 Friendly 22 38 14 November 1937 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 2–0 1936-38 Central European Cup 23 30 20 March 1938 Stadion der Hitlerjugend, Nuremberg, Germany 1–1 Friendly 24 40 5 June 1938 Stade Municipal Velodrome, Reims, France 6–0 1938 World Cup round of 16 25 57 7 April 1940 Berlin, Berlin, Germany 2–2 Friendly

Honours Player Club Ferencváros Hungarian National Championship (4): 1928, 1932, 1934, 1938 Hungarian Cup (4): 1928, 1933, 1935, 1943 Mitropa Cup (1): 1937

International Hungary FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1938 Central European International Cup third place: 1931–32, 1933–35

Individual Nemzeti Bajnokság I: Top scorer 1933–34 with 27 goals

Manager Zamalek Egypt Cup: 1956–57

References