Gyula Zsengellér (27 December 1915 – 29 March 1999) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker. A historic player of Újpest FC, he scored 387 goals in the Hungarian league between 1935 and 1947, making him the league's third-highest goalscorer of all-time. He was also a member of the Hungary national team that reached the final of the 1938 FIFA World Cup, being the tournament's second-highest scorer. Zsengellér also was the last surviving player of the Hungarian side that played the 1938 World Cup final.

After finishing his playing career, he worked as a coach for several clubs in Italy and Cyprus, guiding Pezoporikos Larnaca to a championship title and APOEL FC to a cup.

Club career

Born in Cegléd on 27 December 1915, Zsengellér began his career at Salgótarjáni TC, before joining Újpest FC in 1936, with whom he played for 11 years, until 1947. During his time there, he was the Hungarian league's top-scorer in five seasons (1938, 1939, 1943, 1944 and in the spring season of 1945), Europe's top goalscorer in 1939 and 1945 (56 and 36 goals, respectively), and also the top scorer of the Mitropa Cup in 1939 with 9 goals, including a brace in the first leg of the finals against Ferencvárosi, helping his side to a 6–3 aggregate victory. In total, he scored 368 goals in 302 league matches.

In 1947, Zsengellér left both Újpest and the country, becoming the last player that the Hungarian Football Federation allowed to sign a contract abroad, joining Italian side A.S. Roma, where he stayed for two years. In the 1949–50 season, he played for Ancona, before finishing his career playing for Colombian Deportivo Samarios, where he worked as a player-coach between 1951 and 1953. According to IFFHS, he is the fifth highest goalscorer in the history of top-tier national leagues with 415 such goals (386 in Hungary, 6 in Italy, and 23 in Colombia), only behind Lionel Messi, Josef Bican, Ferenc Puskás, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

International career On 2 December 1936, the 20-year-old Zsengellér made his international debut for Hungary in a friendly against England at Arsenal Stadium in London, which ended in a 6–2 loss. In his second appearance, on 11 April 1937, he scored a hat-trick in a 1936–38 Central European Cup match against Switzerland in Basel. The following year, on 25 March, he scored a 5-goal haul in a 1938 World Cup qualifier against Greece (11–1). In total, he earned 39 caps, scoring 33 goals, making him the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Hungarian national team.

Managerial career After his retirement, Zsengellér started a long and successful managerial career, working mainly in Italy and Cyprus, winning the Cypriot First Division with Pezoporikos Larnaca in 1954 and the Cypriot Cup with APOEL FC in 1976. In 1958, he was appointed as the manager of the Cypriot national team, a position he held for two years.

Death and legacy Zsengellér died on 29 March 1999, at the age of 83. He was initially buried in Cyprus, where his grave stood until October 2013, when his family brought his remains to Hungary and reburied them in his hometown of Cegléd. His son Zsolt was a sports journalist and former employee of Képes Sport.

A Turkish newspaper described him as the Paganini of football.

Career statistics Club statistics Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Hungary League Hungarian Cup League Cup Europe Total1935–36Salgótarjáni BTCNational Championship I24191936–37Újpest BudapestNational Championship I24351937–3825311938–3926561939–4012111940–4126281941–4228271942–4330261943–4429331944912194521361945–4635511946–4729181947–4874 Total Hungary3253871948–49AS RomaSerie A2851949–5061 Total Italy3461951Deportivo SamariosCategoría Primera A191319521810 Total Colombia3723 Career total396416

International goals Hungary score listed first, score column indicates score after each Zsengellér goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Gyula ZsengellérNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 11 April 1937 Stadion Rankhof, Basel, Switzerland 2–0 5–1 1936–38 Central European Cup2 3–13 4–14 19 September 1937 Hungaria uti, Budapest, Hungary 1–0 8–35 16 January 1938 Stade Municipal, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg 4–0 6–0 Friendly6 25 March 1938 Hungária körúti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 1–0 11–1 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification7 3–08 4–09 10–010 11–011 5 June 1938 Vélodrome Municipal, Reims, France 4–0 6–0 1938 World Cup Round of 1612 5–013 12 June 1938 Stade Victor Boucquey, Lille, France 2–0 2–0 1938 World Cup quarter-finals14 16 June 1938 Parc des Princes, Paris, France 3–1 5–1 1938 World Cup Semi-finals15 5–116 26 February 1939 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1–0 2–3 Friendly17 19 March 1939 Cork, Ireland Ireland 1–1 2–218 27 August 1939 Polish Army Stadium, Warsaw, Poland 1–0 2–419 24 September 1939 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 2–0 5–120 3–121 4–122 3 May 1942 2–1 5–323 16 May 1943 Geneva, Hungary 2–1 3–124 6 June 1943 Yunak Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria 1–0 4–225 2–026 3–027 4–128 12 September 1943 Solna, Sweden 1–1 3–229 19 August 1945 Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary 2–0 2–030 20 August 1945 3–0 5–231 30 September 1945 3–1 7–232 14 April 1946 Vienna, Austria 2–1 2–3

Honours As a player Újpest Nemzeti Bajnokság I Champions (4): 1938–39, 1945, 1945–46, 1946–47 Runner-up (3): 1937–38, 1940–41, 1941–42 Mitropa Cup Champions: 1939

Hungary Balkan Cup Champions: 1947 Central European International Cup Champions: 1936–38 FIFA World Cup Runner-up: 1938

As a manager Cypriot First Division Champions: 1953–54 Cypriot Cup Champions: 1975–76 Cypriot Second Division Champions: 1976–77

See also List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

References

External links IFFHS link