Taking a stroll down Budapest’s two-sided city, you wouldn’t think Hungary is a footballing nation. It’s no doubt or secret that Hungarian hearts beat for football. However, the country’s rich history overshadows its fame. Like many football enthusiast countries, Hungary has very prominent soccer clubs despite its national football team not doing exceptionally well as it was during the golden age of the 1950s.
Communism descended in 1989; Hungarian football fell into a state of depression until the recent past; you can see the changes in their football after sports improvement in the country. Hungarian clubs have been taking strides and have taken part in the Europa League four times, a significant milestone after 20 years of football slumber.
In recent years football has had a great improvement with awesome performances for both clubs and countries in Europe. As a result football lovers have been going to onlinesportfogadás.com in search of the best online sports betting sites to wager on their favorite clubs. Stick around as you learn about the top football clubs in Hungary.
The best football clubs in Hungary
Ferencváros FC
Ferencváros FC is a Hungarian football club founded in Ferencváros, Budapest. Ferenc Springer founded the team in 1899. This club didn’t become the best by chance, but its performance has been promising throughout history. In 1965 they won the inter cities fairs cup after thrashing Juventus 1-0.
The team has won several cups since its foundation by 9th district citizens, and the team has missed three seasons of Nemzeti Bajnokság I between the years 2006 and 2009, and the reason was the club was facing financial problems.
Their success cannot go unnoticed domestically and internationally; they have won Magyar KUPA 24 times and took the Nemzeti Bajnokság I cup 33 times. From 1995-to 1996, they became the first Hungarian club to qualify for the champions league. The club also took part in the 2005 UEFA cup, 2020 Europa League, 2022 Europa League, which didn’t go past the group stage, and 2021 champions league.
Ferencváros FC built its first stadium in 1910, and it played its first match a year later. Ferencváros Stadion was demolished in 1971 and inaugurated during its 75th club anniversary. In 1990, they redesigned Groupama Aréna to meet the UEFA requirements. Their current stadium can hold 20,000 spectators during UEFA matches and 23,700 Hungarian domestic matches reconstructed in 2013-2014.
MTK Budapest FC
MTK Budapest FC is another football giant in Hungary with a massive fanbase. The Hungarian fitness activists’ circle, which started in 1888, started it, and the circle formed the football division in 1901. They drew with Budapest FC in their first match, and in 1903 they played their first league.
The team’s marvelous performance on the pitch has been a trend since its olden days, and they won their first Nemzeti Bajnokság I title in 1904 and won the second title 1n 1907 without losing a single match.
The secret police took over the team during the communist era. Still, it didn’t stop the team from winning the Mitropa, Hungarian, and other Hungarian league titles. They became the first Hungarian team to participate in the European Cup during the era. MTK FC played the most prominent role in the emergence of the mighty Magyars; other teams like Budapest Honved FC provided nucleus players.
Marton Bukovi, who was MTK coach, developed the legendary formation of 4-2-4, which Gustavo Sebes adopted and was later used to beat England 6-3 at Wembley stadium and 7-1 in Budapest in 1954. The overall team performance has been excellent over the years, and from 2016- to 2017, they took fourth position in the Europa League.
Ujpest FC
Újpest FC is another Hungarian club that has lasted more than a century; a school teacher founded it in 1899, where it was first named Ujpesti Torna Egylet. Their first official match was against III. Keruleti TVE in 1900 where they drew 1-1. The team takes pride in legendary players like Antal Dunai, who played 326 matches and scored 202 goals between 1965 and 1976.
Like in the national Hungarian national team, the fall of communism hit the team so badly that they have never recovered to date. Their stadium, Szusza Ferench stadion, which was Megyeri UTI Stadion, became operational first in September 1922, but they later redesigned in 2000-2001, and it can hold 14,817 spectators. They named the stadium after Ferenc Szusza, the Hungarian best striker.
Budapest Honvéd FC
Honvéd FC was initially called Kispest AC in 1909 when it was formed in 1926. The club name changed to Kispet FC before settling to their original name, Honvéd FC in 1944. The team enjoyed their golden moments in the 1950s where it had best players like Ferenc Puskás, Gyula Grosics, József Bozsik, Sándor Kocsis,and Zoltán Czibor, who was part of the mighty Magyars team.
The team continued to shine between the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s when they won eight Hungarian titles. They have won 7 Magyar Kupa titles and Nemzeti Bajnokság I 14 times. In June 2020, the club won 2-1 against Mezőkövesd SE and won the Magyar cup in the finals.
Fehérvár FC
From the list, Fehérvár FC is the youngest club founded in 1941, which has undergone several name changes. They played their first division match In 1968, which wasn’t successful, and they tasted their first victory in 1975 -1976, where they took the second position.
Their most enormous domestic success was in 2010-2011, 2015, and 2018, when they took the first position in the championship. They have been doing well too internationally where they reached the UEFA cup final in 1985 and got defeated by Real Madrid C.F. by 3-0. They had knocked out Manchester United in the quarter-finals to reach the finals during the second round.
Although the team has won Hungarian championships three times recently, the team has never qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage. The Fehérvár FC has a stadium called Sóstói Stadion that has a spectators capacity of 14,300; the team also boasts a 2007 founded football academy.
Conclusion
Football and Hungary are inseparable, and that’s why you will find some clubs have lasted more than a century; even after the descent of communism, the clubs still stand still. When viktor Orban came back into power, he funded football clubs.
The government has invested much in club stadiums and proper facilitation of football academies. Most clubs have a new home, all supported by the government. From the government funding, Hungarian football enthusiasts expect to see more success in clubs domestically and internationally.
