Gyula Zsengellér

Who was Gyula Zsengellér?

Gyula Zsengellér was a Hungarian footballer and a legend of Újpest FC, most famous for his part in taking the Hungarian national team to the 1938 World Cup Final. He was that tournament's second-highest scorer, behind Leonidas of Brazil.

His first international cap came on 2 December 1936, when Hungary lost 6-2 against England. In total, he gained 39 caps for his country, scoring 32 goals. This makes him the eighth-highest goalscorer of all-time for the Hungarian national side.

Zsengellér also played 325 games in the Hungarian league and scored 387 goals between 1935 and 1947, making him the third-highest goalscorer of all-time in the Hungarian league. He began his career at Salgotarjani TC, then moving to Újpest FC in 1936. Zsengellér spent 11 years serving Újpest, when in 1947 he joined Italian side AS Roma. In the 1949/50 season Zsengellér played for Ancona and he finished his career playing for Colombian Deportivo Samarios between 1951 and 1952.

He was the Hungarian league's top-scorer in five seasons: 1938, 1939, 1943, 1944 and in the spring season of 1945. He was Europe's top goalscorer in 1939 and 1945.

After his retirement, Zsengellér started a long and successful managerial career, working mainly in Italy and Cyprus. He won the Cypriot First Division with Pezoporikos Larnaca in 1954 and the Cypriot Cup with APOEL FC in 1976 as well as leading the Cyprus national football team from 1958 to 1959. He died in 1999 aged 83.