Gyula Zsengellér (27 December 1915 – 29 March 1999) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker. A legend of

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungarian professional football club, based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in 1905 and has been relegat ...

, he is most famous for his part in taking the Hungarian national team to the

1938 World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...

Final. He was that tournament's second-highest scorer, behind

Leonidas Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed d ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. His first international cap came on 2 December 1936, when Hungary lost 6–2 against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In total, he gained 39 caps for his country, scoring 33 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 Salgótarjáni TC, then moving to

in 1936. Zsengellér spent 11 years serving Újpest, when in 1947 he joined Italian side

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

. In the 1949–50 season Zsengellér played for

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

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 The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

with

Pezoporikos Larnaca Pezoporikos Club Larnaca ( el, Πεζοπορικός Όμιλος Λάρνακας, ''Pezoporikos Omilos Larnakas'') was a Cypriot sports club based in Larnaca with football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1927, the football club ...

in 1954 and the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

with

APOEL FC APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

in 1976. He died in 1999 aged 83.

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

named Zsengellér the 7th most successful Top Division Goal Scorer of all time.

Career statistics

References

External links

IFFHS link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zsengeller, Gyula 1915 births 1999 deaths Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian footballers Serie A players Categoría Primera A players Újpest FC players A.S. Roma players A.C. Ancona players Unión Magdalena footballers Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Colombia 1938 FIFA World Cup players Hungary international footballers Hungarian expatriate footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy APOEL FC managers Apollon Pontou FC managers Cyprus national football team managers Hungarian football managers Hungarian expatriate football managers Association football forwards Nea Salamis Famagusta FC managers APOP Paphos FC managers Pezoporikos Larnaca FC managers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece People from Cegléd Sportspeople from Pest County

Career statistics

See also

References

External links