How it unfolded
England had never lost at home to a team from outside the British Isles, and treated that unbeaten run as proof that the game's home country still led the world. That record began to crack 90 seconds into kickoff, when Nándor Hidegkuti scored from just outside the penalty arc. Hungary's real weapon was its shape: with Hidegkuti wearing the number 9 but dropping into midfield rather than staying up front, England centre-half Harry Johnston — trained to man-mark the opposing centre-forward within the WM formation — spent 90 minutes unable to decide whether to follow him deep or hold his position. In the 24th minute, Ferenc Puskás dragged the ball back with the sole of his foot to wrongfoot a lunging tackle from England captain Billy Wright, then finished left-footed in one motion. It was 4-2 by half-time. The final scoreline showed a Hidegkuti hat-trick, two from Puskás and one from József Bozsik, with England's three goals coming from Jackie Sewell, Stan Mortensen and an Alf Ramsey penalty. The 6-3, watched by 105,000 fans, was repeated even more emphatically the following May in Budapest, 7-1.
Why it still matters
England's assumption that its domestic league was the best in the world collapsed in 90 minutes, and the defeat forced a belated embrace of continental-style tactical coaching and technical training. The dropped centre-forward went on to influence Brazil's back-four and false-nine ideas, and Alf Ramsey — who played in this defeat — would go on, 13 years later, to manage England to World Cup glory.