Sándor Kocsis, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1929)
Sándor Péter Kocsis (SHAWN-dor KOTCH-ish; Hungarian: [ˈʃaːndor ˈpeːtɛr ˈkot͡ʃiʃ]; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian footballer who played for Ferencváros TC, Budapest Honvéd, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelona and Hungary as a striker. During the 1950s, along with Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti, he was a member of the Mighty Magyars. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, he moved to Spain where he became a member of the FC Barcelona team of the late 1950s.
Kocsis was a prolific goalscorer for both Budapest Honvéd and Hungary. While playing for Honvéd, he was the top goalscorer in any European league in both 1952 and 1954. He also scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary – a 1.10 goal/game average at the game's highest level. Kocsis was the top goalscorer in the 1954 World Cup with 11 goals, a record at the time for goals in a single World Cup. He was also the first player to score two hat tricks in a World Cup. His 2.2 goal/game average in the World Cup finals is second only to that of Ernst Wilimowski (Poland) who scored four goals in his only World Cup match, and only Just Fontaine has scored more goals than Kocsis in a single World Cup. He is the joint second most prolific goalscorer in national team matches in all levels in recorded history according to the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) with 124 goals scored. Kocsis was particularly known for scoring headers.
His 1.103 goals/game average is ranked No.1 for players past 43 caps in FIFA class-A competition, closely followed by Gerd Müller with 1.097 goals/game (68 goals in 62 games). They are the only two players in history above a +1.0 goals/game average encompassing over 43 internationals. Ferenc Puskás with .99 goals/game (84 goals in 85 matches) is currently ranked 3rd.
Sándor Kocsis registered seven hat tricks for Hungary.