1939 Poland Vs Hungary Football Match

1939 Poland Vs Hungary Football Match

The Last Game, as it is known in Poland, was played on Sunday August 27, 1939, at the Wojska Polskiego Stadium in Warsaw. It was the last game of the interwar Polish football team before the Second World War. The Polish national football team faced and beat one of the best teams of that period - 1938's FIFA World Cup runners-up, Hungary, four goals to two. This match has generally been forgotten by the Hungarians - for them it was just one of many international friendlies, without any significance. In Poland, however, it is still remembered as the last match before World War II and also because it was a victory over a renowned team - the biggest success in history of Polish soccer up to that time.

Four days before the match, the Germans and the Soviets had secretly signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, according to which Poland was to be wiped off the map of Europe. The perception in Warsaw was that something was up in the air, mobilization of the Polish Army was supposed to be announced at any time, but in spite of this people were hoping for the best, enjoying the weather and last days of summer vacation.

In 1939, the Hungarian soccer team was widely regarded as one of the best in the world, and hardly anyone in Poland believed that their players in white and red uniforms, their national colors, were going to win over their opponents. This opinion was echoed by the nation's largest sports daily Przegląd Sportowy, which in Saturday's issue exclaimed in large print on the front page, "Without chances, but ready to fight". Poland was to face the Hungarians for the ninth time - up to then, the Poles had never won.