Football in Eastern Europe may not be quite on par with the footballing hot spots of central and Western Europe, as no Eastern European team has yet to win the FIFA World Cup. Despite this, there have been some great Eastern European soccer teams that have had world-class players at their disposal.
For example, the 1954 Hungarian team is considered one of the best teams that have never won the FIFA World Cup after their defeat in the final. More recently, Eastern European teams such as Croatia and Bulgaria have made it to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, and then Greece won the UEFA European Championships. These are some of the best Eastern European soccer players who starred for such teams.
One of the stars of the great Hungarian team that made it to the 1954 final was Puskás. For Hungary, Puskas played in what was then an inside-left position, otherwise one of the forwards that led the Hungarian front line. Puskas’ goal-scoring record for Hungary eclipsed even his team-mate, Kocsis, as he scored 84 goals for the Hungarian national team, which was almost a goal a game. With Hungary, he won the 1952 Olympic soccer championship and was influential at the 1954 World Cup, where he was one of the tournament’s stars.
At the club level, Puskas also starred for the great Real Madrid teams, having immigrated to Spain after the Hungarian Revolution of the late 1950s. Puskas scored hundreds of goals for the Real Madrid teams that dominated Spanish and European soccer into the 1960s. With Real Madrid, Puskas won three European Cups and scored one of two hat-tricks in the 1960 final against Frankfurt and then in the 1962 final with Benfica. As such, Puskas was possibly the best Eastern European soccer player to have played
In more recent times, Suker was a prolific striker for the Croatian national team. In Euro 1996, Suker scored three goals, including a fantastic chip in their 3–0 win against Denmark, which helped the Croats reach the last eight. It was in the 1998 FIFA World Cup that Suker was most prolific as he scored six goals in several games during Croatia’s run to the semi-finals. Suker scored in six of their seven games, which ensured that he won the Golden Boot as the 1998 World Cup top goal scorer. Little wonder Suker was selected as Croatia’s player for the UEFA Jubilee Awards, and he also scored a record number of goals for Croatia.
At the club level, Suker played most of his games in La Liga for club teams such as Sevilla and Real Madrid. He had his best season with Madrid when he was the team’s top goal-scoring player in 1997, and the team also won the La Liga title during that same year. In 1998, he also played his part in Real Madrid’s Champions League-winning team.
Stoichkov starred for the Bulgarian national team during the 1990s and was inspirational in 1994. In this World Cup, Stoichkov scored six goals for Bulgaria. As such, Bulgaria reached the semi-finals of this World Cup, and Stoichkov was also the World Cup Golden Shoe winner. With such form, Stoichkov was the 1994 European Footballer of the Year.
Stoichkov played most of his football with Spanish giants Barcelona. With Barcelona, Stoichkov played either as a striker or a winger, as he had lots of pace, great crossing, and dribbling. As such, Stoichkov was one of Barcelona’s best forward players in a team that dominated La Liga and was also the first Barcelona team to win the European Cup in 1992.
Kocsis was another player of the great Hungarian teams of the 1950s and scored more than a goal a game for the Hungarian national team. Kocsis was a prolific striker, especially effective from the air with superb ball heading. He was at his best in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, where he scored 11 goals. As such, Kocsis was the top goal-scoring player of that World Cup.
This player also played for Honved in Hungary, where he scored hundreds of goals in the Hungarian League. Later in his career, he signed for Barcelona in Spain, where he won two Spanish League titles. In addition, he won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup with Barcelona in 1960.
Those four best Eastern European soccer players starred for great Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Croatian teams. In addition, they all played in Spain for either Barcelona or Real Madrid and were great players for those clubs. With such players, it is surprising that an Eastern European team has yet to win a FIFA World Cup.
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