This week marks the 34th anniversary of Hungary 3-0 Brazil

Head coach György Mezey and his Hungarian national team were riding the crest of a wave in early 1986. Nearly three years of steady improvement under Mezey's leadership had culminated in convincing qualification for the 1986 FIFA World Cup with a game to spare, despite being drawn in a group with the likes of Netherlands and Austria.

Subsequently, Mezey's squad won six of their seven fixtures before facing Brazil for the first time ever in Hungary and overall for the first time in 15 years since a goalless draw in Rio de Janeiro in 1971. It was 16th March, three months before the eagerly-awaited World Cup in Mexico.

Róbert István Eperjesi, fan: "If I remember well, more than 300,000 people tried to buy tickets for the match. They asked legendary Brazilian midfielder what he thought of that, to which he answered: "It's a pity there's no 300,000 capacity stadium in Hungary".

Zsolt Pintér, fan: "If I remember correctly, the ticket offices opened at 10am at the Népstadion that day. The first ones there had arrived with rucksacks the previous evening. My plan had been to combat the boredom while waiting by reading a book and there was such a mass of people packed in there that I needn't have worried about it falling from my grasp! In front of me, it like I was at a rock concert but I did get a ticket and it was a good, little match!"

Indeed it was. Hungary lined up in a 4-3-3 formation with the following eleven familiar players: Péter Disztl; Sándor Sallai, József Kardos, Imre Garaba, József Varga; Péter Hannich, Antal Nagy, Lajos Détári; József Kiprich, György Bognár and Márton Esterházy, although Bognár succumbed to an early injury and was replaced by Győző Burcsa in the eighth minute.

By that point though, Hungary were already a goal up! In the fifth minute, Bognár won the ball 35 metres from goal and toepoked it sideways to Détári, who spread the ball wide to Kiprich on the right of the Brazil area before surging into the box to meet the chipped return pass with his head and steer the ball into the far left corner of the goal.

Supporter Tamás Szekér remembers those opening moments vividly: "How we pressed the Brazilians in those first 5-6 minutes until the first goal! They (Brazil) were barely able to get out of their own half..."

Subsequently, Hungary slowed up a little but preserved their lead until half-time, at which point Kiprich needed to be substituted after a failing to recover from a kick to the ankle, Kálmán Kovács coming on in his place. That proved to be an advantageous change though, Esterházy racing through on goal and seeing his shot blocked on the hour mark, before Kovács arrived at the perfect time to squeeze the ball inside the left post to double the home team's lead.

Brazil stepped up the pace in response and nearly halved the deficit through Alemao, only for Sallai to clear the ball over his own crossbar. A potential comeback was snuffed out in the 73rd minute though when Esterházy effectively put the game beyond doubt, racing as he did on to Détári's delightful through ball and finding the net at the second attempt after Brazil goalkeeper Emerson Leao had blocked his initial effort.

There would be no further goals for the 70,000 capacity crowd in the Népstadion to enjoy in the remaining 17 minutes, thus Hungary recorded a historic three-goal success against a Brazil team which would naturally also feature at that summer's World Cup in Mexico. This is how the two head coaches reacted after the match:

György Mezey, Hungary: "We played a warm-up match from which we can't derive far-reaching consequences. A victory over Brazil is a real show of strength but I still regard them as being in with a big chance at the forthcoming World Cup. At the same time... for understandable reasons, I'm satisfied with all of my players".

Tele Santana, Brazil: "I congratulate my colleague (Mezey). It's a painful but deserved defeat that our national team has suffered, the saving grace being that we're just at the start of the World Cup preparation period. Six of our first-choice team didn't play and they couldn't even be here with us. The Hungarians played superbly but this wasn't a surprise given that Franz Beckenbauer praised them to me only last Wednesday. I have to say I like Hungary's game better than I did the West Germans'."