Their performance in 1972 echoed that by Hungary's "Golden Team", which became Olympic champions twenty years earlier.

Both also played famous matches against England at Wembley, and both eventually tasted bitter World Cup disappointment at the hands of West Germany. 

In the years after the second world war, the stars had aligned for a superb Hungarian team led by Ferenc Puskas.

In 1950, the Hungarians began a run of matches that saw them unbeaten for four years.

"Throughout the winter of 1951, we were already preparing intensively for the Olympic Games in Helsinki," Puskas recalled in his autobiography Captain of Hungary.

"From early spring we worked and worked and worked."

They built an aura of invincibility as they defeated East Germany, Poland and then put six without reply past Finland.

They set up camp at Otaniemi on the Finnish coast to prepare for the Olympics and a special kitchen was even set up to prepare familiar Hungarian food.

"Everything for our well being and fitness was assured, all that remained was for us to play well," Puskas admitted. 

Hungary beat Romania 2-1 in their first match of the tournament even before the Olympic Flame was officially lit.

At the Opening Ceremony, Puskas watched as legendary Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi lit a cauldron in the stadium.

"I had heard so much about him as a child and I admired now his youthful movements, as in spite of his age he ran nimbly around the stadium with the Torch and lit the Flame of the Olympic Games," Puskas recounted.

Hungary beat Italy 3-0 in the second match of the tournament.

Then Puskas and Sándor Koscis both scored twice in an emphatic 7-1 quarter-final victory over Turkey.

In the semi final, Puskas struck in the first minute as they swept Sweden aside 6-0.

"Our play against Sweden was such that for a long time, the world's newspapers held it up as an example of what football should be," Puskas reported proudly.

He had a penalty saved in the first half of the final against Yugoslavia and it wasn't until twenty minutes from time that he gave Hungary the lead.

With two minutes remaining, Zoltán Czibor scored again and the whole team stood on the podium to receive their medals.

The side became known in Hungary as the "Golden Team".

Future FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous who was then secretary of the Football Association in England immediately issued an invitation for Hungary to play at Wembley.

"The two giants are poised for a battle no-one can foretell with any certainty," The Times newspaper said in its preview.

"At least five of the Hungarians will come from the same club side, in other words, we can expect them to display the well knit cohesion of a top class club team," distinguished Austrian journalist Willy Meisl predicted.

In fact, Hungary scored through Nándor Hidegkuti after only 90 seconds and eventually won 6-3 with an outstanding performance which reverberated across the world.

It was an "outstanding piece of news", Budapest Radio announced.

In Austria, the Neue Wiener Tageszeitung reported "a raven black day for English football as Puskas and co were irresistible and outclassed their opponents".

West Germany's coach Sepp Herberger was well aware of what was happening in London and pointed out England's shortcomings.

"They can learn more from classical European football," Herberger said.

He was already plotting how his team would defeat the Hungarians.

"One can tip the Hungarians as world champions," was the forecast of Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter even before Hungary had beaten England 7-1 in Budapest the following May.

"Hungary had forgotten nothing and England hadn’t learnt a thing," was Meisl’s verdict on this second crushing defeat.

The Hungarians then beat Luxembourg 10-0 as they made ready for the 1954 World Cup. 

When the tournament began for real, they won 9-0 against South Korea, a record for the tournament.

In their second match, Hungary faced West Germany, coached by Herberger. 

The Hungarians scored three in the first 21 minutes and eventually won 8-3 but victory came at a price because Puskas was injured.

"I received a vicious kick on the back of the ankle," he recalled.

Without Puskas in the quarter final, Hungary still defeated Brazil 4-2 in a match known as the "Battle of Berne", after three were sent off and a brawl followed the final whistle.

"The scenes we witnessed belonged more to a gangster story than a football field," complained Puskas.

In the semi-final, Hungary beat Uruguay 4-2, after extra time.

Puskas returned for the World Cup final against West Germany, played in torrential rain, and he scored after only six minutes.

Zoltan Czibor soon made it two, but the Germans fought back and scored twice to level after 18 minutes.

The decisive goal was scored by Germany’s Helmut Rahn only six minutes from time and Hungary had a goal disallowed in the final moments.

It was their first defeat in four years but it cost them the World Cup.

The team broke up in 1956 in the aftermath of the Hungarian rising and have never again reached the same heights although they won Olympic gold again in 1964 and 1968.

Hungary's pathway to a third successive Olympic gold in 1972 was blocked by another outstanding team from Eastern Europe.

Poland's players were also "state" amateurs but included striker Grzegorz Lato, attacking midfielder Kazimierz Deyna and defender Jerzy Gorgon, all destined to grace the World Cup finals.

FIFA’s official report described them as "a side which had made great strides in the process of development over the last few years".

Poland beat Colombia 5-1 in their opening match and scored four without reply against Ghana.

In their final match of the first round, they beat East Germany 2-1.

The second phase was also played in a pool format in 1972. 

Poland drew 1-1 with Denmark, beat the Soviets 2-1 and put five past Morocco to seal a place in the final.

Their opponents for the gold medal were the Hungarians, also unbeaten in the tournament.

Three minutes before half time, Bela Varadi took advantage of a Polish slip and Hungary had the advantage.

Two goals from the tournament's leading scorer Deyna turned the match around and Poland won 2-1.

"I've been waiting for such a moment for twenty years," Polish television commentator Jan Ciszewski exclaimed.

"Polish football has been waiting for over 50 years."

Poland needed no special invitation to play England because they were drawn in the same FIFA World Cup qualifying group.

In front of a fiercely partisan crowd in the Silesian mining district of Chorzow, Włodzimierz Lubański scored in a convincing 2-0 victory to give Poland the initiative.

Only Robert Lewandowski has since scored more for Poland, but Lubański was injured and missed the return match against England at Wembley in October 1973.

Poland needed only a draw to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Before the match Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski was described as "a clown" by television pundit Brian Clough, a highly-successful English manager destined later to win the European Cup twice.

Tomaszewski had not played at the Olympics, but produced the performance of his life at Wembley and was almost unbeatable.

Poland scored a breakaway goal and although England equalised with a penalty, a 1-1 draw was sufficient for the Poles to qualify for the World Cup finals in West Germany.

They were soon two up in their first match of the tournament against Argentina in Stuttgart and they eventually won 3-2.

"The Poles demonstrated excellent soccer, a high tempo, practised moves and they were willing to have a crack at goal," a report read.

The next match was at the scene of their Olympic triumph in Munich and they blasted seven against Haiti.

An excellent 2-1 victory over Italy took them through to the second phase as group winners.

Once again there was no straight knockout but Lato’s marksmanship was effective again as they beat Sweden 1-0 when Tomaszewski also saved a penalty. 

They also defeated Yugoslavia 2-1.

This meant the last group match, against host nation West Germany, was all or nothing.

A heavy downpour in Frankfurt flooded the field an hour before the start even though the German organisers had used a computer to choose the best schedule weather-wise for the tournament.

"There was reasonable hope that the fire brigade and stadium ground staff would manage to make the pitch playable," the FIFA Report said. 

So the Austrian referee Erich Linemayr decided to delay the kick-off by 30 minutes.

"They succeeded on one side of the field, the other still resembled a group of lakes, the match was spoiled by the rain-soaked ground."

FIFA's experts insisted "the Poles came to terms with the conditions better than the Germans, took fewer risks at the back and made more use of the empty spaces up front."

Tomaszewski saved another penalty but with time running out, the decisive goal came from West Germany's deadly striker Gerd Muller.

It was the first time the Poles had been beaten since the start of the qualifying tournament.

The third place play-off against Brazil was played in Munich, but proved to be undistinguished before Lato, "the freshest of the Poles", finally escaped his markers to score the winner. 

This time the Polish players only received bronze medals.

Like Hungary they had taken gold at the Olympics, only to fall foul of the Germans at the World Cup.

Lato also received the "Golden Boot" as leading marksman of the tournament with seven goals but although the Poles qualified for the next three World Cups, they never reached the same heights again.