In 1953, playing as a deep lying centre-forward, a position which has retroactively been compared to the modern false 9 role,[2][3] he scored a hat-trick for Hungary when they beat England 6–3 at Wembley Stadium.

Despite this turmoil, the 1950s proved a successful era for club and it was while at MTK that Hidegkuti, together with Péter Palotás and coach Márton Bukovi, pioneered the deep lying centre-forward position.

He became a central player in the Golden Team of the early and mid-1950s; during this time, Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis and Hidegkuti provided the Hungarians a total of 198 goals.

When a defending centre half attempted to mark Hidegkuti, they were drawn out of position, allowing the rest of the Hungarian team to exploit the space.

But whatever people claim of Kocsis and Puskas, it was the man Hidegkuti who tore the England defence to shreds at Wembley in November 1953.

"[4] Sepp Herberger, manager of the West German team that would defeat Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final, identified Hidegkuti as the most important player in the Hungarian team (despite Puskas drawing a lot more public attention) and adjusted his tactics for the final to prevent him from playing out his game.

With Győri ETO he won the Hungarian League in 1963 and then took them to the semi-final of the 1964–65 European Cup where they lost to eventual runners-up, Benfica.