 On 23 September 1956, the Soviet Union played Hungary in a friendly game at the Lenin Central Stadium in Moscow, before a crowd of 102,000.The Soviet Union were unbeaten at home, and were generally regarded as the natural successors to the Hungarians as the world's premier footballing side.In addition, the Soviet team and players were regarded as ideals of socialist principles by senior communist authorities, who expected the Soviet Union to win comfortably, as befitting the senior member of the Eastern Bloc.