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Nicolae Kovács
Personal information
Full name	Kovács Miklos/Nicolae Covaci
Date of birth	29 December 1911
Place of birth	Plugova, Austria-Hungary; (now Mehadia, Romania)
Date of death	7 July 1977 (aged 65)
Place of death	Timișoara, Romania
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1924–1928	Chinezul Timișoara
Senior career*
Years	Team
1928–1930	Banatul Timișoara
1930–1931	Ripensia Timișoara
1931–1935	CA Oradea
1935	Ripensia Timișoara
1935–1936	Valenciennes
1936–1938	CA Oradea
1938–1940	Tricolor Ploieşti
1941–1942	Nagyváradi AC
1943–1945	Gamma
1945–1947	Ferar Cluj
1947	Crișana Oradea
1948	Chinezul Timișoara
Total
International career
1929–1938	Romania
1941	Hungary
Managerial career
1946–1947	Universitatea Cluj
1947	Ferar Cluj
1948–1949	ICO Oradea
1950–1953	Politehnica Timișoara
1953–1954	CSM Mediaş
1954	Minerul Petroșani
1957–1963	Minerul Nădrag
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicolae Kovács (Hungarian: Kovács Miklós, 29 December 1911 – 7 July 1977)^[a]^[2] was a Romanian-Hungarian football player and coach. He was a dual international football player and played both for Romania and Hungary.^[3]

For the Romania national football team, he won 37 caps and participated in the 1930, 1934 and 1938 World Cups, being one of five players to have appeared in all three of the pre-war World Cups. The other players were Edmond Delfour, Étienne Mattler, Bernard Voorhoof and Rudolf Bürger, according to official FIFA match reports. He represented the Hungary national football team only once, in 1941, also scoring a goal in that game.^[4]^[5]

He was the older brother of Ștefan Kovács, the famous coach who led AFC Ajax to two European Cups in 1972 and 1973.^[6]

International goals

Romania's goal tally first


#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 September 1929	Levski Field, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	2–2	3–2	Friendly
2.	14 July 1930	Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo, Uruguay	Peru	3–1	3–1	1930 FIFA World Cup
3.	28 June 1931	Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	3–1	4–2	1931 Balkan Cup
4.	8 May 1932	Stadionul ONEF, Bucharest, Romania	Austria	1–1	4–1	1932 Central European Cup
5.	3 July 1932	Avala, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	1–2	1–3	1932 Balkan Cup

Honours

Player

Ripensia Timișoara

Liga I (1): 1935–36
Cupa României (1): 1935–36

Coach

CA Oradea

Liga I (1): 1948–49

Politehnica Timișoara

Liga II (1): 1952

References and notes

^ Kovács' name was sometimes rendered as Nicolae Covaci.

^ ^a ^b "Nicolae Kovács - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
^ Nicolae Kovacs at fifa.com, www.weltfussball.de Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ Ion Văduva-Poenaru Enciclopedia marilor personalități: A-I Contemporanii 1999 - p. 496 "H. a egalat recordul deţinut timp de 60 de ani, de fotbalistul român Nicolae Kovacs, cu 3 participări consecutive la tumeele finale ale CM (1990 -Italia, 1994- SUA şi 1998- Franţa), evoluând în 12 meciuri din faza finală a competiţiei mondiale."
^ Players Appearing for Two or More Countries
^ ""Doar bunicul și alți 4 fotbaliști din lume au fost la primele 3 Mondiale". Povestea celui mai tânăr român prezent la un turneu final" ["Only my grandfather and 4 other footballers in the world have been to the first 3 World Cups". The story of the youngest Romanian present at a final tournament] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
^ "Ștefan Kovács, antrenorul timișorean care a cucerit de două ori Cupa Campionilor. Cum a scris istorie la cârma marelui Ajax" [Ștefan Kovács, the coach from Timisoara who won the Champions Cup twice. How he wrote history at the helm of the great Ajax] (in Romanian). Pressalert.ro. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2020.