Sándor Katona never played a full international, only playing for the Hungarian Olympic team. His presence helped the Hungarians defeat Czechoslovakia 2-1 in the 1964 Olympic final. In domestic competition, Katona played for top-flight teams. He started his career at Honvéd, with which he won the domestic cup in 1964 and was runner up in the league in 1963 and 1964. After a transfer to Ferencvaros in 1966, he lifted the league trophy in 1967 and 1968. His team also reached the 1968 final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (a forerunner of the Europa League), losing out on aggregate to Leeds, 1-0. Although a striker, Katona didn’t score particularly often, just netting the ball 15 times in his Hungarian domestic career, which he ended in 1972 with VM Egyetértés.