After their loss against Switzerland in round one, the Hungarian National Team came into their next game against Germany eager to set things right. It was a tall order, given that the hosts beat Scotland 5–1 with decisive football in the opening game. However, it was not impossible—
the last clash between the two teams ended in a Hungarian victory, 1–0 in the UEFA Nations League in September 2022.
What’s more, that game too was played on German turf, in Leipzig. This time, the sides faced each other at the Stuttgart Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.
And the game started with a Hungarian chance, giving more credence to the idea that this game was not a ‘done deal’ for the Germans. Roland Sallai’s short-range shot was blocked by German goalie Manuel Neuer after a short backpass from Jonathan Tah. However, as the game went on, the Germans got more and more of the ball, and spent more and more time in front of the Hungarian goal.
This culminated in Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala scoring the opener for Germany in the 22nd minute. There was a possible foul by Gündoğan on Willi Orbán, which was not called by the Dutch match official Danny Makkeile, nor by the VAR officials. It was a close call—since the referees allowed the goal to stand, this could be chalked up as yet another defensive error by Orbán that led to a goal. The RB Leipzig defender has nearly a decade of German Bundesliga experience, and almost 50 caps under his belt, but he has been underperforming in the two games at the Euros so far.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Hungary’s brightest talent, nearly equalized from a free kick only a few minutes after conceding a goal, but Neuer managed to keep the ball out of the top near corner with an excellent dive.
Germany remained the more active side for the remainder of the first half. However, Sallai scored a rebound after another Szoboszlai free kick—alas, the goal was ruled out for offside by the VAR.
The second half saw chances at both ends of the pitch. That is until the 67th minute, when
German captain Ilkay Gündoğan scored the second goal for his team after a wonderfully orchestrated German attacking play.
For the remainder of the game, Péter Gulácsi in Hungary’s goal had to pull off some impressive saves to keep the two-goal difference. International fan favourite Martin Ádám also got a few minutes coming off the bench, but there was little he could do to salvage the game for Hungary.
What’s next for Hungary at Euro 2024?
Hungary has one game left to play in Group A, against Scotland on 23 June. The Scottish tied Switzerland 1–1 in the other game played in the group last night.
If we were to beat Scotland by multiple goals, we could still have a reasonable chance of advancing to the Round of 16, given that four out of the six third-place finishers also advance, along with the top two finishers of each group. However, as of now, Hungary stands pointless in the last place of Group A. Our boys will have the opportunity to change that. Hungary is the narrow favourite in the game against Scotland according to the betting odds.
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