The Hungarian men’s national football team has reached a major milestone: they played the 1,000th game in their history. Alas, the result did not match the celebratory occasion, as Hungary lost 3–1 to Tükriye in the UEFA Nations League play-off for League A qualification next season.
The game was played at Rams Park in Istanbul, Türkiye. Due to the volatile political situation, only around 38,000 people showed up to the 52,000-seat arena, despite the Turkish being famous for their passion for their national team. Those 38,000 still managed to create quite an atmosphere. One person very familiar with that atmosphere, Hungarian international playing for the Turkish club Galatasaray Roland Sallai, could not be on the pitch due to injury.
The Turkish side opened the scoring after only nine minutes into the game: Orkun Kökçü slotted the ball into the bottom near corner from 20 yards out. However, Hungary then managed to take back the initiative. András Schäfer equalized in the 25th minute. He volleyed the ball into the net from around eight yards, after Barnabás Varga headed a cross to a dangerous spot in front of goal. Marco Rossi’s boys remained the more active side for the rest of the first half, so Hungarian fans could be reasonably optimistic at halftime.
However, alas, their high hopes did not come to reality after the break.
Kökçü’s teammate at the Portuguese club Benfica, Kerem Aktürkoğlu also scored (guiding the ball into the net with his shoulders, in an unconventional move), so the Turkish took back the lead in the 69th minute. İrfan Can Kahveci scored their third in the 73rd minute.
Both offensive plays that led to goals played out on the left flank of the Hungarian team, on left-back Milos Kerkez’s side, for which he received some scolding from seasoned centre-back Willi Orbán. Goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz also did not have a great night: he conceded all three shots that hit his target in the game.
‘We have to admit that the Turkish were a lot more effective than us. It has been confirmed that if we give space and time to their great players, we will end up in a tough situation. We were working well for a big part of the game. However, after the break, 10–12 minutes of “blackout” cost us two goals, even though we created a lot of chances. We could have scored more goals, but we missed those chances,’ long-serving Hungary Head Coach Marco Rossi said after the game, as quoted by the Hungarian sports daily Nemzeti Sport.
Hungary still has the opportunity to remain in League A of the UEFA Nations League next season. The rematch against Türkiye will be played at the Puskás Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday, 23 March. Hungary will have to erase a two-goal deficit there.
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