The Hungarian Men’s Football National Team won their qualifying group in November. Thus, they made it to the European Championship for an unprecedented third time in a row. What’s more, by finishing first, Hungary made the qualification without having to play in the play-offs, unlike in 2015 and 2020.
That means the team has more time to prepare for the big tournament. And it seems head coach Marco Rossi is making the best of the time on his hands: he has scheduled four international friendlies. The list of opponents for these games has just been announced.
In an interview with M4 Sport, Hungarian Football Association Chairman Sándor Csányi revealed the teams our boys will be playing against in preparation for Euro 2024 in Germany. In March, during the spring international break,
Hungary will be playing Türkiye, then Kosovo. In June, right before the Euros, they will be playing Ireland, then Malta.
The two spring games will be played at home, Chairman Csányi informed. Ireland will be a road game, while the one against Malta will take place on home turf again, he continued, although in a smaller stadium (possibly outside the capital city of Budapest), not in the national Puskás Arena.
This will be the first time Hungary play Kosovo since the Balkan nation became independent. Kosovo was in the same qualifying group as our Euro 2024 group opponents Switzerland, and both of their games ended in a tie. The last time we faced off against Türkiye was in the 2020–2021 UEFA Nations League, and we beat them back-to-back: 1–0 away (with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring a memorable screamer from a free kick), and 2–0 at home.
Hungary played Ireland in preparation for the last European Championship as well, in June 2021. That match ended in a 0–0 tie. Meanwhile, our last game against Malta was in April 2009, in the qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We won that game 3–0.
The exact dates for these friendlies are yet to be confirmed. However, what is confirmed is that
Hungary will start their Euro 2024 campaign against Switzerland on 15 June in Cologne, Germany.
They will then be facing Germany on 19 June and Scotland on 23 June.
In the same interview, Chairman Csányi also asserted that head coach Rossi will remain in his post after the Euros as well. As he pointed out, the coach’s contract runs until January 2026, and the Chairman would not be willing to let him go even if he wanted to leave—which is not the case.
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