The Hungarian National Team lost the second leg of the UEFA Nations League play-off as well against Türkiye on Sunday, 23 March. After the 3–1 loss in Istanbul, the Turkish bested the home side 3–0 in Budapest, resulting in the not-so-flattering 6–1 scoreline for Türkiye on aggregate.
While head coach Marco Rossi had happily announced before the rematch that Péter Gulácsi, a top goalkeeper in the German Bundesliga, was now fit for duty, still Dénes Dibusz of Ferencváros started in goal. Dibusz did not make a single save in the first game, and according to xG metric measuring the likelihood of chances resulting in goals, he conceded three goals from shots that should have resulted in just 0.7 on average.
When team captain Dominik Szoboszlai, Dibusz, and the rest of the team went up the pitch on Sunday, a nearly full stadium of 60,000 people greeted them at the Puskás Arena in Budapest. Despite the loss in the first leg, fans remained optimistic based on the quality of play by the Hungarian side, which also created more chances than their opponents in Istanbul.
The second leg followed a very similar ‘script’: Hungary created more chances in the first half, with Philadelphia Union midfielder Dániel Gazdag having the clearest opportunity on goal. However, it was Türkiye who took the lead again. Hakan Çalhanoğlu of Inter Milan converted a penalty given away by Újpest’s Attila Fiola. The Turkish quickly followed up with another goal. The youngster from Real Madrid, Arda Güler scored.
The teams went for break with Türkiye having a 2–0 lead. Not much was left to play for in the second half, except for some consultation prize for Hungary in front of their own fans. Alas, even that did not come about, as Abdülkerim Bardakcı set the final, 3–0 scoreline with the header in the 90th minute.
‘This team’s place is in League A of the Nations League,’ Szoboszlai declared according to the Hungarian sports daily Nemzeti Sport, despite the result of the two-leg match-up against Türkiye suggesting otherwise. ‘We did not spend two seasons in the top division by chance, I am convinced that we will return there. We have to find ourselves from the past years, but it is hard to articulate how we have gone astray since. We have to work harder for better luck,’ the national team captain concluded.
In other news related to the Hungarian national team, it has been determined that Portugal will be the fourth team joining their World Cup qualification group in the fall. Due to the overcomplicated nature of the qualification process, it was not until Portugal advanced in the Nations League quarter-final against Denmark that this was determined. Portugal lost the first leg 1–0 away in Copenhagen. They then won 3–2 in the second leg at home in regulation time, then scored twice more in extra time, giving them a 5–3 victory on aggregate.
Thus, our 2026 World Cup qualification group will be made up of Hungary, Portugal, Ireland, and Armenia.
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