The Hungarian National Team came into the 2024 European Championship in Germany with high hopes, clearly aiming for an advancement from the tournament’s Group A. The first opponent in the way was Switzerland. The Swiss are a side with high-level talent on their squad, but they did put on some poor showings at the end of their qualifying campaign. Thus, most experts were of the opinion that this match-up could go either way, with the Swiss being the slight favourites with bookies.
Alas, the difference between the two sides was a lot greater than anticipated in the first half, and not in favour of the Hungarians.
Kwadwo Duah scored the opener fo br Switzerland in the 12th minute. While the linesman initially flagged it for offside, giving the Hungarian fans some hope, it was clear from the first replay that the Ludogorets striker was in fact onside, and the goal was allowed to stand after a VAR review.
Dominik Szoboszlai and the rest of our boys could only produce a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes, and that did not pose much of a threat either to Yann Sommer’s goal. Michel Aebischer of Bologna made it two in the last minute of the first half after a deft shot into the bottom far corner from the edge of the area.
The second half did not start much better for Hungary either—then,
around the 60th minute, the run of play seemed to be changing.
Hungary got near the Swiss goal again and again. This culminated in Ferencváros striker and the Hungarian league top scorer Barnabás Varga scoring a header in the 66th minute.
For the rest of the game, Hungary was pushing for the coveted equalizer, with the Swiss players taking every opportunity to run the clock down just a few seconds. Then, against the run of play, Breel Embolo, who was subbed in the 74th minute since he has been recovering from an injury, found the goal in extra time, setting the final 3–1 scoreline for Switzerland. Willi Orbán, our most experienced and highest ranked defender made the fatal mistake, heading a loose drop kick from Sommer right into Embolo’s way in front of our goal.
What’s Next for Hungary at Euro 2024?
The Hungarian team will be facing hosts Germany next, on 19 June. Germany put on an impressive performance at the opening game of the tournament, and easily beat Scotland 5–1. While we have gotten good results against them in recent match-ups, it seems that this German side will be very hard to beat on their home turf again.
Goal difference will be key, since the top four third-place finishers in the groups also advance to the Round of 16, and goal difference often plays a big role in that ranking. Therefore, alas, Orbán’s mistake could be especially costly—not only did it do away with Hungary’s hopes of tying Switzerland, but it also worsened our overall GD by one goal.
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