HUNGARY
FIFA World Ranking: 37
Previous Best: Third 1964
Last 5 Euros (Latest first): L16-DNQ-DNQ-DNQ-DNQ
How Qualified: Play-off Winners
Qualifying Record: P8 W4 D0 L4 F8 A11 GD-3 Pts12
Play-offs: Bulgaria 1-3 Hungary Hungary 2-1 Iceland
Tournament Odds: 500/1
Squad
Goalkeepers: Ádám Bogdán (Ferencváros), Dénes Dibusz (Ferencváros), Péter Gulácsi (Leipzig)
Defenders: Bendegúz Bolla (Fehérvár), Endre Botka (Ferencváros), Attila Fiola (Fehérvár), Ákos Kecskés (Lugano), Ádám Lang (Omonoia), Gergő Lovrencsics (Ferencváros), Loïc Négo (Fehérvár), Willi Orbán (Leipzig), Attila Szalai (Fenerbahçe)
Midfielders: Tamás Cseri (Mezőkövesd), Dániel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), László Kleinheisler (Osijek), Ádám Nagy (Bristol City), András Schäfer (Dunajská Streda), Dávid Sigér (Ferencváros), Kevin Varga (Kasımpaşa), Roland Varga (MTK Budapest)
Forwards: János Hahn (Paks), Filip Holender (Partizan), Nemanja Nikolić (Fehérvár), Roland Sallai (Freiburg), Szabolcs Schön (FC Dallas), Ádám Szalai (Mainz)
Group Fixtures
June 15 vs Portugal (5pm – Budapest)
June 19 vs France (2pm – Budapest)
June 23 vs Germany (8pm – Munich)
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History
Right back at the very beginning of the European Championship when the likes of Ferenc Puskas had inspired a nation of good footballers, Hungary finished third at the competition in 1964 although only four teams entered that year so it wasn’t quite the high profile result that it might appear to be. It has been a run of famine since then until 2016 when they took advantage of the extra eight sides being in the competition to qualify and they have done the same again this year. Five years ago they came out of the group emulating that performance against all the odds would be described as an acceptable tournament.
Qualifying
Hungary were another side who went into qualifying knowing they had a guaranteed play-off place to fall back on should they need it. In a group which contained World Cup finalists Croatia and previous European semi-finalists Wales, they were always going to be up against it and in the end they had to use that safety valve and come through the play-offs. Wins over Bulgaria and Iceland were appealing and showed that they can deliver under pressure. That is a trait they might need plenty of here.
Pandemic Effect
I think this tournament comes along at a good and a bad time for Hungary. They are clearly a team who are on the up. Not only have they qualified for this tournament but they won their Nations League group in League B this season just gone and they are currently undefeated in their World Cup qualifying group as well. Where the delay hasn’t been helpful is the injury to creative midfield force Dominik Szoboszlai. It is hard to see how the Leipzig midfielder’s absence will not be strongly felt here.
Strengths
In Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, Hungary have one of the better goalkeepers in the competition, and given the group they have landed themselves in that is going to be key for their chances of coming out of this section. The Leipzig spine that runs through this team continues with Willi Orban at the heart of a defence which is usually decent enough and will have to be at its best if Hungary are to reach the knockout stages
Weaknesses
There isn’t really anyone you would call and out and out goalscorer for this Hungary squad. Adam Szalai will be their strongest chance of a goal but you wouldn’t call him one of the elite forwards in the competition. As highlighted above, the absence of Szoboszlai cannot be underplayed and could really hamper Hungary. Then there is the draw which has put them in the worst possible group with three of the best nations in Europe.
Manager
Marco Rossi served his dues as a player and has used a lot of that in his coaching career. He was propelled forward for this job when he took Honved to the Hungarian title in 2017, taking charge of the national side a year later. As you would expect of an Italian coach, his hallmarks are an organised defence but this is a man who was coached by Marcelo Bielsa, so a relentless press and an attempt to get men forward is another part of his outlook, although primarily he will set the team up to be difficult to beat. His record as Hungary manager reads: P27 W14 D4 L9.
Key Players
Given that Hungary find themselves in with three powerhouses of European football it stands to reason that to have any chance of getting out of the group Peter Gulacsi will need to be on song and at his very best. He is likely to be a busy goalkeeper throughout the three matches and will be required to back up his defence on a number of occasions. At the other end of the pitch Hungary could do with the best version of Adam Szalai.
Team Bets
It remains to be seen how many goals Hungary will score in this tournament. If you look at World Cup qualifying where they have notched 10 goals in three matches you could argue they are a real goal threat but then you look at the teams that they are up against and you’ve got to think that goals are going to be at a premium for the Hungarians here. They might find a bit of joy in open play against Germany, although how much of the ball they will have is open to debate.
The other two matches it is hard to see them having a lot of joy, particularly when you consider that in the two warm up matches for this tournament they scored one goal in two matches against Cyprus and Republic of Ireland. Although you shouldn’t read too much into those, it suggests that the absence of Dominik Szoboszlai really is going to be felt. With that in mind, their best chance might come from set-pieces where Willi Orban could be the biggest threat. He averages a goal every four matches at this level and only Nemanja Nikolic and Adam Szalai have more goals than him in this squad. At 14/1 I’ll play the powerful defender here.
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