UEFA Euro 2024 Team Previews: Hungary
UEFA Euro 2024 is just weeks away from kicking off in Germany. Over the next 17 days, we will be previewing each team that will be taking part in Europe’s biggest football tournament. Check out all of the team previews that have been done so far. Up next is Hungary.
One of the six teams to go through Euro 2024 qualifying without losing was Hungary. An impressive campaign of five wins and three draws saw them top their group and avoid the playoffs, a feat that they have not done since 1972. The “Magyarok” (Magyars) failed to qualify for yet another World Cup in 2022 and will be looking to put Europe on notice with a new generation of players coming in.
Euro Appearances
Hungary will be making an appearance for the third consecutive tournament. This is quite the change as they had not made the Euros in any of the 10 prior times. “Magyarok” had made two of three Euro competitions from 1964 to 1972, just failing to qualify for the 1968 edition.
Best Finish at the Euros
Since the Euros expanded from its original format of four teams in 1980, Hungary has not overly fared well. They went out in round 16 of Euro 2016 and the group stage in Euro 2020. Hungary had its best finish at Euro 1964 when they finished third by beating Denmark in the third-place playoff following a semifinal loss to eventual winners Spain.
Key players
The youngest captain at Euro 2024 is Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai. The 23-year-old has risen in notoriety over this past season following his move to Liverpool from RB Leipzig. Szoboszlai leads the “Magyarok” in goals with 12 for his country along with Roland Sallai. After these two there is a major drop off in goal-scoring prowess. Only centreback Willi Orbán scored more than five goals, with six in total. However, Barnabás Varga looks like he could cause some issues for opposing defenses as he was tied with Szoboszlai for the most goals by a Hungarian in Euro 2024 qualifying with four.
Hungary does have some rather experienced players throughout the rest of the squad. Midfielder Ádám Nagy has 79 caps and needs three more to find his place in the top 10 in Hungarian football history. Meanwhile, Ádám Lang has made 67 appearances for “Magyarok” in defense and Péter Gulácsi has 52, but will likely be the backup goalkeeper behind Dénes Dibusz. Hungary has one MLS player in Philadelphia Union’s Dániel Gazdag.
Manager
Italian Marco Rossi has been the manager of Hungary since 2018 following the firing of Georges Leekens after just four matches. In his first qualifying attempt, he managed to lead Hungary to the playoffs of Euro 2020 qualifying. There they beat Iceland to qualify for the Euros. Since taking over “Magyarok” Rossi has been named Hungarian coach of the year three times, 2020, 2022, and 2023.
Biggest Group Game – vs Switzerland on June 15
In a group that has Germany as the clear favorites and Scotland as the likely bottom team, this match between Hungary and Switzerland could very well decide who advances out of the group stage. It is also the opening match at Euro 2024 for Hungary and if they are to get out of the group stage for the first time since 2016 then starting strong will be crucial.
Prediction
Hungary has a sneaky strong team that could be overlooked by many. The “Magyarok” have the ability to get out of the group stage and I believe that they will. However, it will be as the third-place team in Group A. The youngsters of Hungary will put a threat into their round of 16 opponents which could be anyone depending on the third-place team rankings. I do see them going out at this stage and heading back to Hungary hungry for their next tournament.
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