The Hungarian national football team represents Hungary in men’s international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made 9 appearances at the FIFA World Cup and 4 at the European Championship and plays its home matches at Puskás Aréna, which opened in November 2019. Hungry Football History.
Hungary has a venerable history in football, having won 3 Olympic titles, finished runner-up in the 1938 and 1954 World Cups, and finished third in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. Hungary revolutionized the game in the 1950s, founding the Total Football strategy and dominating international football with a remarkable golden team featuring one of the top goalscoring legends of the 20th century.
Also included was Ferenc Puskas, to whom FIFA dedicated its latest award, the Pucka. Award. This era has the world’s highest football ranking with 2230 in 1954, and one of the longest unbeaten runs in football history, going unbeaten in 31 games, spanning four years. Which includes a lot of heralded matches century.
Tournaments
The Hungarian team suffered a drought starting with their elimination at the 1986 World Cup, failed to qualify for a major tournament for 30 years, and reached their lowest FIFA ranking (87) in 1996. They finished 6th in their group of Euro 2008 qualifiers as well. Before qualifying for Euro 2016, Euro 2020, and 2022-23 UEFA Nations League A.
The national team first appeared at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. The team had to ask for donations to be able to go to games. Hungary was beaten 7-0 by England and thus was eliminated. After the Olympic Games, Hungary played two matches against Russia in Moscow.
The first match was won 9-0 and the second 12-0, which is still a record for the national team. The top scorer in both matches was Imre Schlosser who scored seven goals. The outbreak of World War I had a profound effect on the flourishing Hungarian football. Both the country and the club were suffering from financial problems.
Head Coach
Sandor Egervari, head coach of the Hungarian national under-20 team, was appointed head coach of the senior team ahead of Euro 2012 qualifying, which saw Hungary draw against Finland, Moldova, Netherlands, San Marino, and Sweden. Hungary won six, drew one, and lost three games as they finished third in the group with 19 points.
During the qualification process, in September 2011, Hungary reached 27th place in the FIFA world rankings, their highest position ever. Later in the year, the national team played Liechtenstein as a memorial to the recently deceased Florian Albert, the only Hungarian footballer to win the Ballon d’Or.
2014 World Cup
Hungary was drawn in Group D in the 2014 World Cup qualifying alongside the Netherlands, Turkey, Romania, and Estonia. They collected 14 points entering the final round of games, but suffered a combined national record 8–1 loss to the Netherlands, leading to the resignation of head coach Sandor Aguirre. For their final group game, a 2–0 win over Andorra, Hungary was led by caretaker manager Josef Sibi. They finished third in the group on 17 points, missing out on qualification.
After the match, striker Adam Szalai delivered a scathingly critical monologue at a press conference about his perception of “constant lying to our supporters” when it was suggested that the team should be drawn against the current top teams in the world. There is an opportunity. Midfielder Szabolcs Huszti has also expressed similar sentiments. During this period, a film crew began filming the team during both their preparations and matches. The film, Még 50 perc was finally released in 2016 just before Euro 2016.
Hungry National Football Team
The team played their first game at the newly rebuilt Groupama Arena on 7 September 2014, a 2–1 defeat to Northern Ireland in a Euro 2016 qualifier. Punter was later dismisse, with Paul Dardai appointed as a temporary replacement for three matches. He turned down an offer to manage the team on a permanent basis but was retaine.
After that, Dardai was at Hertha BSC, where he was pass the youth coach, he was promote to the first team manager, but he still remained the coach. In the summer of 2015, he resigned as coach of the Hungarian national team to devote himself to his work as Hertha manager. He was eventually replace in July 2015 by the German sports director of the Hungarian Football Association, Bernd Stark.
UEFA Euro
While Hungary could only secure a playoff spot in their hopes of reaching UEFA Euro 2020, Hungary’s strong results in the previous Nations League gathered further optimism. Hungary began its quest in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League B by sharing a group with Russia, Turkey, and Serbia. Hungary impressed in their first game against hosts Turkey, Dominik Sobozli with a stunning free-kick to humiliate the Turks 1-0 in Sivas.
However, Hungary suffered a setback when Russia. A team Hungary had failed to win since 1978, again beat them 2-3 at home. However, a string of good results followed, with two draws against Russia and Serbia. An important win against the Serbs in Belgrade, and more importantly a 2–0 win against Turkey at home. Meant that Hungary was capable of getting a promotion at the cost of Russia to join the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League A. Hungry Football History.
In 2020
In October 2020, Hungary entered the playoffs to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020. Where they faced Bulgaria in their first game of the playoff series. Despite traveling away to Sofia, Hungary shone with a 3-1 win to reach the play-off final to face Iceland behind closed doors a month later. The team qualified for the tournament with a 2–1 win, with last-minute strikes from Loic Nego and Dominik Szoboszlai. An earlier error by Peter Gulacsi took Hungary into the competition. Hungry Football History.
In 2021
In 2021, Hungary was draw into the tournament’s “Group of Death”. Group F features Portugal, the defending European champions, France, the world champions, and Germany, the 2014 world champions. Hungary faced the odds and showed bravery. The first match in Group F was on June 15 against Portugal at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. Hungry Football History.
The team was tie 0-0 until the 84th minute. Even scoring a goal that was disallow as the scorer was offside. Hungary lost focus and the match ended in a 3–0 victory for Portugal. The second match was play against France on 19 June. Fayola scored in the second minute of extra time in the first half to take the lead. For more details click here