For anyone with even the slightest affinity to Hungary, Group F makes for pretty grim reading. Games against Portugal, France and Germany would suggest, on paper at least, that the Magyars’ time at Euro 2020 will be rather fleeting. Their task, in short, is as simple as it is daunting: beat the tournament holders, the current world champions or the most successful footballing nation in the continent’s history and they might just make it through. Even then, there’s every chance that won’t be enough.
Euro 2020: Don’t Write Off Hungary Just Yet
Hungary in the Group of Death
Undoubtedly then, for manager Marco Rossi to steer his side into the Round of 16 would represent Hungary achieving the seemingly impossible. And yet, stranger things have happened. In fact, upsets at international tournaments seem to occur with alarming regularity. Certainly, if recent history is any indicator, this year’s proverbial ‘Group of Death’ may not be quite as straightforward as it might first seem.
Take Euro 2004 for instance, the tournament that produced arguably the greatest upset of them all when Greece returned home victorious. Germany – runners-up at the 2002 World Cup and with a squad boasting the talents of Oliver Kahn, Michael Ballack and a young Bastian Schweinsteiger – were left red-faced when they failed to make it beyond the first round in a group that included the Czech Republic and Latvia.
Four years later at Euro 2008, the Netherlands handed out group stage drubbings to both France and Italy, the two sides who had contested football’s most prestigious game less than two years earlier. Then, in 2014, Costa Rica defied all the odds when they topped a World Cup group comprising England, Italy and Uruguay – conceding just one goal in the process.
Goalkeepers and ‘Goulash-Pressing’
Hungary, therefore, have reason to hope. But hope is not all Rossi’s men have to call upon. While the controversial words of their President on the subject of taking the knee will do little for their popularity, Hungary are by no means slouches. They topped their UEFA Nations League B group ahead of both Russia and Turkey – the latter being many punters’ pick for this tournament’s dark horses. And despite losing their star player and creative spark, Dominik Szoboszlai, to injury on the day the squad was announced, Hungary have an appetite for aggressive football (playfully referred to as ‘Goulash-pressing’). It’s an approach that could prove effective in unsettling their more expressive, star-laden opposition.
Of their squad, there is a nice balance of youth and experience; of mavericks and workhorses. With such a rich heritage of memorable goalkeepers, from the late Gyula Grosics – part of the famous ‘Golden Team’ from the 1950s – to Gabor Kiraly with his iconic grey jogging bottoms, it is unsurprising that, in the absence of Szoboszlai, Hungary’s most valuable asset is their shot-stopper. Linked with both Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund before signing a new deal in Germany, RB Leipzig’s Péter Gulácsi, once of Hereford United and Tranmere Rovers, has evolved into one of Europe’s safest pair of hands.
Faced with the unenviable task of keeping the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe at bay, the performances of ‘Pete the Wall’ will likely prove pivotal if his nation is to turn some heads this summer.
A Capacity Home Crowd
Then there is the home advantage. Two of Hungary’s three group games will be played at the Ferenc Puskás Stadium in Budapest, the venue bearing the name of their greatest ever player. Unlike the other ten host cities, Hungary’s capital aims to fill its national stadium to full capacity, meaning that when the Magyars take to the field against A Seleção and Les Blues, they do so with the prospect of over 60,000 Hungarians cheering them on. It may, of course, have very little bearing on the outcome, but after 18 months of playing in empty venues, how much of a boost might a bumper home crowd have on Rossi’s team?
Even with the home advantage though, it is perhaps not unfair, given the pedigree of opposition, to surmise that the fortunes of Hungary at Euro 2020 depend as much on the performances of Portugal, France and Germany than they do their own. Still, with the weight of expectation firmly on the shoulders of the competition, the Magyars, a team of craft brewers, avid swimmers and those with a notable disdain for Asda, have little to lose. And maybe, just maybe, a lot to gain.
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