2016 a great year for the Hungarian national team

2016 saw Hungary appear at a European Championship for the first time in 44 years and make it through the group stage at a major tournament for the first time in 50.

Hungary qualified to the 2016 European Championship in France by beating Norway home and away. Bernd Storck’s team warmed up for the tournament with three tough friendly matches, the first a 1-1 draw at home to Croatia in which Hungary played particularly well in the second half, prompting Croatia head coach Ante Čačić to state that: “our opponents proved they are in the Euros on merit, and once there they have a chance of progressing”.

Hungary’s preparation was aided by the squad holding a number of get-togethers in the run-up to France, NB I clubs agreeing to fixture rearrangements in order to give Storck’s team the best chance of success. The squad spent two weeks in Austria in May before returning to Hungary and setting off for France, with the opening match against Austria taking place in Bordeaux on the 14th June.

One of international football’s greatest and longest-standing rivalries, Austria against Hungary saw Storck’s men up against more fancied opponents, Austria having qualified ahead of Russia and Sweden in spectacular fashion. Hungary proved the stronger on the day however, recording a famous 2-0 victory with second-half goals from Ádám Szalai and substitute Zoltán Stieber.

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Austria 0-2 Hungary (0-0)

Austria: Almer – Klein, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Fuchs – Baumgartlinger, Alaba – Harnik (Schöpf 78’), Junuzovic (Sabitzer 60’), Arnautovic – Janko (Okotie 65’)
Hungary: Gábor Király – Attila Fiola, Richárd Guzmics, Ádám Lang, Tamás Kádár – Zoltán Gera, Ádám Nagy – Balázs Dzsudzsák, László Kleinheisler (Zoltán Stieber 80’), Németh Krisztián – Ádám Szalai (Tamás Priskin 68’)
Goalscorers: Szalai (62’), Stieber (87’)

The team’s next match was against an Iceland side which had drawn with Portugal in their opening fixture. Iceland took the lead a few minutes before half-time from the penalty spot but Hungary kept fighting and got an equaliser with only moments left when Nemanja Nikolić forced an own-goal from Sævarsson. As it later transpired, the point gained against Iceland was enough to guarantee qualification for the knockout stages.

Iceland 1-1 Hungary (1-0)

Iceland: Halldórsson – Sævarsson, Árnasson, R. Sigurðsson, Skúlason – Guðmundsson, Gunnarsson (Hallfreðsson 66’), G. Sigurðsson, Bjarnason – Sigþórsson (Gudjohnsen 84’), Böðvarsson (Finnbogason 69’)
Magyarország: Gábor Király – Ádám Lang, Roland Juhász (Ádám Szalai 85’), Richárd Guzmics, Tamás Kádár – Zoltán Gera – Balázs Dzsudzsák, Ádám Nagy, László Kleinheisler, Zoltán Stieber (Nemanja Nikolić 66’) – Tamás Priskin (Dániel Böde 66’)
Goalscorers: ISL: Sigurdsson (39’ pen); HUN: Sævarsson (88’ own goal)

Hungary’s last group-stage match was against Portugal, whom they had failed to beat in 10 previous encounters. That hoodoo wasn’t successfully broken but the exciting six-goal thriller will last long in the memory.

Hungary 3-3 Portugal (1-1)

Hungary: Gábor Király – Ádám Lang, Roland Juhász, Richárd Guzmics, Mihály Korhut – Ádám Pintér, Ákos Elek – Gergő Lovrencsics (Zoltán Stieber 83’), Zoltán Gera (Barnabás Bese 46’), Balázs Dzsudzsák – Ádám Szalai (Krisztián Németh 71’).
Head coach: Bernd Storck
Portugal: Rui Patrício – Vieirinha, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Eliseu – André Gomes (Ricardo Quaresma 61’), William Carvalho, João Moutinho (Renato Sanches 46’), João Mário – Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani (Danilo Pereira 81’)
Head coach: Fernando Santos
Goalscorers: HUN: Gera (19’) Dzsudzsák (47’, 55’); POR: Nani (42’), Cristiano Ronaldo (50’, 62’)

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