The full Hungary Euro 2020 squad has been announced – here's everything you need to know
(Image credit: Getty)
The Hungary Euro 2020 squad was one of the first to be revealed for this summer's tournament.
Manager Marco Rosssi has named 30 players in his provisional squad, which he trimmed down to 26 ahead of UEFA's squad deadline on June 1.
Faced with one of the toughest tasks at the tournament, the Hungary Euro 2020 group includes Portugal, France and Germany, who they will need to overcome for the chance to reach the knockout stages.
Hungarians still remember Euro 2016 fondly. They qualified for their first major tournament since 1986 against expectations and were supposed to be pushovers once they got there – three defeats would only have been logical.
But that’s not how things played out. Instead, the Magyars won 2-0 against supposed dark horses Austria, drew with Iceland and took the lead three times against Portugal before settling for a draw. They finished top of Group F, sparking raucous celebrations around the country. It was a superb achievement that united a nation, and even the 4-0 thrashing against Belgium that followed in the last 16 didn’t ruin their party.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Some hoped those performances would change Hungarian football for the better, but such optimism proved misguided. The players failed to use that momentum to reach the next level, while FA officials fared infinitely worse. Hungary’s domestic leagues are still weak, the grassroots revolution has stalled and subsequent 2018 World Cup qualifiers even included defeat to Andorra. They finished fourth in their group for Euro 2020 qualifying, too, but the 2018/19 Nations League gave them an additional route to the finals – one Hungary took in dramatic fashion.
Iceland were favourites in Budapest and ahead for most of the game, but Hungary equalised with two minutes left… then watched rising star Dominik Szoboszlai make it 2-1 in injury time. The 20-year-old midfielder, widely regarded as the brightest talent to come out of Hungary in decades, instantly became a legend, and now fans can dream of repeating those glorious days of June 2016.
Granted, Hungary have been drawn in the toughest group imaginable with France, Portugal and Germany, but nobody gave them much hope five years ago either. Things have improved since qualifying, too: the Magyars only lost one of eight matches in 2020, topped their 2020-21 Nations League B pot ahead of Russia to gain promotion to the top tier and went nine games unbeaten in March.
Hungary have a stable and experienced goalkeeper in Peter Gulacsi, plus a very reliable centre-back in Willi Orban. Together at RB Leipzig they’ve developed a magnificent mutual understanding over several years. Could this Red Bull duo give Hungary wings and cause an upset?
Hungary Euro 2020 squad: Who is Hungary's best player?
(Image credit: PA)
Dominik Szoboszlai
He runs fast and thinks even faster – RB Leipzig’s €20m January arrival has it all. Szoboszlai first broke through at Red Bull Salzburg and proved to be one of the project’s best purchases, shining in the Champions League. The 20-year-old has struggled with injury but is a future star.
Hungary Euro 2020 squad: Who is Hungary manager?
Marco Rossi
The Italian learned from the likes of Mircea Lucescu and Sven-Goran Eriksson as a player, then became a decent manager himself. He won the Hungarian title with Honved in 2017 and is a popular figure.
Hungary first qualified for the European Championships in 1964, in the early days of the post-Puskas period – and reached the heady heights of the semi-finals.
Failure to qualify followed in 1968, before another semi-final sojourn in 1972.
More non-qualification came in 1976, and 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012, before a triumphant return in France 2016 took them to the second round.
FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.
