The 2025–2026 season of the top division of Hungarian football, officially named Fizz Liga this season, has just kicked off. Újpest FC hosted Diósgyőri VTK in the first game of the first round on Friday, 25 July.
Both of these teams finished in the mid-table in the past campaign, with Újpest coming in 7th and DVTK coming in at 6th out of 12 teams. It is not a coincidence that they have been tasked by the league to kick off the season, as last year’s top finishers were busy mid-week in their European cup qualifiers.
Újpest ended up coming out on top in the tie, beating the visitors from Miskolc 3–1. Krisztofer Horváth opened the scoring. The Újpest striker had to wait until the penultimate game of the last season to score his first goal. This time, he has opened his tally a lot earlier. After only three minutes of play, he cut inside the area after receiving a pass from his teammate Fran Brodić, then rocketed the ball into the top far corner with his left foot.
The violets doubled their lead at the end of the first half. Horváth played a big part in the goal again: he dribbled past the Diósgyőr defence by the byline, then his low cross ricocheted into the net off of goalkeeper Karlo Sentić.
New DVTK signing Ivan Šaponjić got one back for his new team from a penalty in the 55th minute, but a ‘new guy’ from the other side, Aljoša Matko, gave Újpest back their two-goal cushion just eight minutes later, after an assist from Hungarian international Attila Fiola.
Thus, the final 3–1 scoreline was set. Bosnian defender Siniša Saničanin was sent off from Diósgyőr in the 65th minute of the game.
Újpest have won 20 Hungarian league titles in their history. However, the most recent one came almost 30 years ago, in 1998. Now, with the backing of the Hungarian oil giant MOL, Újpest fans can hope they give their arch rivals Ferencváros, the winners of the last seven titles, a run for their money this season.
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