After tying in Ireland, Hungary hosted the far-and-away favourites in their FIFA World Cup qualifying group, Portugal, at the Puskás Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Tuesday, 9 September. Before even the teams kicked off, Szoboszlai and our boys got some great news: Ireland, their primary rivals in the race for second place guaranteeing play-offs, had lost their road game against Armenia.
And more good news came shortly after: in the 21st minute, as Hungarian and Portuguese fans alike were paying homage to the late Diogo Jota, Barnabás Varga headed Zsolt Nagy’s cross into the Portuguese net. Hungary took a surprise lead!
Portugal turned up the intensity of their play in response. Balázs Tóth, filling in for the slightly injured Dénes Dibusz in the Hungarian goal, had to make two great saves to keep the sides level. Bernando Silva, however, managed to get one past him, and equalized for Portugal in the 36th minute. The first half ended in 1–1—certainly a promising performance for the home side.
In the second half, Loïc Négo of Hungary got a penalty called on him for handball. One of football’s all-time greats, Cristiano RonaldO converted it in the 58th minute, putting Portugal ahead. It feels strange even writing this: this was Ronaldo’s 141st international goal in his 223rd game for Portugal. The 40-year-old legend is miles ahead of anyone in the game’s history in both international caps and goals…
However, it was not over just yet. Varga, known for his outstanding head play, scored yet another header for Hungary in the 82nd minute. In an act of redemption, it was Négo who made the cross into the visitors’ box this time. The Ferencváros striker also got on the scoresheet against Ireland, so he started the qualifying campaign with three goals in two games—too bad he will miss the next match against Armenia due to a suspension.
Before the home fans could get too carried away, Portugal responded quickly. Just two minutes after the equalizer, Hungary gave away the ball in their own half, and João Cancelo punished them for that, curling the ball into the near bottom corner from about 20 yards out.
There were no twists and turns left, the game ended 3–2 for Portugal.
However, with the away draw against Ireland, and the Irish defeat in Armenia, Hungary are still well positioned to take second place, and have their chance in the play-offs to win World Cup qualification for the first time in 40 years.
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