Hungary travelled to Lisbon, Portugal for their fourth game in their FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification group. Portugal are as tough opponents as you can get: they won all three of their previous games in the group. However, their last victory against Ireland was only won by a last-minute header from Rúben Neves.
Still, Portugal came into the game with the knowledge that if they were to win on Tuesday, 14 October, they would be among the first European nations to secure their qualification for next year’s World Cup. However, Portugal did not win.
Attila Szalai, who had some rough spells in German clubs Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg in recent years and is now rebuilding his career at the Turkish side Kasımpaşa, opened the scoring after just eight minutes of play. Diogo Costa in the Portuguese goal missed Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner with his punch, thus all Szalai had to do was win an aerial duel against 5’8-tall Bernardo Silva, and head the ball into an empty net. To the big surprise of the around 50,000 fans at Estádio José Alvalade, Hungary took an early lead!
One of the all-time greats of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo levelled the score in the 22nd minute, putting away a low cross from Nélson Semedo from just around 3 yards out. A few minutes later, however, referee Srđan Jovanović did not call a penalty for Hungary after Renato Veiga kicked the ball onto his own hand in his box. To be fair, András Schäfer of the Hungarian side also got away with a suspicious handball in his penalty box later in the first half.
Then, just before the break, Ronaldo struck again. It is getting harder and harder to keep track, but this was his 143rd international goal for Portugal in his 225th game—needless to say, both all-time world records. This time, it was the wingback on the left, Nuno Mendes, who crossed the ball into dangerous territory, and Ronaldo—left conspicuously alone after the Hungarian defence failed to set an offside trap—whipped it into the net, making it 2–1 for the home side.
After the break, Portugal hit the post twice in quick succession from two long-range shots, one from Rúben Dias, then one from Bruno Fernandes (goalkeeper Balázs Tóth got a fingertip on the second one). At that point, it certainly looked like Portugal were not missing their chance to book their spot for next year’s World Cup. However, that did not end up being the case.
First, Szalai threatened again with a header, with him too hitting the post at the other end. Then, in the additional time, Hungary captain and Liverpool star Szoboszlai found the equalizer. Dániel Lukács, who scored in the last game against Armenia, came off the bench this time, and delivered the assist for the captain, who tapped in his low cross from a few steps out.
Hungary managed to get a point against their highest-ranked opponent in the group on the road, certainly an impressive feat that should inspire confidence in the team for their last two qualifiers against Armenia and Ireland. As things stand now, the most likely scenario by far is Hungary taking second place in the group, and thus going into the play-offs for World Cup qualification in the spring as they continue their quest to reach their first World Cup since 1986.
FIFA World Cup 2026 Spots Are Filling Up
So far, England are the only national team in Europe that have mathematically secured their group win, and thus have officially qualified for FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
However, in other continents, a lot more spots are already filled up.
The three host nations are evidently included in the field and spared qualification, as tradition. The North and Central American confederation CONCACAF is guaranteed three more spots, all of which are still up for grabs.
In Africa, however, the group stage of the qualifications has just ended, and the nine group winners have already made it to the tournament. Among them are first-time participants Cape Verde (featuring Laros Duarte from the Hungarian club Puskás Akedémia), 2010 hosts South Africa (who won their group in a last-matchday drama just one point ahead of Benin and Nigeria), as well as major regional players Egypt, Senegal, 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia, and Ghana. The top four of the nine runner-up finishers continue in the intercontinental play-offs.
In South America, the teams are also done with their regional qualifiers. Brazil continues their streak of playing in every World Cup in football history, the only nation with that distinction. Lionel Messi’s Argentina have also made it—no surprise there—along with Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, and Paraguay. Bolivia is heading to the intercontinental play-offs.
New Zealand got their hands on the only spot reserved for Oceania (again, no surprise there). Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan, and Australia have qualified from Asia thus far—Uzbekistan and Jordan for the first time in their history.
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