Hungary vs Portugal
Hungary vs Portugal is the opening match of Group F, taking place in Budapest on June 15. It’s only the fourth time Hungary have qualified for the European Championships finals tournament, although they finished third in 1964 and fourth in 1972. They face the reigning champions Portugal, who have reached the final twice and the semi-finals five times in their previous seven appearances. Read on for our game analysis, match predictions and betting tips.
Form
On paper, Hungary look to be in good form having only lost once in their previous 11 international games. However, closer inspection is demanded as their last two wins came against San Marino and Andorra. Hungary have only kept two clean sheets in their last six games, managing to concede an injury time penalty to Andorra in their last game at the end of March. They let 2-0 and 3-2 leads slip against Poland in their World Cup qualifying match in Budapest in March, which suggests defence isn’t the strongest point for the Magyars
Portugal have also only lost once in their last eleven games, having won the inaugural Nations League finals in 2019.Their sole defeat came to France in the Nations League in
Lisbon in November, but there have been some other worrying scorelines for the Portugal fans. In their World Cup qualifiers they let a 2-0 lead slip against Serbia in Belgrade to draw 2-2, while Luxembourg took a shock first half lead in the game after which Portugal ran out 3-1 winners. Portugal have only kept one clean sheet in five games which is probably a cause for concern for coach Fernando Santos.
Injuries
Hungary coach Marco Rossi has already lost left back Szilvester Hangya to injury from his preliminary 30 man squad. Hangya joins midfielder Zsolt Kalmar, who injured his knee while playing for his club side DAC Dunajska Streda at the end of March. RB Leipzig midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai will be key for Hungary despite his tender age, along with forward and skipper Adam Szalai.
Although Andre Gomes has made a full recovery from his horrific ankle injury while playing for club side Everton, he didn’t do enough to convince Fernando Santos that he should be in the finals squad. That’s partly down to how settled the Portugal squad is of late. While there will always be attention on skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, it will be interesting to see how Joao Felix fits into the side fresh from winning La Liga with Atletico Madrid, while both Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo have impressed in Manchester City’s defence as they won the Premier League title.
Game Prediction
As one would expect, Portugal are heavy favourites for this game. While their form isn’t brilliant of late, Portugal have a star-studded squad that should be too much for Hungary even with the fans behind them in Budapest. Goals might be a better place to look for betting tips, especially considering how leaky Portugal have been at the back in recent times.
