Hungary exit Euro 2024, but end group stage on a high

STUTTGART, Germany : Hungary came into Euro 2024 tipped as dark horses after going unbeaten in 2023 but their inexperience on the big stage showed as they missed out on qualifying for the last 16.

The players can hold their heads high after collecting three points from the group stage, one more than they did in the last Euros. However, there will be a sense of missed opportunity given the mistakes they made in Germany.

Marco Rossi's side recovered from two losses to secure a dramatic 100th-minute 1-0 win over Scotland in their final group game to keep alive their hopes of advancing.

They were in contention until the final Group F matches on Wednesday when Georgia beat Portugal 2-0, meaning they slipped to fifth in the third-place rankings due to a worse goal difference than Slovenia.

"In hindsight, it was a bit of a disadvantage to us that Hungary were in the first group to finish their fixtures, so several other national teams already knew exactly what was required of them before their own last match," the Hungarian football federation said.

OPENING DEFEAT

In truth, Hungary were on the back foot from the 12th minute of their first match. Their defence was caught napping as Switzerland's Kwadwo Duah slotted in the opener before Michel Aebischer had time and space to double the lead.

Rossi said it was the most ashamed he had been of his team's performance in almost four years.

They did pull one back through Barnabas Varga from a cross by captain Dominik Szoboszlai, but the damage was done in a 3-1 defeat.

A match against tournament hosts Germany was always going to be tricky, though Hungary did have 10 total attempts on goal and had an equaliser disallowed for offside.

However, it was clear the Germans had extra quality,