Tipped as dark horses by many, Hungary kick-off their Euro 2024 campaign against Switzerland on Saturday.
Germany and Scotland face off in the tournament’s opening game on Friday night, and both teams will be keeping a close eye on events in Munich ahead of their respective meetings with the two sides. Group A is set to be delicately poised, even if the hosts are the clear favourites to come out on top.
Hungary emerged as one of the most impressive teams in qualifying as they won their group without losing a game. Marco Rossi has evolved his side into one that’s incredibly tough to beat, with their success built off of sturdy and aggressive defensive foundations.
They’ll be a tough match-up for the Swiss in Cologne, that’s for sure. Murat Yakin’s side have been steady operators at major tournaments for years, and there hasn’t been much squad turnover from Euro 2020, where they reached the quarter-finals. Yakin will hope that his stable core can guide Switzerland through Group A.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Hungary vs Switzerland at Euro 2024.
Hungary vs Switzerland H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Hungary |
Switzerland |
|---|---|
|
Hungary 3-0 Israel – 08/06/24 |
Switzerland 1-1 Austria – 08/06/24 |
|
Republic of Ireland 2-1 Hungary – 04/06/24 |
Switzerland 4-0 Estonia – 04/06/24 |
|
Hungary 2-0 Kosovo – 26/03/24 |
Republic of Ireland 0-1 Switzerland – 26/03/24 |
|
Hungary 1-0 Turkey – 22/03/24 |
Denmark 0-0 Switzerland – 23/03/24 |
|
Hungary 3-1 Montenegro – 19/11/23 |
Romania 1-0 Switzerland – 21/11/23 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
ITV1, ITVX, STV, STV Player |
|
United States |
ViX, SiriusXM FC |
|
Canada |
CTV App, TVA+, TSN4, TVA Sports, CTV, TSN1 |
Liverpool‘s Dominik Szoboszlai will captain his country in Germany this summer, and he’s the man Hungary will turn to for attacking inspiration. Freiburg’s Robert Sallai is poised to lead Rossi’s line alongside Barnabas Varga.
RB Leipzig’s Will Orban will orchestrate Hungary’s backline, while veteran goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi was called up to the 26-player squad and should start on Saturday.
Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez is another name to keep an eye on.
Hungary predicted lineup vs Switzerland (3-4-1-2): Gulacsi; Lang, Orban, Szalai; Bolla, Nagy, Schafer, Kerkez; Szoboszlai; Sallai, Varga.
Yakin is expected to name a very familiar starting XI in Cologne on Saturday, with the likes of Yann Sommer, Ricardo Rodriguez, Granit Xhaka, and Xherdan Shaqiri all being included.
Zeki Amdouni and Noah Okafor are pushing for starts in the frontline given the doubts surrounding Breel Embolo’s fitness. The forward didn’t feature in Switzerland’s final warm-up game against Austria.
Switzerland predicted lineup vs Hungary (3-4-2-1): Sommer; Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Zuber; Shaqiri, Ndoye; Okafor.
Both sides will be relying on their defensive security this summer, with their respective abilites to capitialise on moments in transition being key.
Given the similar systems, Saturday’s game could be a cagey affair with plenty of duels all over the pitch. There’s scope for the two teams to cancel each other out, and both managers may be happy with a point in Cologne.
Each will fancy their chances of beating Scotland as a means of progressing into the round of 16.