Against the Armenians, a convincing first half was followed by a poor second half, but the victory was (0–1), and so we could watch the Irish-Portuguese match with the feeling that with Cristiano Ronaldo's success, the last match would be without stakes, and second place would be ours. Well, the Portuguese did not do us the favor of winning a non-life-or-death match as group leaders after Euro 2024 this time either...

And with that, we were where we were at the very beginning: the match against the Irish would decide whether we would advance. Marco Rossi's team awaited the match with the knowledge that if they didn't lose, they would be in the play-offs again after 28 years, and if they won, there was even a minimal chance that they would definitely be a World Cup participant again after 40 years.

After a lightning-fast goal change, we went into the break with a lead thanks to Barnabás Varga's bomb

The Italian-Hungarian specialist made two changes to the Yerevan starting lineup. In the packed Puskás Arena, Alex Tóth replaced Callum Styles and Dániel Lukács replaced Bolla Bendegúz. The team lined up with the following eleven players: Dibusz – Nego, Orbán, A. Szalai, Kerkez – Schäfer, Styles – Bolla, Szoboszlai, Sallai – Varga B. .

The match started in a great atmosphere, and the atmosphere only increased after our team immediately forced the Irish into their goal, and Dominik Szoboszlai was able to take the penalty kicks one after another.

After the third corner, the ice was finally broken in the 4th minute: Szoboszlai's left-side pass was placed on the short side by Dániel Lukács , who slid it into Kelleher's goal from close range, and the goal was declared legal after the video review (1–0).

The Puskás Academy striker scored his second goal in the national team jersey after the match against the Armenians.

After the opening goal, we handed the initiative to the Irish, which initially resulted in fruitless field dominance, and then at the end of the first quarter of an hour, a completely unnecessary penalty: Attila Szalai kicked Chiedozie Ogbene completely unnecessarily. Penalty!

Behind the ball was Troy Parrott, who scored twice in the home game against the Portuguese, and despite the huge whistle concert, he shot into the bottom right corner. Dénes Dibusz felt the direction, but had no chance to save (1–1).

This result was still favorable for our team, but it was impossible to get comfortable in the match, and Marco Rossi's team advanced further.

At first, this manifested itself in a long-range, blocked free kick by Szoboszlai, then in the 28th minute we came close to the lead again, when Roland Sallai exploded on Lukács's right-hand pass, but he could not get past Kelleher from close range.

After a good half hour of play, Galatasaray's all-rounder was again in danger, but his long-range attempt was easily blocked by the defenders, but in the 37th minute the advantage was back!

Milos Kerkez's left-side pass was received by Barnabás Varga in front of the penalty area, then he fired a shot into the top left corner from 18 meters. It was a great goal (2–1)!

This was the Ferencváros striker's fifth goal in his fifth World Cup qualifier, leveling him with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of Group F.

Jake O'Brien had a chance before the break, but the defender, who came from a long corner, was unable to hit the target.

Overall, the Hungarian team deservedly led at half-time, although due to the Irish penalty, the expected xG (0.99–1.10) was higher for the visitors, but what our team wanted clearly happened in the game.

We couldn't close the game out, and the endgame was again in the Irish's hands...

Heimir Hallgrímsson made a change at half-time, replacing Jake O'Brien with Ryan Manning, but our team still had the first chance: after Szoboszlai's free kick on the left, there was no danger, just as there was thanks to Loic Nego's save on the other side.

The Hungarian national team controlled the game and tried to exploit Szoboszlai's creativity several times, and although Lukács' excellent exit did not lead to a chance, every minute spent in the Irish half of the field was a win for our team.

The game changed slightly with the introduction of Adam Idah, and the substitute striker quickly scored against Dibusz, although it was so close that there was no need to worry about it in the stands.

Rossi also intervened in the match, and András Schäfer and Dániel Lukács were replaced by defensive midfielders in the form of Callum Styles and Bence Ötvös.

In the middle of the half, Idah's header went over the Hungarian goal, then Szoboszlai's free kick was deflected by Willi Orbán to the bottom left, but Kelleher was able to save it.

As the final quarter of an hour approached, the Hungarian team was able to step up more and more against the attacking Irish, and first, after Styles' pass, Varga's shot was blocked by the defenders, and then Kelleher had to make a big save at the end of Roland Sallai's solo.

The Irish goalkeeper saved a cross from Bolla Bendegúz, who replaced Alex Tóth, shortly afterwards, by diving to save from Kerkez, who was coming from a long distance, and the Irish punished the missed opportunities:

Parrott stepped out at a good pace between the defenders trying to set him up and lifted it over Dibusz into the goal (2–2).

This was still not a bad result for our team, but the endgame became very exciting, the Irish, who were under pressure, pressed hard, and the Hungarians had an open area, but they did not have the strength to play it.

In the 86th minute, Szoboszlai came extremely close to scoring another goal, but Kelleher was able to save his shot for a corner, and after the corner kick, Sallai's header went over the bar.

In the 91st minute, however, our blood ran cold when Johnny Kenny shot from close range, but Dénes Dibusz made an amazing save!

Rossi sent in Attila Mocsi and Damir Redzic for the endgame, but even that didn't prove to be enough...

In the 96th minute, Parrott came upon the Irish ball after the many passes, and scored the goal that secured the Irish a place in the play-offs (2–3).

The Hungarian national team thus failed in a shocking finale, and thus continues to wait in vain to qualify for the World Cup again after 1986.

World Cup 2026, European qualifiers, Group F, Round 6

• Hungary–Ireland 2–3 (2–1)
• Budapest, Puskás Aréna, 59,411 spectators. V: Eskas (Norwegian)
• Hungary: Dibusz – Nego (Mocsi, 93.), Orbán, Szalai A., Kerkez – Schäfer (Ötvös, 63.), Tóth A. (Bolla, 76.) – Lukács D. (Styles, 63.), Szoboszlai, Sallai (Redzic, 93.) – Varga B. National captain: Marco Rossi
• Ireland: Kelleher – O’Brien (R. Manning, at half-time), Collins, D. O’Shea – Coleman (Ebosele, 60.), Cullen (Taylor, 80.), Molumby (Kenny, 60.), Scales – Ogbene (Idah, 53.), Azaz – Parrott. National captain:  Heimir Hallgrímsson
• Goalscorers:  Lukács D. (4th), Varga B. (37th), or Parrott (15th, 80th, 96th – the first – from 11)

In the other match of the group

• Portugal–Armenia 9–1 (Veiga 7., G. Ramos 28., J. Neves 30., 41., 81., B. Fernandes 45+3., 52., 72. – the first and third from 11, F. Conceicao 92., and Szpertsjan 18.)

The final result of the group: 1st (and World Cup participant) Portugal 13 points (20–7), 2nd Ireland 10 (9–7), 3rd Hungary 8 (11–10) 4th Armenia 3 (3–19)

Previous results

Round 1

• Ireland–Hungary 2–2
• Armenia–Portugal 0–5

Round 2

• Hungary–Portugal 2–3
• Armenia–Ireland 2–1

Round 3

• Hungary–Armenia 2–0
• Portugal–Ireland 1–0

Round 4

• Portugal–Hungary 2–2
• Ireland–Armenia 1–0

Round 5

• Armenia–Hungary 0–1
• Ireland–Portugal 2–0

(Cover photo: Dominik Szoboszlai. Photo: Péter Papajcsik / Index)