Hungary lost their chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in an extremely painful way. The Hungarian national team needed a simple draw at home to qualify, but Ireland upset their plans, winning 3-2 in Budapest after a goal scored in the 90th+6th minute.
Black evening for Hungary Photo/Nemzeti Sport
The away hero was AZ Alkmaar’s Troy Parrott, who scored all three of Ireland’s goals, the last in the dying seconds of the match. If they had gotten that point, Hungary would have reached the March play-off in the first value urn and could have even met Romania.
“The drama came in the 96th minute: the Irish turned the score at Puskas Arena. Our World Cup dreams have been dashed!
The Hungarian national football team led twice in the 6th and final round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but still lost 2-3 to the Irish national team at the Puskas Arena. With this defeat, our team finished third in Group F, so they will not be in the play-offs, thus missing the World Cup for the tenth time in a row!“captioned those from nemzetisport.hu.
Hungary has not been present at a World Championship since 1986
The losing streak has now extended to ten consecutive tournaments. The game against Ireland seemed like the perfect chance to end this drought, especially as the Hungarians got off to a great start. Lukacs scored in the 3rd minute, but the advantage quickly disappeared after the penalty converted by Parrott.
Varga restored hope before the break, making it 2-1, but the finish was devastating for the hosts. Troy Parrott, in an exceptional evening, scored twice more, in the 80th and 90th+6th minutes, canceling any possibility of qualification.
An emotional moment in the memory of Emeric Ienai
Before the start of the match, the stadium in Budapest became completely silent. Approximately 60,000 supporters held a moment of silence in memory of Emeric Ienei, one of the most respected Romanian coaches, who died on November 5, at the age of 88.
The Hungarians wanted to show their gratitude for the coach who led the Hungarian national team in the early 1990s and who left a strong mark on European football, being also the coach who won the European Champions Cup with Steaua in 1986. Ienei also returned to Hungary in 1994 when he trained the Fehérvár team.
