STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - 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, confirmed in a clinical 2-0 win for Julian Nagelsmann's side, Germany's first competitive victory over Hungary since the 1954 World Cup final.
In those days, the Mighty Magyars had some of the best players in Europe led by the great Ferenc Puskas.
Now, however, they have mainly players featuring in second and third tiers of major European leagues. Liverpool's Szoboszlai and RB Leipzig's Willi Orban and Peter Gulacsi are the most prominent clubs to feature Hungarian internationals.
The final clash against Scotland was a straight knockout between the two and though the hype and pre-match fan displays were full of joy and excitement, the game was not.
Varga suffered serious facial injuries in a horrendous clash with Scotland keeper Angus Gunn but the Hungarian fans had their moment deep in stoppage time though when a quick breakaway ended in Kevin Csoboth firing in the winner.
"That the goal came in the last minute is just pure football and we are really happy about it," Gulacsi said.
Given that Hungary have spent decades in the international wilderness, not appearing in the European Championship finals between 1972 and 2016 and missing every World Cup since 1986, their fans may just be satisfied with Csoboth's moment of glory.