Hosts Hungary knocked out of U17 Euros by Republic of Ireland

After an emphatic 3-0 success against Wales, hosts Hungary lost 5-3 to Poland in their second of three group-stage fixtures meaning the last match against Republic of Ireland would decide which of the two would progress with Poland to the quarter-final stages. A single point would be enough for Hungary on Tuesday, since Ireland had also defeated Wales 3-0, but had lost 5-1 to Poland.

Hungary head coach Belvon made three changes to the starting team against Poland, this time including Csaba Hornyák, Csaba Molnár and Zétény Varga. Ireland started the match more dangerously in the pouring rain and took the lead early after a corner when Luke Kehir took advantage of the home side's failure to clear the ball from in front of their own goal. Hungary equalised in the 11th minute though, when Irish defender Grante headed Csaba Molnár's free kick from the left into his own goal.

The game was evenly contested thereafter, but the Irish were more effective in front of goal, and in the 24th minute they regained the advantage when Melia headed in a corner and worse was to come in the 31st minute when Melia doubled Ireland's lead from close range. Hungary tried to hit back, but they couldn't break through a teak-tough Ireland defence.

Belvon substituted Noah Fenyő at half time in favour of Szilárd Szabó but this change didn't alter the pattern of the game and in the 61st minute Kehir made the score 4-1 with a powerful strike. In the 74th minute, Martin Kern headed Hunor Németh's corner into the net to spark hopes of a comeback but it was to no avail, despite the introduction of Mátyás Vidnyánszky, Bence Somfalvi and Manuel Burghart. Thus Republic of Ireland sealed a 4-2 victory and advanced to the quarter finals.

"Maybe my team lacked faith today," Belvon commented after the match. "At the beginning of the match, we were still confident that we would achieve our aim, but I felt that after the second goal we conceded, we lost our confidence. There was a lot of time left and we showed flashes and created opportunities, but we couldn't capitalise on them. I'm very sorry that we've conceded so many goals. The team hadn't been able to play competitive matches for a long time due being hosts of this tournament and now we made an inexplicable number of mistakes in defence, which is reflected in the number of goals conceded. This time, there was no leader on the pitch who could pull the team out of the difficult situation. I feel the fear of making mistakes was too strong in my players. While the other teams have got used to high stakes during the qualifiers, we encountered this pressure for the first time at the European Championship, and we couldn't handle it well enough. Now, of course, everyone is down and sees this elimination as a failure, but I believe that many players in the squad have a bright future ahead of them. I wish them the best of luck in achieving their goals," Belvon concluded.

Republic of Ireland 4-2 Hungary (HT: 3-1)
Ireland: Healy - Grante, Babb, O'Sullivan - Kehir, Akachukwu, Turley, Negry-McGrath, Orazi - Melia, Razi.
Hungary: Áron Yaakobishvili – Attila Girsik, Ádám Umathum, Dominik Kaczvinszki, Csaba Hornyák (Manuel Burghart, 77) – Zétény Varga, Noah Fenyő, Martin Kern, Hunor Németh (Mátyás Vidnyánszky, 77) – Benedek Simon, Csaba Molnár (Bence Somfalvi, 77).