Hungary to face Belarus and World Cup participants Australia in June

2018. március. 22., 15:21 |

Georges Leekens' Hungary team have had their June fixtures confirmed with the news that a trip to Belarus awaits them on 6th June before they entertain Australia back at home three days later. The ticket sales for both matches will begin a month before the fixtures take place.

The home clash with 2018 FIFA World Cup participants Australia will be held in the Groupama Aréna in Budapest but the venue of the Belarus fixture is still unconfirmed, although it will most likely take place in the capital Minsk.

Just as with the two fixtures this week against Kazakhstan and Scotland, the two June matches will be treated as preparation for the Nations League which starts in September, those two warm-up matches in the summer due to be the last ones before competitive action in UEFA's new tournament arrives in earnest.

"These two matches (in June) will serve our preparations for the Nations League as both opponents in the summer play in similar styles to our opponents in autumn", Leekens told mlsz.hu. "According to my information, the Australians will travel directly from Budapest to the World Cup. At that point we should, in practice, stand ready to undertake our tasks in September with these two matches having played an huge part in helping that status. It is easy to imagine that we'll call up several young, Under-21 players too but of course only if their performances at club level and in the U21 national team merit it. In regard to the squad members of the recent past, I would like them to leave the events of the last year behind them and start a new chapter by battling to do the tasks and win the matches before us with a great fighting spirit and desire to win these matches". Hungary's head coach also stated there would serious tasks ahead for his backroom staff in terms of following and analysing the performances of their players and in connection with assessing the opponents.

About our June opponents:

We first played Belarus in Debrecen on 17th April 2002, he visitors triumphing 5-2 with Krisztián Kenesei and the late Miklós Fehér getting our goals. Most recently, the two teams met on 6th February 2013 in Belek, Turkey, a match in which Imre Szabics scored the opener for us before Belarus equalised almost immediately, 1-1 turning out to be the final result.

We've also only played Australia on two occasions, both of which were won by our opponents. The first defeat came on 2nd April 1997 in the Népstadion, László Krausz scoring our only goal in a 3-1 loss before the two nations faced each other again three years later, 23rd February 2000 the exact date when Australia improved on their previous win by prevailing 3-0 at Üllői út.

(Photo: FIFA.com)