Hungary to resume life in second tier of Nations League

Hungary battled gamely for more than half an hour of their Nations League Division A/B play-off second leg in Budapest, but three unanswered goals from Turkey ultimately sealed a 6-1 aggregate defeat and ensured Marco Rossi's squad will play second-tier Nations League football for the first time since 2020.

An unfortunately and tightly-contested 3-1 defeat in Istanbul on Thursday meant that the odds were stacked against Hungary ahead of the second leg against Turkey on Sunday evening, but they could take confidence from their two-and-a-half year unbeaten run at home and the return from injury of defender Márton Dárdai. Experienced duo Péter Gulácsi and Roland Sallai were both still absent with minor ailments though, added to which both Zsolt Nagy and András Schäfer were suspended, so Rossi kept faith with Dénes Dibusz in goal behind a back three of Attila Fiola, Willi Orbán and Márton Dárdai, the latter joined by his brother Bence in the starting line-up as Hungary fielded their first pair of brothers in the same team since Gábor and Ottó Vincze faced France in 2005. Bence started alongside Bálint Vecsei in centre midfield with Bendeguz Bolla on the right and Milos Kerkez on the left, a four-man midfield which supported attacking trio Dániel Gazdag on the right, central striker Barnabás Varga and captain Dominik Szoboszlai cutting in from the left.

It was Hungary, roared on by a near 60,000 crowd, who threatened first, Szoboszlai's left-wing cross in the fourth minute finding Gazdag at the far post, but his low cross-shot couldn't be diverted goalwards by Varga, whose eventual effort went wide of the left post. The hosts kept up the pressure and Szoboszlai sent a shot wide in the 17th minute before Gazdag was released by Orbán in the Turkey penalty area, only for Cakir to stretch out his right hand to divert the ball away from goal. 

Szoboszlai went close again just after the half-hour mark when his 25-metre free-kick thudded against the angle of the right post and crossbar, but just as it seemed as if a Hungary goal was almost certain to arrive, Fiola's foul on Yüksek gave Turkey a penalty which Çalhanoğlu duly dispatched into the bottom-left corner of Dibusz's net.

Two minutes later, Turkey doubled their lead and deepened Hungary's despair, Aktürkoglu laying the ball out to the right of the home team's penalty area for Aydin to cut the ball back to young Real Madrid prodigy Arda Guler, his smart, first-time shot finding its way smoothly past Dibusz and low into the left side of Hungary's goal.

Rossi's team were now 5-1 down on aggregate but Varga nearly reduced that deficit immediately, but he couldn't quite connect with Bolla's low cross just metres from the Turkey goal. There were two changes at half-time, Loic Nego replacing Fiola and Tamás Nikitscher coming on for Bence Dárdai in central midfield. Nego volleyed the ball at goal minutes later after a poor headed clearance by Bardakci, but visiting goalkeeper Cakir managed to beat the ball away and preserve his team's lead.

On the hour mark, Ferencváros youngster Alex Tóth came on for his international debut in place of Gazdag and Márton Dárdai was substituted in favour of Attila Szalai, but these latest changes didn't change much, nor did the replacemnet of Vécsei with Kevin Csoboth with 16 minutes left. Indeed, it was Turkey who had the final say, Bardakci nodding Yilmaz's cross down into the bottom-left corner of the net to seal a 3-0 win on the night and a 6-1 victory on aggregate for head coach Vincenzo Montella and his squad.  

This consequence of Turkey's play-off success is that they are promoted to Division A of the Nations League for its next edition, while Hungary will participate in Division B.

Hungary 0–3 Turkey (HT: 0–2)
Hungary: Dibusz – Fiola (Nego, 46), Orbán, Dárdai M. (Szalai, 60) – Bolla, Dárdai B. (Nikitscher, 46), Vécsei (Csoboth, 74), Kerkez – Szoboszlai, Gazdag (Tóth, 60) – Varga B.
Turkey: Cakir – Elmali, Bardakci, Akaydin, Müldür – Yüksek (Özcan, 46), Calhanoglu – Aydin (Gül, 71), Güler (Kahveci, 64), Yildiz (Akcicek, 82) – Aktürkoglu (Yilmaz, 64)
Goalscorers: Calhanoglu (37, pen), Güler (39), Bardakci (90).