Hungary Women start with draw in Spain

Russia are ranked 25th in the world, 18 places above Hungary in 43rd place, who gave a full international debut to Beatrix Fördős. The difference between the two teams in the world rankings wasn't clearly evident during the game though and Kratz's side could justifiably claim to have had the better of a goalless first half.

The second half was a different affair though, the opponent starting it better and taking the lead in the 51st minute through Korovkina's shot, only for Zeller to level matters just three minutes later. In the 62nd minute, Russia took the lead again thanks to Lazareva's goal, but again Hungary quickly restored parity, Zeller arriving perfectly on a cross on the 71st minute to equalise for the second time.

There was still one chance left for Russia to snatch a winner but Hungary goalkeeper Barbara Bíró was in the right place again to deny them and secure a 2-2 draw. According to the rules, penalty kicks would decide which team would be in the top section of the tournament for the remaining games and it was Russia who prevailed in the shootout, scoring all theirs while Hungary missed all three of theirs, meaning the latter will continue against Poland at 15:30 on Saturday.

"We played well and the tempo was high throughout, so I'm satisfied with our performance. Russia were dangerous, mainly from set-piece situations, from which they had several opportunities during the match. We want to progress, primarily in defence, and for that we need exactly the kind of matches we played today", Hungary head coach Margret Kratz said after the match.

Hungary 2-2 Russia (HT: 0-0) - penalties 0-3

Hungary: Barbara Bíró - Diána Németh (Csilla Savanya, 75), Laura Kovács, Lilla Turányi, Beatrix Fördős (Dóra Zeller, 46), Viktória Szabó - Henrietta Csiszár, Evelin Fenyvesi (Petra Kocsán, 64), Diána Csányi (Fanni Vachter, 46) - Fanni Vágó (Loretta Németh, 82), Emőke Pápai (Bernadett Zágor, 46).

Goalscorers: HUN: Zeller (54, 71) RUS: Korovkina (51), Lazareva (62).