One new face and several returnees in latest Hungary Men’s squad

Dárdai was earlier a member of Germany’s youth national teams but at a meeting in December, the defender made it clear to Rossi that he’d like to link up with the Hungarian national squad from now on. This, coupled with recent performances for his German club Hertha BSC, has earned him Rossi's trust. Vancsa, meanwhile, who plies his trade for Lommel in Belgium, has trained with the full national team in the past, but has lately strengthened the U21 national squad as they undertook some tough assignments.

Also named in the 25 is midfielder András Schäfer, who has been out injured since September 2022 while returning from shorter layoffs are László Kleinheisler and Barnabás Varga. Goalkeeper Balázs Tóth is rewarded for his excellent recent club form with a return to the international fold.

“This time, we have a squad which features several players returning from long-term injuries, players we’ve been waiting for for a long time”, Rossi told mlsz.hu. “Of course, András Schäfer was injured for the longest time and was last a member of the squad a year-and-a-half ago, so we’re especially happy for him that he’s through this very long, bad period. The only newcomer in the squad is Márton Dárdai. We’d like to get a more comprehensive picture of some of them, something the warm-up matches will provide, although I emphasise again that these matches are just as important to us as competitive matches. There are also those who’ve previously been members of the squad, but are getting fewer opportunities to play for their clubs at the moment, so they’ll not be with us now. However, we’re constantly monitoring them, as we are any other player who’ll be eligible for the national team in the future”.

Hungary’s current squad:

Goalkeepers: Dénes Dibusz (Ferencváros) Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig) Balázs Tóth (Fehérvár)

Defenders: Botond Balogh (Parma), Márton Dárdai (Hertha BSC), Ádám Lang (Omonia Nicosia), Attila Mocsi (Rizespor), Willi Orbán (RB Leipzig), Attila Szalai (Freiburg), Gábor Szalai (Lausanne-Sport)

Midfielders: Bendegúz Bolla (Servette), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), László Kleinheisler (Hajduk Split), Ádám Nagy (Spezia Calcio), Zsolt Nagy (Puskás Akadémia), Loic Nego (Le Havre), András Schäfer (Union Berlin), Callum Styles (Sunderland)

Forwards: Martin Ádám (Ulsan Hyundai), Dániel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), Krisztofer Horváth (Kecskemét), Roland Sallai (Freiburg), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), Zalán Vancsa (Lommel), Barnabás Varga (Ferencváros)

“Of our two opponents, Turkey are the strongest”, Rossi emphasised. “This Turkish national team is very different from the one we played a few years ago. They’re very strong and have a lot of talented young players, so overall I expect a very difficult match against them. Our second opponent, Kosovo, are weaker than Turkey, but are still strong. They’ve just appointed a new head coach, so in their case there are many question marks concerning how much their game will change. So far, they’ve played with three centre-backs and have been characterised by a very direct style of football. It’ll be interesting to play against them, because this style is typical of one of our Euro 2024 opponents, Scotland. Therefore, these matches will certainly be very important milestones in the work we do to prepare as well as possible for the European Championship this summer”.

Hungary’s squad members will meet in Telki on Monday 18th March before the two matches against Turkey on 22nd March and Kosovo on 26th March, both in Budapest’s Puskás Arena. Ticket sales for the matches will begin at 10am CET on Wednesday 13th March on the meccsjegy.mlsz.hu website.