Ten-man Hungary fall to three-goal loss in Belgium

Two unbeaten teams played each other in Leuven so there was more to play for than just qualification points. Hungary head coach Michael Boris made one change from last Friday's 4-0 home win against Cyprus, Máté Katona making way for Donát Szivacski. It was an even contest in the first 10 minutes, Salloi blazing over the crossbar for Hungary in the 3rd minute and Belgium missing a similar chance four minutes later.

However, the match was turned on its head as early as the tenth minute when the referee controversially adjudged Bence Tóth to have impeded the Belgium centre forward when a through-pass set the two players chasing after it towards the Hungary goal. A free-kick was given outside the penalty area but Tóth was dismissed from the field of play and Hungary were down to ten men for the rest of the match.

Boris took a cautious approach by substituting his striker Bence Bíró and bringing on defender Csaba Spandler in the 17th minute, but two minutes later Belgian captain Schrijvers put his side ahead with a low drive into the bottom left corner of the net from twenty metres out.

The hosts were fully dominant and kept control of the match but Hungary fought hard and got through to half-time without conceding again. However, Belgium doubled their lead in the 64th minute when a sliding Lukebakio converted a left-wing cross into the left side of the goal from six metres out.

Seven minutes later, matters got worse for the visitors when Bence Lenzsér was adjudged to have committed a foul in his own penalty box and Dimata dispatched the resultant penalty despite seeming to break his stride in his run-up.

That completed the scoring despite Belgium's desire to score more goals, Hungary thereby suffering a 3-0 defeat. The next group fixtures will take place in September with Hungary due to take on Sweden and Belgium.

Belgium 3-0 Hungary (HT: 1-0)
Hungary (surnames first): Demjén Patrik - Lenzsér Bence, Kecskés Ákos, Tóth Bence - Szivacski Donát, Vida Máté, Gazdag Dániel (Haris Attila, 72'), Szoboszlai Dominik, Szalai Attila - Bíró Bence (Spandler Csaba, 17'), Sallói Dániel (Balogh Norbert, 49').