Hungary vs Bulgaria

Puskas Arena is the venue as Hungary and Bulgaria go head-to-head in an exciting Euro 2024 qualifier.

Hungary’s 1-0 win over Estonia in a friendly last January was a decent way to open the new calendar year after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. But to reach the third consecutive European Championship finals, the Hungarians must display the same fighting spirit that helped them secure a runner-up finish in last summer’s highly-competitive UEFA Nations League Group A3, alongside Italy, England, and Germany. The ‘Magyars’ thrashed England twice in that period, with those victories forming part of an eye-catching return of eight wins in their last 13 internationals (D2, L3). That’s a promising sign for Hungary as they bid to launch a European Championship qualifying campaign with a win for the first time in ten attempts (D3, L6), last achieving that feat in 1983.

On the other hand, Bulgaria slipped to a gut-wrenching 1-0 home defeat to Montenegro in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier and will be looking to bounce back against the odds. Not only have the Bulgarians drawn a blank in back-to-back internationals ahead of this trip (D1, L1), but the all-time H2H heavily favors Hungary. Indeed, the ‘Lions’ have only won four of their 25 previous encounters against fellow Balkans rivals (D8, L13), including a 3-1 thumping in their most recent clash in October 2020 as part of the UEFA Nations League. Manager Mladen Krstajic could be the catalyst to turn Bulgaria’s H2H fortunes around after going unbeaten in his first four matches in charge of the squad (W3, D1).