Hungary suffers sobering 2–0 defeat against understrength Sweden in Budapest friendly
Hungary’s national football team faced a disappointing 2–0 loss to a depleted Swedish side in Friday evening’s friendly at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. Despite dominating the early stages and creating numerous chances, Marco Rossi’s squad failed to convert their opportunities, while Sweden capitalised on Hungarian mistakes to secure the win.
Hungary started the match with high intensity. Roland Sallai, who replaced injured striker Barnabás Varga in the starting lineup, had three clear scoring chances within the first six minutes. Szoboszlai Dominik orchestrated the play well, but the finishing was lacking. Sweden, missing key players like Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak, and Sebastian Nanasi, initially struggled but grew into the game by the end of the first half.
Sweden’s first major threat came in the 33rd minute when Anthony Elanga’s shot hit the crossbar, narrowly avoiding a goal, NSO writes. However, the real blow came shortly after the break. In the 47th minute, a deflected shot by Nygren found the back of the net after bouncing off Willi Orbán, giving Sweden the lead.
Hungary had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 62nd minute when Sallai broke free and chipped past Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen, only to miss the target. Just two minutes later, a defensive blunder from goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz handed Sweden their second goal: a poor pass led to Yasin Ayari stealing the ball and scoring into an almost empty net.
Despite continued Hungarian pressure, including another close-range chance from Sallai, Olsen held firm. Sweden even had a third goal ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
The loss marks Hungary’s third defeat in as many matches in 2025 and raises concerns ahead of Tuesday’s match against Azerbaijan and the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in September. Rossi will need to address the team’s wastefulness in front of goal and defensive lapses if Hungary hopes to regain momentum.
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