Hungary to host world-class Croatia in Budapest in March

The Hungarian Football Association m(MLSZ) said, they are delighted to announce that Hungary’s first match as part of their preparations for the forthcoming European Championship tournament in France will be against fellow Euro 2016 participants Croatia at the Groupama Aréna in Budapest on 26th March.

Head coach Ante Čačić’s team are currently 18th in the FIFA world rankings, two places higher than ourselves. In Euro 2016 qualifying they secured second place in group F behind Italy and ahead of Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Malta, only suffering one defeat away in Norway. In the Euros in France they will face Spain, Czech Republic and Turkey in the group stages.

According to mlsz.hu, Hungar head coach Bernd Storck has said he would like Hungary to face strong opponents in the lead-up to the tournament and it’s no doubt that Croatia fit into this category, given that they have such players as Ivan Rakitić from CF Barcelona, Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić from Real Madrid, Dejan Lovren at Liverpool, Ivan Perišić and Marcelo Brozović at Inter and Mario Mandžukić from Juventus. Their current captain Dario Srna of Shakthar Donetzk is the country’s most capped player with 127 appearances in the national jersey.

The last match between the two teams saw Niko Kovács score at both ends as they played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly match. The head-to-head record reads played 9, 1 Hungarian victory, 5 draws and 3 Croatian wins with a goal ratio of 14-7 in favour of Croatia.

A list of the matches between the two teams:

1. 1940. May 2, Hungary 1-0 Croatia
2. 1940. December 8, Croatia 1-1 Hungary
3. 1942. June 14, Hungary 1-1 Croatia
4. 1994. May 18, Hungary 2-2 Croatia
5. 1996. April 10, Croatia 4-1 Hungary
6. 2002. May 8, Hungary 0-2 Croatia
7. 2004. September 4, Croatia 3-0 Hungary WC 2006 qualifier
8. 2005. October 12, Hungary 0-0 Croatia WC 2006 qualifier
9. 2008. May 31, Hungary 1-1 Croatia

Source: en.mlsz.hu