Scotland needed a win to qualify for the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time, barring some calculated cruelty. Hungary had a faint hope of progressing with a win. Both teams looked destined for a boring, mutually unsatisfying goalless draw until Hungary scored the winning goal in the 100th minute. Frankly, based on this result, neither team deserves to reach the last 16 of Euro 2024.
Scotland were roaring. Hungary’s play collapsed 25 yards from goal. Steve Clarke and the Tartan Army will be hurt by what happened here but the harsh reality is they have looked underachieving through three games. Scotland are out of the Euros and a point feels like poor reward for weeks of hard work.
But the match may also be remembered for the moment involving Hungary’s Barnabas Varga, who took a heavy fall while trying to meet a cross in the 71st minute and was visibly distressed as the forward was wrapped in a sheet and treated on the field.
Varga landed badly. The incident dampened the mood in the final stages of the match. He was seen recovering as he left the field. Around 10 minutes after the end of the match, the Hungarian Football Federation said in a statement: “Barnabas Varga is in a stable condition. The Ferencváros player is currently hospitalized in Stuttgart. We will inform you as soon as there is any news about his condition.”
It’s always easy to overstate such events, based on the bias of recency. But this was a truly important moment for Scottish football, not just because the team could go where their predecessors hadn’t, but because there was a legitimate belief in the scenario. This Scotland set-up had won hearts and raised standards. Now they needed to deliver results.
This game was different to Scotland’s previous two matches in Group A because they could and needed to control the game. Germany trampled Clarke’s team. Switzerland looked technically superior to Scotland in a 1-1 draw. Hungary was ranked higher than Scotland in the world and had been in great form before the tournament, but this was a chance for the players in dark blue to show they could play up front. Scotland dominated the ball early on but Angus Gunn sensed the threat of a Hungarian counterattack when he smashed away Bendeguz Bora’s long-range shot.
Clarke stuck to his guns. He made just one change from the team that drew with Switzerland, bringing on Scott McKenna in place of the injured Kieran Tierney. Hungary’s manager Marco Rossi brought Barnsley’s Callum Stiles back into midfield. His first intervention was to punch down John McGinn, earning a booking. McGinn’s ability to earn foul after foul was the most impressive aspect of the first quarter. Apart from that, it was a predictably tense match. Scotland used nerves as an excuse for their lack of quality in the final third, but Hungary should have played more freely given their predicament. The next player to bring down McGinn, Willi Orban, was given a yellow card.
Scotland were having problems with finishing despite having over 70% of the ball by the half-hour mark. Roland Szalay had no such problem. The Hungarian forward stood on Jack Hendry’s chest, leaving him writhing in pain. Argentine referee Facundo Tello ruled it an accident, and it looked like a good call.
The next missed kick almost gave them the lead. Che Adams was penalised for dangerous play and the resulting free-kick was expertly lifted by Dominik Szoboszlai to the back post. Orban headed it just over. VAR may have ruled Orban offside, but Scotland remembered Szoboszlai’s creativity. András Schäfer caught Hendry’s ankle with a challenge late on but was much luckier than Orban to avoid a red card.
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There should have been an improvement in the second half. Right? A tournament full of exciting matches suddenly became a tough struggle. At one point, it seemed reasonable to expect the shackles of two teams who needed three points to come off. For Scotland, even a shot on goal meant progress. Adams’ shot from 18 yards in the 53rd minute went over the bar. Scotland’s shortcomings were equally evident against Switzerland and Germany, where two hard deflections by the defenders led to goals. It’s simplistic to blame Clarke for this. Scotland have little or no threat to change the course of a game.
Varga leapt for a free kick before play was stopped, to obvious concern from his teammates and the opposition, and the sheets were still around him when the Hungarian player was sent off from the match.
Hungary were also angry at the delay in getting medical staff onto the field, and Clarke pushed his line hard as Scotland tried to seize a valuable lead, with Lawrence Shankland, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie all involved in the melee.
Armstrong’s first involvement was in vain as he called for a penalty. Ten minutes of added time was awarded as a result of Varga’s situation. With the boards up, Gunn made a good save from Szoboszlai’s shot. Kevin Csobos hit the post for Scotland. A final counter attack saw Csobos flick the ball home. Hungary was in uproar. Scotland was thrashed.
