Hungary are unfortunate to have been drawn in the group of death alongside the winners of the last three major tournaments, with Germany and France winning the 2014 and 2018 World Cups respectively, and Portugal defending their European crown.
Hungary enter the tournament unbeaten in 11 appearances since October 2020, winning seven times, though they haven’t encountered any top sides over this spell. Still, they did manage to top their recent Nations League group ahead of Russia, Serbia and Turkey, though they weren’t prolific at the sharp end with seven goals from six matches.
Despite a qualifying group for this tournament that saw them avoid one of the heavyweights, with Croatia, Wales, Slovakia and Azerbaijan the competition, Hungary still struggled for output as they managed just eight goals in eight games, finishing second from bottom. They have upped their productivity with 10 goals across their opening three World Cup qualifiers against Poland, San Marino and Andorra, though they did only manage a single strike across recent friendlies with Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland and we’re unconvinced they’ll breach Portugal’s backline.
Portugal only have one clean sheet from their past four road trips, even conceding once against Luxembourg and twice each against Serbia and Croatia. However, opening games at tournaments are often lower-scoring affairs, as prior to this summer 70% at the European Championships have featured under 2.5 goals since 1992, rising to 75% when limited two the past two editions.
Portugal drew all three group games in Euro 2016, including one with Hungary themselves, though they’ve since beaten them twice as they met in World Cup qualifiers. They registered clean sheets in those most recent meetings, though only ran out narrow 1-0 winners in Budapest, with this game also taking place in Hungary’s backyard.
Since their World Cup exit at the hands of Uruguay, Portugal have lost just twice in 29 appearances, with one of those inflicted by France. They’ve won 15 of their last 21 matches, registering clean sheets in eight of their past 11 victories, so the win to nil makes sense.
Portugal Win To Nil @ 2.2Edited by user 15 June 2021 14:47:41(UTC)
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