Germany vs Hungary: Preview, Prediction & Betting Tips

The host Germany will be eager to impress as the host nation will have the expectations of an entire nation on their shoulders heading into the second group game against Hungary.

Germany will be bringing a mix of experience and youth into their team with the likes of Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz being the ones who bear the pressure to ensure Germany has a great tournament. Manuel Neuer and in particular Toni Kroos will more than likely be featuring in their final international tournament.

For this game, the midfield will be the key battle. Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai will be integral to their chances as the Hungary side looks to potentially secure a second-place finish in a group where the home nation is expected to go through as group leaders.

Germany’s forward and midfield options will be the turning point in this game. Julian Nagelsmann’s selection will be key to how he balances his team, especially if he were to use the same options from the 5-1 win over Scotland.

The home nation was tremendous in their recent win in the opening game against Scotland. Goals from Jamal Musiala, Emre Can, Kai Havertz, Niklas Fullkrug and Florian Wirtz gave Julian Nagelsmann a fine opening statement to the rest of the potential contenders for the European Championship.

We predict a 2-0 win for the host nation. The options available will be enough for Germany to secure a victory in the second group game.

An interesting fixture occurs in the second round of group games in the European Championships as Germany hosts Hungary. Following Germany’s 5-1 victory over Scotland in the opening game, the hosts are in a strong position to become the first team qualified for the round of 16.

Kick-Off: 5PM

Location: MHP Arena (Stuttgart)

Date: 19/06/2024

The host nation is the joint most successful team in the European Championships with three title wins – the only other team to achieve this feat is Spain. Germany’s success came in 1972, 1980 and 1996. The home nation has gone without European success approaching 30 years, since the 1996 triumph in England.

By participating in the upcoming tournament, Germany became the nation that holds the record for the most participations in European Championship history. Germany is one of the pre-tournament favourites for the European Championships touted @9/2 via SkyBet. (All odds are subject to change)

Hungary have appeared in four European Championships with an upcoming fifth appearance this summer. In the 1964 European Nations Cup, they finished third of four teams after winning their play-off against Denmark. At Euro 1972, Hungary placed fourth. In the 2016 edition of the tournament, Hungary finished in the round of 16 which was their best performance for nearly four decades. They qualified for Euro 2020, where they were one of the host nations but were eliminated in the group stages.

The two teams will be facing each other on two more occasions this year in the UEFA Nations League, however, this will be the second consecutive European Championship where both sides were drawn in the same group. At the last European Championships, Germany managed to rescue a draw to set up a round-of-16 clash with bitter rivals England.

Adam Szalai opened the scoring for Hungary with a tremendous diving header within the first 15 minutes and they held the lead into the midway point of the second half. A defensive error from the Hungarian goalkeeper allowed Kai Havertz to restore parity for Germany. Germany was then susceptible for their defensive error four minutes later as Andras Schafer capitalised to score a header. Leon Goretzka scored a deflected effort to secure Germany’s passage into the round of 16.

Germany

Germany has three representatives from the Premier League in their national side – Kai Havertz, Pascal Gross and Deniz Undav (on loan at VFB Stuttgart). Toni Kroos will be playing in his final tournament as a professional footballer and is joined by his Real Madrid compatriot Antonio Rudiger.

Hungary

Hungary has notable representatives from the Premier League with Milos Kerkez and Dominik Szoboszlai from Bournemouth and Liverpool respectively. Hungary’s squad features a strong Bundesliga contingent which includes the likes of Roland Sallai and Willi Orban.

Germany

Through qualifying automatically as the host nation, Germany did not choose the option of playing qualifying games for the tournament and instead spent the majority of the previous year playing international friendlies. The last competitive game Germany played at a major tournament before this summer was the final game of their group at the 2022 World Cup. Germany won 4-2 against Costa Rica but ultimately it was to no avail as Germany were eliminated.

Germany’s recent form in the last few months or so has been very good heading into their home tournament, having won three out of their previous five games. Julian Nagelsmann’s side have lost only once in the last five games and are unbeaten in their last four.

One of the more impressive victories Germany has obtained in the last five games was a 2-0 victory away from home against one of the tournament favourites in France. Florian Wirtz created history by scoring the fastest goal in international football history with a wonderfully struck effort from range seven seconds in. Arsenal forward, Kai Havertz rounded off the victory for Germany following a great move involving Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala.

Hungary

Hungary enters this tournament in some fine form also, having won four out of their last five games played and remained unbeaten during their qualification campaign for the tournament. Hungary won five out of their eight qualification games, drawing their remaining three games. Hungary have lost a competitive game since the 2-0 defeat at home to Italy in the UEFA Nations League.

In the previous European Championship, Hungary only picked up two and as mentioned previously held Germany to a 2-2 draw in the last European Championships which caused their elimination. In their most recent game before the tournament, Hungary ran out of comfortable winners against Israel and in the last couple have months have recorded such victories against the likes of Turkey.

Germany and Hungary have faced each other six times over the past 14 years. The record is even across the two teams with both Germany and Hungary beating each other twice, drawing twice and losing a game each against one another.

The most previous game between the two sides resulted in a 1-0 victory for Hungary as they inflicted the first defeat for former manager Hansi Flick. Hungary secured the win thanks to a goal from Adam Szalai which was assisted by Dominik Szoboszlai.

The game will be shown live on BBC One, BBC I-Player and via the BBC Sport app on any mobile or gaming device.

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