Hungary vs Switzerland match preview and Euro 2024 tickets

Hungary will begin their 2024 European Championship campaign this Saturday when they face Switzerland in Cologne Stadium.

Both sides participated in the last two editions of the European Championship, and they will be looking for a good start to give them a chance of qualifying from this group, which also includes Germany and Scotland.

Stats and form

Hungary have lost just once since November 2022, winning ten and drawing five of their 16 games since then.

They have scored two or more goals in seven of their last ten matches but kept just three clean sheets in that period.

Hungary scored in their last eleven matches, including in the friendly matches. 

Switzerland have kept three clean sheets in their last five games.

They have won just one of their last five games played outside Switzerland (D3, L1).

Switzerland have averaged 67.4% possession in their last ten games.

They have conceded 1.1 goals from 2.3 shots on goal and 5.8 attempts over their last ten games.

Head-to-head 

Switzerland have won six of their last nine matches against Hungary (D2, L1). They last tasted defeat in November 1998 in a Budapest friendly.

This will be just the second-ever meeting between both sides at a major international tournament (Euros/World Cup) since Hungary's 2-0 win at the 1938 World Cup.

Match preview

After narrowly missing out on the knockout stages of the last European Championship campaign, Hungary will be desperate to begin this year's tournament with a win when they face Switzerland in Cologne.

The Hungarians enjoyed an excellent Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, going unbeaten in eight games (W5 D3). 

It was the first time ever that they’d gone through an entire European Championship qualifying campaign without a defeat, and they continued on that unbeaten path for a long time until they were eventually beaten by the Republic of Ireland earlier this month, giving them their first and only loss since November 2022.

However, they bounced back from that defeat, beating Israel 3-0 in their last warm-up game. 

Goals from Roland Sallai and Barnabás Varga (2) inside the opening 22 minutes secured another positive result in a run of just one defeat in 16 games since November 2022, giving their fans the belief that Hungary can banish the ghosts of their last Euro campaign when they finished bottom of their group.

Despite their brilliant form, older fans may be pessimistic about Hungary’s chances, given that they have recorded just one win in nine matches at the European Championship across their last three tournament appearances in 1972, 2016 and 2020. 

But Marco Rossi’s men are a nation on the rise, recently proving their worth when they finished above England and Germany in their UEFA Nations League group.

Meanwhile, Switzerland will be looking to get off to a perfect start at the 2024 European Championship and make it three successive Euro tournaments where they’ve reached the knockout stage. 

The Red Crosses and France are the only European nations that have reached the knockout stages across the last five major international tournaments. 

So the Swiss are in good company and will be desperate to keep things that way in this tough group.

That said, their qualifying campaign does not suggest they will have another smooth group-stage campaign, as they struggled a bit in the qualifiers. 

Murat Yakin’s side reached these finals after finishing second in their group behind Romania in Group I, winning four times and drawing five in a fairly easy group (L1). 

While they have proven hard to beat, Switzerland’s recent form hasn’t been encouraging. 

Seven of their last eleven international matches have ended in a draw, with three wins and a defeat. 

Their two Euro 2024 warm-up games saw them ease past Estonia 4-0 before drawing 1-1 with Austria four days later.

That said, the Red Crosses have proven they know how to get results when it matters. They set a new benchmark in 2020 by reaching the quarter-finals of the Euros for the first time, although it was a largely scrappy tournament which saw them emerge victorious in just one of five games in normal time (D3, L1). 

Fans watching at home and those who have bought the Euro 2024 tickets can expect them to go again this time, given that their team boasts a fine blend of youth and experience. 

The Swiss coach selected no fewer than 15 players who were also in Euro 2020, while 13 of those men also travelled to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

Key men

Unlike most teams in Europe, Hungary is not a team full of star names. Rossi's team are one of the tournament’s dark horses, but their strength is not in one player but in the collective effort of every member of the squad. 

Hungary has forged a reputation of being a collective group that fights for each other rather than a team dependent on the brilliance of one big name.

However, the Magyaroks are benefiting from the class of 23-year-old captain Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield and the steady presence of Leipzig's Péter Gulácsi in goal. 

The Liverpool midfielder was their main threat in qualifying, scoring four goals and three assists. He also topped their charts for chances created (23) and shots (28). 

He also offers some of the threats that Hungary poses from set-pieces. Excluding the play-offs, Hungary scored the most goals from non-penalty set plays in the Euro 2024 qualifiers (7). 

Meanwhile, Barnabás Varga is another player to watch for Hungary. The Ferencvaros striker’s double in Hungary's final lead-up game against Israel was his eighth scoring appearance for club or country in 2024, and should he be on song alongside attacking partners Szoboszlai and Roland Sallai. Hungary have a high chance of making it through the group stage.

Meanwhile, Murat Yakin's Switzerland squad has many big names who can almost single-handedly change games.

Striker Zeki Amdouni, who scored against Estonian in their warm-up game, is one such player. The 23-year-old may be playing for Championship side Burnley, but he's a solid option for the national team and was Switzerland’s top scorer in qualifying with six goals.

Elsewhere, Switzerland have three players who won European top-flight league titles this season: Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Manuel Akanji (Man City) and Yann Sommer (Inter Milan). 

All will be key to Switzerland’s chance of success this summer, but none may be as instrumental as Xherdan Shaqiri, who is still a menace for the Swiss national team despite plying his trade in the MLS. 

The 32-year-old has scored (nine) or set up (four) 46% of Switzerland's 28 final-tournament goals since the 2014 World Cup. He is the only Swiss player to have netted twice for his nation this calendar year. 

Injury news

Both teams have no major injury concerns ahead of this game. However, Switzerland's Steven Zuber picked up a knock to his calf in the friendly draw with Austria and could only participate in an individual training session on Wednesday, making him doubtful about Saturday's contest.

How the teams could line up

Hungary's Marco Rossi is expected to deploy this favoured 3-4-2-1 formation with the experienced Peter Gulacsi starting in goal, behind his RB Leipzig team-mate Willi Orban, who will partner Attila Szalai and Adam Lang in defence.

Switzerland will most likely use the same back-three system, with Yann Sommer starting in goal and protected by Manuel Akanji, Fabian Schar, and Ricardo Rodríguez.

Hungary (predicted lineup): Péter Gulácsi; Ádám Lang, Willi Orbán, Attila Szalai; Bendegúz Bolla, Ádám Nagy, András Schäfer, Milos Kerkez; Roland Sallai, Dominik Szoboszlai; Barnabás Varga.

Switzerland (predicted lineup): Yann Sommer; Fabian Schar, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez; Silvan Widmer, Remo Freuler, Granit Xhaka, Dan Ndoye; Xherdan Shaqiri, Rubén Vargas; Zeki Amdouni.

Getting a ticket

Fans who do not want to miss this game will get Hungary vs Switzerland tickets on Seatsnet, starting from €199.