Working out exactly how many times Hungary have played Ireland is not a straightforward exercise. Fifa refuses to recognise Ireland’s pre-Euro 2012 friendly in Budapest as an official international because of the use of a non-approved assistant referee. Luckily, they did permit caps to be awarded, enabling Damien Duff to retain his membership of Ireland’s elite centurion club having retired on 100 caps.
Even more confusing is the situation involving David O’Leary’s testimonial in May, 1993, when a ‘Republic of Ireland XI’ played Hungary in a match that the FAI did not consider a full international, but the visitors did. A Roy Keane goal after 10 seconds put Ireland ahead before Hungary recovered from 2-0 down to win 4-2.
The highlight of the afternoon came when the announcement of the visiting manager’s name sparked a spontaneous standing ovation from the Lansdowne Road crowd. The manager was Ferenc Puskás, captain of the Mighty Magyars who, in 1953, famously beat England 6-3 at Wembley.
Puskás scored twice in that Match of the Century. His drag-back for his first goal confused Billy Wright so much that the England captain was described as defending “like a fire engine heading to the wrong fire”.
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After the match, Hungary were credited with being the first foreign team to defeat England at home. This came as a surprise to Ireland, who had enjoyed a 2-0 win at Goodison Park in 1949.
Puskás’ victory in Dublin would be the sole highlight of his short reign as Hungary manager, with his three other games ending in defeat.
Every year, the Fifa Puskás Award is given to the scorer of the goal of the year. Stephanie Roche was shortlisted for the accolade in 2014.
Ireland will conclude their World Cup qualifying campaign with the return trip to Budapest in November, the match being played at the 67,000-capacity Puskás Arena which will also host the 2026 Champions League final.
But Hungary’s relationship with Ireland extends decades further as they were our most frequent pre-second World War opponents, playing us five times. Among them was a visit to the Mardyke in Cork, in 1939, when Ireland first hosted a fixture outside Dublin. A capacity crowd in Cork watched an entertaining 2-2 draw unaware that it would be Ireland’s last home game for seven years.
The most successful Hungarian club are Ferencvaros, who played Shamrock Rovers in European competition in both 2022 and 2023. The Hungarian side progressed comfortably on both occasions, although the Hoops did secure a 1-0 second-leg home win in 2022.
Watching those matches at Tallaght Stadium, nobody knew the visitors would appoint an Irishman as manager in the relatively near future. In January 2025, the Budapest club appointed Robbie Keane to the role. Within months, Keane led Ferencvaros to their seventh successive league title and nearly secured a double, losing the Hungarian Cup final to Paks following a penalty shoot-out.
Six of Keane’s Ferencvaros players are in the Hungary squad to face Ireland in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier, including teenager Alex Toth. Two compatriots working alongside Keane at Ferencvaros are midfielder Callum O’Dowda and assistant manager Rory Delap.
Only a handful have made the reverse journey. UCD briefly fielded a quartet of Hungarian players in 1989, but the most successful Hungarian import was Krisztián Adorján, who won a Premier Division title with Dundalk in 2018.
Encouragingly, Ireland remain unbeaten in their last six meetings with Hungary, the most recent coming at the Aviva Stadium in June, 2024, when an injury-time goal by Troy Parrott secured a 2-1 victory for interim manager John O’Shea.
Testimonials aside, Hungary haven’t beaten Ireland since a 4-0 victory in Budapest in November 1969, when John Dempsey became the first Irish player to be sent off in a senior international.
There is encouraging recent evidence to indicate this form may continue in the years ahead. Ireland’s under-21s won 3-1 when the sides met in March, with 17-year-old Mason Melia opening the scoring to become the youngest player to score for Ireland at that level.
