The Hungarian national team moved up one place to 40th in the latest FIFA world ranking, overtaking Tunisia. There has been no change in the order of the top teams, with European champions Spain followed by Argentina, France and England.
Hungary’s national football team ended a year full of challenges and painful results. This year started with their elimination from Division A of the Nations League, but 2025 was more about the World Cup qualifying series. They performed well throughout the World Cup qualifiers, but were extremely unlucky to eventually lose to Ireland and finish third in their group. As a result, Hungary missed out on the play-offs and failed to qualify for the World Cup for the tenth time in a row.
Eurosport‘s year-end review review describes this season as the Hungarian national team’s poorest year under Marco Rossi.
The national team played ten matches in 2025, with three wins, two draws, and five losses.
The most recent match was the most painful as they lost 3-2 to Ireland in the World Cup qualifier held at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, with a last-minute goal, finishing third in their group and failing to qualify for the play-offs.
The Italian coach, who also has Hungarian citizenship, took over the national team in the fall of 2018, and his best year was 2023, when the team finished undefeated. Under Marco Rossi’s leadership, the national team has only once suffered more defeats than it has now—back in 2019—although in that year it also recorded four victories alongside the six losses.
The Hungarian national football team has six Nations League and four preparatory matches ahead of it in 2026.
According to the FIFA calendar, the year will begin at the end of March, between the 23rd and 31st, when the national team will play two preparatory matches. The opponents are not yet known.
The next international break will be between June 1 and 9, immediately before the 2026 World Cup, when the Hungarian team will have the opportunity to play two more warm-up matches, again against opponents yet to be named.
The 2026-27 Nations League series will begin in September. After being eliminated by Türkiye in the Division A qualifiers in March this year, Marco Rossi’s team will start the next competition in Division B. Dominik Szoboszlai and his teammates will play four matches in the first round between September 23 and October 5, and two matches in the second round between November 11 and 16.
The Nations League draw will be held on February 12. The Hungarian national team will face opponents from Pot 1, meaning that they will definitely not be playing Scotland, Poland, or Israel.
However, they could face
- Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, or Ukraine from Pot 2,
- Slovenia, Georgia, Ireland, or Romania from Pot 3,
- and Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, or Kosovo from Pot 4.
The group winners will automatically be promoted to Division A, the fourth-placed teams will be relegated to Division C, while the runners-up will play a play-off against the third-placed teams in Division A for promotion. Third-place finishers in Division B will play second-place teams from Division C in a relegation playoff. The qualifiers will take place between March 25 and 30, 2027.
Latest FIFA men’s world ranking (previous position in parentheses):
1. (1.) Spain 1877.18 points
2. (2.) Argentina 1873.33
3. (3.) France 1870
4. (4.) England 1834.12
5. (5.) Brazil 1760.46
6. (6.) Portugal 1760.38
7. (7.) Netherlands 1756.27
8. (8.) Belgium 1730.71
9. (9.) Germany 1724.15
10. (10.) Croatia 1716.88
…40. (41.) Hungary 1496.29
Via MTI, Eurosport; Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
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