Last-minute winner! Szoboszlai becomes a star as Hungary keeps its hopes alive

In the early hours of June 24th, the third round of Group A of the European Championship officially began. As Germany and Switzerland battled for the top spot in the group, Hungary also went head-to-head with Scotland to fight for third place in the group, keeping a glimmer of hope for qualification.

In the previous two rounds, Hungary lost 1-2 to Switzerland, then 0-2 to hosts Germany, finishing bottom of the table with zero points. Scotland wasn’t much better. They were hammered 1-5 by Germany in the opening game and drew 1-1 with Switzerland in the second round, also only getting 1 point. While the European Championship has been expanded, the four best third-placed teams in the group can still qualify for the round of 16. In the past two tournaments, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal has qualified as a third-placed team, and even went on to win the tournament in 2016.

But Scotland only has 1 point in two games, and if they finish with that score, they’ll be out of the running. Hungary has not earned a point in the first two games, so both teams must win; a draw would have no value or practical meaning.

Both teams have a number of top players, Hungary has Szoboszlai, while Scotland has McTominay, Robertson, McGinn, and Che Adams, among a group of Premier League players. But looking at the game, both sides had ideas but were unable to execute them, and the game was quite dull.

In the 69th minute, there was a worrying moment when Hungarian striker Varga, while trying to get in front of the ball, was punched in the face by the Scottish goalkeeper, falling to the ground unconscious and having to be taken off on a stretcher.

In the 92nd minute, Hungary came close to breaking the deadlock. Szoboszlai passed the ball forward during a counter-attack. Substitute Szoboszlai followed in on the right and took a shot from a tight angle towards the far post. Gunn couldn’t get to it, but the ball hit the post and bounced out.

In the 97th minute, Hanley had a chance to win the game, but his shot from close range was miraculously saved by Gulácsi, and the game was heading for a 0-0 draw, which would have seen both teams eliminated.

However, in the 100th minute, something magical happened. Scotland’s attack was broken down and Hungary launched a flowing counter-attack. Szoboszlai passed the ball to the right. Roland Sallai ran forward on the right and cut the ball back, and Szoboszlai, who arrived in the nick of time, calmly slotted the ball into the far corner, scoring a last-gasp winner for Hungary.

With his goal, Hungary, in dramatic fashion, snatched the three points, overtaking their opponents and moving up to third in the group, giving them a glimmer of hope for qualification. Scotland finished bottom with 1 point and were eliminated from the European Championship.

In the first round of the group stage, Turkey beat Georgia 3-1. In that game, Mamardashvili came out of his goal to join the attack and Aktiürkoğlu scored in the 97th minute, creating the latest goal in the European Championship. Now Szoboszlai has scored a winning goal in the 100th minute of extra time, undoubtedly breaking the record.

The 24-year-old Szoboszlai plays for Hungarian club Ferencváros. Before tonight, he was practically unknown, but tonight he wrote himself into the history of the European Championship with his goal, giving Hungary, the world’s 27th-ranked team, a chance to qualify. After the goal, Jobert immediately held up Varga’s shirt, praying for his injured teammate.