Northern Ireland will face Hungary in an international challenge match in March, it was confirmed today.
Ian Baraclough’s team are set to take on the Hungarians at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park on Tuesday 29 March (kick-off 7.45pm).
The two countries last met during the qualifiers for Euro 2016. Goals from Niall McGinn and Kyle Lafferty secured a key 2-1 win in Budapest in September 2014 before Lafferty popped up with an even more important late equaliser in a 1-1 draw in Belfast a year later which paved the way for his country to qualify for the European Championship finals in France in 2016.
Like Northern Ireland, Hungary will be using the friendly in Belfast as preparation for competing in the UEFA Nations League this summer and autumn.
The Hungarians were promoted from League B in the second edition of the competition – from a group featuring Russia, Serbia and Turkey.
In League A they will face European champions Italy, England and Germany in June and September.
Hungary are definitely on the up. They put in some fine performances at Euro 2020 last summer. They drew with both France (1-1) and Germany (2-2) at the tournament.
Earlier this week it was announced that Northern Ireland will also face Luxembourg in a friendly in March. That game will be staged on Friday 25 March at the Stade de Luxembourg in Luxembourg City (kick-off time TBC).
Baraclough’s boys, who were relegated from UNL League B last time around, are the top seeds in Group 2 in League C of the 2022-23 competition.
Their UNL schedule this year is as follows: home v Greece (2 June); away to Cyprus or Estonia (5 June); away v Kosovo (9 June); home against Cyprus/Estonia (12 June); Kosovo at home (24 September); Greece away on 27 September.
The home friendly against Hungary will be included in the upcoming 2022-23 Campaign Card package. Further information on single match tickets will be made available next month.
