The Hungary Cinderella story continues. The Magyars have defied the odds to reach the last 16 of Euro 2016. However, it’ll take a Herculean effort for the Hungarians to get past a very talented Belgium team which is finally beginning to tap into its incredible potential.
Read on below for more on this Euro 2016 round of 16 matchup. And for more of Sunday’s Euro action, check out our previews of Germany vs. Slovakia and France vs. Ireland.
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Hungary is playing with house money at this point. The Magyars were widely expected to be one of the worst teams in the tournament. Instead, they topped their group with an unbeaten record after defeating Austria (2-0), and drawing with both Iceland (1-1) and Portugal (3-3).
They were rather fortunate with the manner in which they scored all three of their goals against Portugal. Zoltan Gera’s goal was an absolute wonder strike, captain Balazs Dzsudzsak’s first goal was a deflected free kick, and his second strike was also deflected multiple times. In short, they should not expect to be so lucky again.
However, credit must still go to them for playing with the confidence to even attempt such strikes. With the pressure on them virtually nonexistent, the Magyars should play with much of the same fearlessness against Belgium.
Everyone and their mom seems to know that the Belgians are weak at full-back, so Dzsudzsak will have a good chance of wreaking havoc on the wings. Meanwhile, highly-rated 21-year-old midfielder Adam Nagy will be rested and ready to do battle in the crucial midfield zone.
After turning in a stinker in the group opener against Italy, Belgium has looked more like the title contender many expected at the start of the tournament over the past couple of gmaes.
Manager Marc Wilmots’ moves to start Yannick Ferreira Carrasco on the wing and put Kevin De Bruyne central have given his side a lot more balance on offense. In turn, they put up a very impressive performance against Ireland (3-0), as well as a confident display against Sweden (1-0).
Belgium has Hungary beat in terms of talent, almost to a man. There’s just too much attacking talent for this Belgian team to not score goals against a clearly inferior opponent. De Bruyne and Eden Hazard are finding their form at the right time, and when both are playing well, this team is very hard to stop.
The one big question mark on this Belgium team is on defense, but Thomas Meunier has been surprisingly solid since taking over at right-back. The double pivot of Axel Witsel and Radja Nainggolan (or Mousa Dembele) also offers adequate protection for the back four from midfield. Those two should be favored to win its battle against Hungary’s midfield duo, which is composed of an aging 37-year-old (Gera) and an inexperienced 21-year-old (Nagy).
Writer’s Prediction
Belgium (-184) ends Hungary’s fairy tale run with a 2-1 win.
