Austria caught a lot of people’s attention during Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. The Austrians dominated their group, winning all but one of their 10 games. Now, they’ll have a golden opportunity to kick off their Euro 2016 tournament with a win when they face Group F’s weakest team, Hungary.
Get a complete breakdown of this Euro 2016 matchup below. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check out preview of Group F’s other matchup, Portugal vs. Iceland.
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Austria had an unexpectedly excellent Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. They finished with a sparkling 9-1-0 record and finished as just one of four countries to go undefeated. Because of that performance, they have been tipped as potential sleepers for the tournament.
However, the Austrians’ more recent performances this year have been less impressive. They have won two and lost two of their last four games, with the defeats coming against their two stiffest opponents – Turkey (1-2) and the Netherlands (0-2).
Nevertheless, Austria should have a significant edge in terms of talent against Hungary. Bayern Munich’s David Alaba is their star man in midfield, and he’ll set the tone for a side that should be able to play its brand of positive, attacking football against Hungary.
The Austrians don’t have the top-line attacking talent that other tournament contenders have, but their options should still be superior to the Hungarians’. Marc Janko led the team with seven goals during qualifying, while Marko Arnautovic is inconsistent but capable of producing sublime moments of brilliance.
Austria’s defense is also very solid, and conceded just five goals in qualifying. Captain and starting left-back Christian Fuchs will was an integral part of Leicester City’s miracle run to the English Premier League title, and he’ll be more than up to the challenge of keeping in check Hungary’s biggest danger man, Balazs Dzsudzsak, out on the wing.
No one is expecting much out of Hungary in Euro 2016. The Hungarians finished with just four wins in qualifying – tied for the fewest for any team in the tournament – and are one of, if not the weakest team out of the expanded field of 24.
Meanwhile, they haven’t won since their qualifying playoff win over Norway last November as they drew twice (to Croatia and the Ivory Coast) and lost their final warm-up game 2-0 to Germany.
40-year-old goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly is likely to become the oldest player ever to play at the Euros. That’s just about the most noteworthy thing about their squad, which features no recognizable names playing for big leagues around Europe. Hardly encouraging stuff.
The team will rely on most (if not all) of their attacking threat on captain Balazs Dzsudzsak, especially with Krisztian Nemeth a doubt to start. Dzsudzsak created 24 chances for Hungary during qualifying, 16 more than any other Hungarian player. But despite his best efforts, Hungary still scored just 13 goals in 12 games.
Hungary’s defense could be even more crucial though, as the Austrians will likely enjoy majority of the possession. But with Austria’s lack of truly outstanding cutting edge in attack, the Magyars stand a decent chance of keeping their opponents from breaking through.
Writer’s Prediction
Austria (-160) dominates much of the action, and eventually finds a way through for a narrow 1-0 win.
