The defending champions will start their campaign by traveling to Hungary for a Group F encounter on Tuesday.

Preview

Portugal will begin their Euro 2020 campaign by taking on Hungary in a must-win Group F encounter on Tuesday. The Selecao will be out to defend their crown after securing the last one on offer under extraordinary circumstances in 2016. Coincidently, Fernando Santos' side find themselves occupying the same group as France - the team they beat 1-0 in the final to win the tournament the last time out. Germany completes the quartet in the Group of Death and will be involved in a separate action with the aforementioned side.

Considering the pedigree of the countries involved, Portgual will aim to do everything within their power to secure the all-important three points. Not too long ago, they fought a good battle to clinch the UEFA Nations League title at the expense of the Netherlands. Indeed, not much has changed since that period, with the generation of stars used to pull of the feat still being at the disposal of head coach Fernando Santos.

They bring into Tuesday's game a six-game unbeaten run across all competitions. In that, they picked up a win and a draw apiece in their preparatory matches against Isreal and Spain respectively. in the grand scheme of things, fans of Portugal may not have to bother much considering their past results at the finals. They have a strong overall record in the competition, reaching the semi-finals in 1984, 2000 and 2012, and finishing as runners-up on home social at Euro 2004. In addition, they were present in the quarter-finals of Euro 1996 and Euro 2008.

While the significance of a win cannot be understated, Portugal should be inspired by the fact that they hold a superior head-to-head record over Hungary. In the four meetings between the pair in the past 12 years, the Selecao have secired three wins and a draw. While they may have won the most recent encounter by a goal to nil, Fernando Santos' men were put through their paces when the two teams locked horns in the 2016 edition held in France. The clash ended 3-3, eventually aiding Hungary to top their group under extraordinary circunstances.  

Ahead of their opening Euro 2020 fixture, Marco Rossi's side remain unbeaten in their previous 11 matches in all competitions. This includes their solid 1-0 win over Cyprus earlier this month and a goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland. On paper, it looks almost impossible that Hungary will be able to get the better of Portugal and potentially qualify for the knockout stage. However, the fact that they managed to finish above the defending champions during the group stage of the last edition leaves room for optimism.

Team news

Hungary will go into the game without the services of posterboy Dominik Szoboszlai as a result of an injury. Also, Zsolt Kalmar has been ruled out of contention for the same reason. Meanwhile, Roland Sallai is expected to be up for selection after being absent due to a slight issue in recent weeks.

For Portugal, Joao Cancelo was forced to withdraw from the squad after testing positive for coronavirus. He has been replaced by Manchester United's Diogo Dalot.

Predicted starting XI

Hungary: Gulacsi; Fiola, Orban, Attila Szalai; Lovrencsics, Kleinheisler, Nagy, Schafer, Holender; Sallai, Adam Szalai

Portugal: PatrIcio; Semedo, Dias, Pepe, Guerreiro; Danilo, W Carvalho, Fernandes; Bernardo, Ronaldo, Jota.

Broadcast information

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Hungary 0 - 3 Portugal

June 15, 2021 12:00pmPuskás Aréna (Budapest)

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

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