National Team’s Nations League Match to Pave the Way for World Cup Qualifiers

The 2024-2025 edition of the UEFA Nations League kicked off on Thursday, with the Hungarian national football team set to take on the best of Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands in the elite competition, Index pointed out.

Marco Rossi has been preparing for the new challenges ahead with a new squad update.

The Hungarian team will first take on Germany in Düsseldorf on Saturday at 8.45 p.m., before hosting Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Puskás Arena on Tuesday at the same time.

Our team was placed in Group 3 alongside the Netherlands, UEFA Euro 2024 runners-up Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Merkur Spiel-Arena. The Düsseldorf stadium during the UEFA Euro 2024. Photo: Wikipedia/Vincenzo.togni

League A groups

Group 1: Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Scotland
Group 2: Italy, Belgium, France, Israel
Group 3: Netherlands, HUNGARY, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group 4: Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Serbia

Now, a new knockout stage has been added to the tournament (linking the group stage and the final four in March 2025), and all the group participants will immediately be interested in all the meetings. The top two finishers will advance to the quarter-finals, where a two-legged tie will decide the final four.

The group runners-up in League A and League B will be automatically eliminated, but even the third-placed teams will not be safe:

The third-placed teams in League A and the second-placed teams in League B will go through to the play-offs, where the winner of the two-legged tie will progress to the elite.

In other words: more chances for the Hungarian national team to fight for the top spot, but also more chances to be eliminated.

Round 1 (September 7)

8.45 p.m.: Germany-Hungary (Düsseldorf)
8.45 p.m.: Netherlands-Bosnia and Herzegovina

Round 2 (September 10)

8.45 p.m.: Hungary-Bosnia and Herzegovina
8.45 p.m.: Netherlands-Germany

Round 3 (October 11)

8.45 p.m.: Hungary-Netherlands
8.45 p.m.: Bosnia-Herzegovina-Germany

Round 4 (October 14)

8.45 p.m.: Bosnia and Herzegovina-Hungary (Zenica)
8.45 p.m.: Germany-Netherlands

Round 5 (November 16)

8.45 p.m.: Netherlands-Hungary (Amsterdam)
8.45 p.m.: Germany-Bosnia and Herzegovina

Round 6 (November 19)

8.45 p.m.: Hungary-Germany
8.45 p.m.: Bosnia and Herzegovina-Netherlands

Photo via Facebook/MLSZ – Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség

Hungary’s opponents are the UEFA Euro 2024 semi-finalists Netherlands (7th) and Germany (13th), who lost to Spain, meaning that two truly top teams await the Hungarian side, who are 31st in the table and could realistically be third in their group, ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina (75th).

The bookmakers have a broadly similar view, with the change that they expect the Germans, who have been great this year following the 2023 rearrangement, to finish first, the Dutch second, our team third and the Bosnians fourth.

“At this level, in the A league, it is impossible to have weaker opponents, only strong rivals await us in the autumn. The Netherlands and Germany are the better teams on paper, while against the Bosnians we can expect an even playing field. However, paper does not always prove true on the pitch, and every match can produce surprises – both pleasant and unpleasant for us. It will be interesting to test ourselves against the Germans again, and our clashes against the Dutch will be exciting,” emphasized Marco Rossi after the February draw.