Hungary vs Switzerland kicks off the first full day of group games at Euro 2024 on Saturday, when football fans will be able to feast on not one, not two, but three games. Read on for our Hungary vs Switzerland predictions.
Hungary vs Switzerland prediction
For the Hungary vs Switzerland match prediction, we believe the final score will be 1-0 in favour of Hungary based on our analysis. Neither side here has a habit of conceding many goals, though it is the Hungarians who in recent times have shown more cutting edge offensively, so they could edge it.
Should we expect fireworks in this game? Probably not. Both teams took rather cautious approaches during the early rounds of their last tournaments and it would be a bit surprising if either looked to burst out of the traps here.
Our Hungary vs Switzerland predictions, with explanations following later in the article:
Hungary (0) Asian Handicap @ 13/10 with bet365
Hungary vs Switzerland betting odds
Hungary vs Switzerland head-to-head statistics
This will be the first time that the Hungarians and the Swiss have met on a football pitch since 2017, when Switzerland won by five goals to two at home in a World Cup qualifier. A few months before that, they beat Hungary by three goals to two on the road.
Since first playing back in 1938, the pair have played each other nine times before, with the Swiss winning four and the Hungarians winning two. Switzerland have won four of the last five renewals and haven’t lost to Hungary since 1981.
Hungary vs Switzerland preview
This match is due to take place on 15/06/2024 at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne at 14:00 GMT.
A force to be reckoned with in the 1930’s and 1950’s, reaching the World Cup final in both 1938 and 1954, featuring one of the best players ever to walk the planet in Ferenc Puskas, the Hungarians spent many years in the international footballing wilderness, though they’ve steadily turned things around in recent times.
Despite not featuring at the World Cup since 1986, they’ve qualified for each of the last three European Championships and are now a team that can certainly compete on the biggest international stage.
Topping their qualification group to reach Euro 2024, this Hungary team will be desperate to show the wider footballing audience what they’re made of, which is likely strong stuff given that they’ve lost just once since September 2022.
The Magyars will come into this tournament having won four of their last five games, packing their bags for Germany off the back of a convincing 3-1 win over Israel.
The Swiss, who hosted the World Cup back in 1954 when Hungary famously reached the final for a second time, will also be keen to show that they’re a tough nut to crack, though we already know a bit about that, as they’ve long been a fixture at major tournaments.
Reaching the quarter-finals at Euro 2020 and the last-16 at the World Cup in 2022, the Swiss know how to get out of a group, that’s for sure, while since their effort in Qatar, they’ve continued to frustrate opponents, losing only one out of 14 games.
Managed by Murat Yakin for the second tournament in a row, the Swiss go to the venue of their first game in Cologne off the back of going four games unbeaten, drawing with Denmark and Austria, beating Estonia and Ireland, conceding just a single goal in the process.
Hungary vs Switzerland betting tips
Ahead of Saturday’s first Euro 2024 fixture, I’ve settled on just the one betting opportunity, explained below.
Hungary (0) Asian Handicap
Before we get into it, let me just first say, or those who may not know, this ‘(0) Asian Handicap’ means that we’re betting on Hungary to win the game, but if the game ends in a draw, we get our stake back as a refund.
Right, this is likely to be a cagey affair, which is to be expected, and both teams would probably take a point if offered one beforehand.
However, if one team has shown more offensively in recent times, it’s Hungary, but more on that shortly.
Firstly, when the Hungarians last featured at a major tournament, at Euro 2020 (played in 2021), they started cautiously, holding out against Portugal until the 84th minute, while they then went on to hold France to a 1-1 draw, so we know that they can defend.
Many of the same players have grown together as a team since the Euros in 2021, so if anything, this is now a more sturdy, even better organised unit, as recent results suggest.
The Hungarians arrive at Euro 2024 having kept three clean sheets in their last four, shutting out the odd decent team such as the Turks, who will also feature at this tournament.
In Barnabas Varga, Rolland Sallai and Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai, the Magyars have the offensive quality to compliment their defensive rigidity, which is something that the Swiss might just be missing right now.
We know that the Swiss are never easy to beat, but they’ve shown little going forward in recent times, which is a worry. Sure, they beat a substandard Estonia team with relative ease in their first warm-up game, but they then struggled to create against Austria, scoring once and scoring a rather scrappy, far from well worked goal at that.
In that game against Austria, they created a rather underwhelming 0.86 expected goals, while they’ve now scored just one or less in six of their last seven, failing to score in two of their last five.
Back in November of last year, they failed to score against the Romanians in their final qualifying game, before failing to score against Denmark in a friendly three months later.
That’s just one goal scored in their last three games against teams good enough to be involved in Germany this summer, which for me, goes a long way to making them look poorly priced ahead of this fixture.
I’d say we’ve got something of a false favourite here, and though I could be wrong, quite easily, if any team comes out on top here, it’s Hungary, who look a little generously priced in the early betting.
Recap - Hungary vs Switzerland betting tips
To confirm, ahead of Saturday’s first European Championship kick-off, we’re betting on:
Hungary (0) Asian Handicap @ 13/10 with bet365
