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Germany has momentum and, on current evidence, the edge of the old dead eyes. This was not the effervescent evening football produced against Scotland but it was more than enough to impress the lively crowd, who at the end felt they could begin to believe. Goals midway through each half saw a Hungarian side play well but miss chances at key moments, particularly when Barnabas Varga missed a glorious opportunity to equalise.
Jamal Musiala, born here in Stuttgart, continued his dazzling form with the first and quality told again when the influential Ilkay Gundogan finished things off. Hungary were presented as dark horses for a long time Euro 2024 but their prospects for further involvement now hang in the balance.
It was another bright spectacle of a tournament that presented a gorgeous summer collage to the stands. Almost no one in the arena had arrived without national insignia, and there was added pleasure in the fact that despite the presence of some 20,000 Hungary supporters meant the case was considered high risk by the police, no significant flashpoints were reported in the build-up.
Germany added to the palate, giving their pink second ribbon a tournament debut. It took them 10 minutes to work their way into what quickly turned into another pulsating, incident-filled half of football, but Musiala’s goal was marked. Some of the home side’s play around the box came close to paying off and when Musiala collected the ball from Florian Wirtz before slipping it into the path of Gundogan, they managed a stick.
There was still an element of luck, the pass bounced off Gundogan’s thigh as he tried to tame it and appeared to allow Willy Orban to take control. The centre-back tripped as he tried to head the ball to the line, requiring a shot from Gundogan, but he appeared to have leaned towards his opponent and certainly should have been stronger. Several of Hungary’s players were definitely wrong to stop with their hands up as the Barcelona midfielder took control of things and from the left side of the six-yard box leveled Musiala for a second penalty shootout in as many games.
Marco Rossi claimed a point would have been more than satisfactory for Hungary, possibly fancying their chances against Scotland on Sunday, but they almost caught Germany before falling behind. Manuel Neuer had to be clever at the foot of Roland Salah within 16 seconds of the opening; he was then grateful that Bendeguz Bola’s shot, fiercely taken from a corner, was deflected.
Peter Gulacci saved from point-blank range from Kai Havertz, who perhaps heralded the opener by slotting past Orban as Germany were waking up. But they didn’t get away with going ahead and Neuer, brilliantly pushing away Dominik Soboslay’s free-kick before denying Varga from the rebound, was quickly to erase his 38 years. Soon after, Jonathan Tach blocked another goal-bound Soboslay shot and Hungary, despite not having the ball for long periods, looked dangerous every time they attacked.
They briefly thought they had leveled before half-time when Neuer saved from Orban and Salah converted the loose ball, only for a flag to be raised. Germany’s main hope for a second came through the electrifying Musiala, whose deflected shot into the side-netting sent much of the stadium into mistaken celebration.
Germany was at war, but that was inevitable. Hungary had a win and two draws from three recent meetings, however Rossi may have dimmed their prospects. Gulaci kept the tension high when he cleared Gundogan’s cross and then cleared Toni Kroos’s follow-up shot out of trouble. As the hour approached, the hosts had done a better job of restricting Hungary’s access to dangerous spaces, Tah receiving a standing ovation for a thunderous but fair tackle on Szoboszlai.
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Almost immediately, Tah got back to Salaj’s cross from the left and was grateful that Varga, after being awarded a free header, missed Hungary’s best chance of the night off target. How costly his deflection proved: Germany were crucial finalists in the opening week and seven minutes later Gundogan was on hand to underline it.
It came at the end of a passing move which Kroos, once again so influential, sped up at a first-time clip to Musiala. With eyes in the back of his head, the Bayern Munich striker found left-back Maximilian Mittelstedt in space and the resulting cut-back was swept home by an unmarked Gundogan. It was a sweet moment for Mittelstädt, who play their club football here.
The race was won. Gulacci kept the scoreline with a save from Leroy Sane and Julian Nagelsmann played on the fringes late on, introducing two more Stuttgart players in Chris Furich and Brighton loanee Denis Undav. A late goal-line clearance from Joshua Kimmich spoke volumes for Germany’s determination to finish the job.
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