Hungary 0-3 Portugal: Reigning champions off to a winning start in Budapest

Current holders Portugal opened up their title defence with an impressive victory against Hungary in front of a partisan crowd at the Puskas Stadium.

Hungary battled hard in Budapest, backed by a boisterous home crowd with well over sixty thousand in attendance in the Hungarian capital, but were ultimately defeated by the defending champions who sent out a statement to their rivals.

Despite their home advantage, Hungary were instantly on the backfoot against Portugal, who came close to taking the lead within the first five minutes when Liverpool winger Diogo Jota unleashed a venomous strike which was well-saved by Peter Gulácsi. This would prove to be an early indicator of the balance of the game.

A Seleção would continue to control the game but were thwarted on numerous occasions by a gritty Hungarian side, who limited Portugal from any openings of real significance for a large spell of the first half.

Hungary would have to weather a storm throughout the first half and were limited to just one shot, a header from Ádám Szalai which proved to be nothing more than catching practise for an otherwise inactive Rui Patricio in the Portuguese goals.

But the best chance of the half for Portugal would fall to their main man, Cristiano Ronaldo, an uncharacteristic miss from the captain who blazed his close-range effort over the bar.

Ultimately both sides would go into the halftime break level, a disappointing first 45 minutes from Portugal who squandered numerous chances to break the deadlock.

Hungary had a much more positive start to the second half of proceedings in Budapest and had a chance to take the lead when Roland Sallai fired a testing strike which was saved strongly by Rui Patricio.

Portugal retook control of the game shortly after however and Bruno Fernandes was the next to come close, his long-range strike producing a stunning save from Peter Gulácsi who was once again called into action.

But for all their dominance Portugal were nearly punished against the run of play when Szabolcs Schon scored a wonderful goal that sent the home crowd into raptures, their joy short-lived however as the offside flag went up.

With time running out Portugal finally made the breakthrough and silenced the partisan crowd, Raphaël Guerreiro’s deflected strike breaking the deadlock. It was a cruel moment for Hungary who were six minutes of securing a hard-fought draw.

There was still time for Ronaldo to get amongst the goals as well. After William Orban fouled Andre Silva in the area, the Portuguese Captain cooly slotted a penalty past Peter Gulácsi to become the all-time top scorer in the history of the competition.

Ronaldo then added a second in stoppage time after delightfully rounding a now suffering Gulácsi, before firing into the net.

Ronaldo makes history as Portugal leave it late

Hungary had fought so hard and you could argue they deserved a point from the game for all their effort in front of a wonderful home crowd, but they tired towards the end and the floodgates opened.

This finally gave Portugal the opportunity to pounce and Cristiano Ronaldo was the man who took full advantage scoring two of the three goals and breaking yet another record, this one cementing himself as the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the tournament.

It’s a testament to Ronaldo’s character that he got two late goals after a poor display up until that point, but his persistence was rewarded. His brace takes him to 106 international goals in his illustrious career.

Fernando Santos’ men now turn their attention to their second group game, a trip to Munich to face Germany. Hungary meanwhile take on World Champions France in Budapest.

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