Germany 2-0 Hungary: Hosts through to knockouts with comfortable win

Hosts Germany became the first team to reach the knockout stages of UEFA EURO 2024 as goals from Jamal Musiala and İlkay Gündoğan made it two Group A wins out of two at the expense of Hungary in Stuttgart.

Match in brief: Germany quality shines through

Jamal Musiala (right) scored his second goal of the tournament to get the ball rollingGetty Images

Germany found it a more difficult evening than their 5-1 victory over Scotland in Matchday 1, but Julian Nagelsmann's side had enough about them to get the three points, which ensured they would at least finish as a best third-place team in the group stage.

After an even opening, Musiala became the first player to score more than once at this EURO, adding to his strike against Scotland last week by blasting in from close range to give the hosts the lead.

Manuel Neuer, making his 17th EURO appearance to go level with Gianluigi Buffon's goalkeeping record, was called into action on 26 minutes as he dived to his right to brilliantly save a curling Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick.

Toni Kroos came close to doubling Germany's lead ten minutes into the second half but his deflected effort was clawed away by Péter Gulácsi, before Barnabás Varga headed narrowly over for Hungary.

The game was effectively settled when Maximilian Mittelstädt's low cross was beautifully stroked into the net by Gündoğan to make sure of Germany's place in the last 16.

Vivo Player of the Match: İlkay Gündoğan (Germany)

An assist for the first goal and scored the second himself. Clever and consistent. It was difficult against the low block, and he had to keep his confidence but got his rewards.
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Phil Röber, Germany reporter

The mini spell has been broken, with Germany beating Hungary for the first time in four matches. They were strongest in the 15 minutes before half-time and had the most problems in the first 20 minutes after the break. Those fluctuations in momentum always happen during a tournament, but they did well against disciplined opponents and their mission to remain flawless during the group stage is well on track after they remained positive and aggressive despite going 2-0 up.

Hungary have now lost both their Group A gamesGetty Images

Andy Clark, Hungary reporter

Marco Rossi's side can hold their heads up high after today, but for all their resilience and tenacity, they just lacked that little bit of quality in front of goal. Rossi talked about a point being the minimum they could take from this game if they harbour hopes of progression. Scotland are still to come, and Hungary will be confident of getting a result on Sunday should they play like this, but qualification is now likely to be out of their hands.

Reaction

Julian Nagelsmann, Germany coach: "That was a very difficult opponent. In November we wouldn't have won this game. Today the team didn't always shine, but you have to work on a game like that sometimes. The expectation in the stadium and in the dressing room was three points, and we got them. It was also a good defensive performance, from the goalkeeper and the whole team. Everyone gave their all, they pushed each other so that we didn't concede a goal."

İlkay Gündoğan, Germany midfielder: "It feels like we're getting better and better. But while things are getting better, you always have to overcome difficulties, and this game today showed that. That's just how a tournament is: you have to survive dangerous situations and then you have to strike when the chance arises. With regard to my own performance, I always want to remain patient and do my job as well as possible."

Marco Rossi, Hungary coach: "We've worked on tactics and mentality, my lads responded pretty well and I'm proud of their performance. I said a while ago that losing against Germany can happen. They have world-class players. Our approach could have worked, but they have quality all over the pitch. That is part of the game, we created a fair number of chances, but we were unlucky in some moments. All throughout the match we were unlucky. The most important thing to do in the last match (vs Scotland) is to show on the pitch what our fans are always asking from us – they know our level."

Dominik Szoboszlai, Hungary midfielder: "The result was not what we imagined. I think the attitude was fine, the amount of running was fine, we had the chances, we defended as well as we could, but many people forget that we played against the German national team, who are of a very high quality. The team stood up for themselves, but it wasn't enough today."

Key stats

• Germany have lost only one of their last 12 EURO group stage matches (W9 D2).
• Nagelsmann's team kept a clean sheet for the first time in eight EURO matches.
• Germany's total of seven goals scored in the group stage so far means they have already beaten their highest tally in a EURO group, the six at EURO 2020, with a game to spare.
• Manuel Neuer made his 17th EURO appearance, and will go level with Bastian Schweinsteiger on Germany's all-time record of 18 should he play against Switzerland.
• Hungary are without a win in eight EURO matches (D4 L4), since a 2-0 victory against Austria in their opening fixture of EURO 2016.
• Rossi's side have kept only one clean sheet in 13 EURO matches, that 2-0 victory against Austria in 2016.
• None of Hungary's 13 EURO matches have ended goalless.
• Ádám Nagy made his eighth EURO appearance and now has the most all-time appearances in the tournament for Hungary, beating Ádám Szalai's record.

Line-ups

Germany: Neuer; Kimmich, Rüdiger, Tah, Mittelstädt; Andrich (Can 72), Kroos; Musiala (Führich 72), Gündoğan (Undav 84), Wirtz (Sané 58); Havertz (Füllkrug 58)

Hungary: Gulácsi; Fiola, Orbán, Dárdai; Bolla (Ádám 75), Ádám Nagy (Kleinheisler 64), Schäfer, Kerkez (Nagy 75); Sallai (Csoboth 87), Szoboszlai, Varga (Gazdag 87)