Finland v Hungary background

Finland will look to arrest a recent slump as they take on Hungary, who have gone four games unbeaten in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group F and have not conceded in their three most recent fixtures.

Previous meetings
• Hungary's 1-0 win against Finland back in November means that Finland's record in 15 meetings with their guests is W2 D3 L10 (W1 D1 L5 in Helsinki). In competitive fixtures alone, that record is W1 D2 L4 (W1 D1 L1 in Finland).

• Their last competitive encounters were in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying. Sándor Egervári's Hungary beat Stuart Baxter's Finland 2-1 in Helsinki on 12 October 2010, Balázs Dzsudzsák (90+4) striking after Mikael Forssell (86) had cancelled out a 50th-minute opener from Ádám Szalai. With Paatelainen in charge, Finland held Hungary to a 0-0 draw in the corresponding fixture in Budapest on 11 October 2011.

• The sides had previously met in qualifying for the 1980 final tournament. Aulis Rytkönen's Finland beat Ferenc Kovács' Hungary 2-1 in Helsinki on 20 September 1978, Atik Ismail (30) and Seppo Pyykkö (53) striking before László Tieber (74) replied for Hungary.

• Under Károly Lakat, Hungary avenged that defeat when the sides reconvened in Debrecen on 17 October 1979. Miikka Toivola (47) responded for Esko Malm's Finland after László Fekete (22, 42) had given Hungary a 2-0 lead at the break, but György Tatár (49) promptly put the seal on a 3-1 win.

• The nations' only other competitive encounters were in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying. On 1 September 1996, Ferenc Orosz's 15th-minute goal earned János Csank's Hungary a 1-0 home success, and while Antti Sumiala (63) gave Richard Møller Nielsen's side the lead in the return fixture on 11 October 1997, Vilmos Sebők (90) snatched a 1-1 draw at the death.

Form guide 
• Finland have lost their last three Group F games after taking four points from their opening two: a 3-1 defeat of the Faroe Islands and a 1-1 draw against Greece. They have yet to record a home win in Group F.

• Hungary are unbeaten in their last four Group F outings (W2 D2) and have not conceded in their most recent three matches in the section.

• Hungary have not scored more than once in a Group F game, having notched four goals in five matches so far.
 
 Trivia and links 
• Finland's Kasper Hämäläinen are team-mates of Hungary's Tamás Kádár at KKS Lech Poznań in Poland.

• In 11 UEFA age-group tournament meetings between the nations, Hungary's record is W7 D0 L4. Most recently, Hungary beat Finland 3-2 in a 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifier.

• The nations' clubs have met eight times in UEFA competition, with the Hungarian sides boasting the record W6 D1 L1. That lone defeat came in the most recent encounter, a 1-0 success for HJK Helsinki at home against MTK Budapest in the second leg of a 2003/04 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie, MTK ultimately going through 3-2 on aggregate.