Goals, Goals, Goals! It’s Win or Bust

It’s Portugal that have dominated Group F in this UEFA World Cup Qualifying campaign leaving Hungary and Ireland in their wake. This is a four-team group so it has left the other teams (Ireland, Armenia and Hungary) scrapping for the playoff spot. This game will likely be a winner-takes-all all scenario so both teams will likely be going all out for a win and playing attacking football to get the three points. Our prediction here is goals and lots of them, especially following the 2-2 draw they played out in Dublin earlier in the campaign. With the home advantage Hungary are the more likely winners despite not having the better recent form going into the match up. Carry on reading to get the full details about the upcoming match between Hungary vs Ireland – Prediction.

Day: Sunday 16th November
Time: 14:00
Stadium: Puskas Arena, Budapest, Hungary
Tournament: World Cup Qualifiers – Europe Group F

Both teams will approach this match with a strong need to win to keep their World Cup hopes alive. This will be the 2nd meeting between the two sides and last time out it was a tight encounter which saw Hungary take a 2 goal lead within 15 minutes and still lead by 2 at half time. Ireland fought back in the 2nd half though, with Swansea-based Adam Idah hitting a 92nd minute equaliser to leave honours even.

Hungary

Form for the two sides shows quite a contrast. Hungary have only 3 wins from their last 12 games and those being over both Bosnia and Azerbaijan. They suffered relegation from the 2024 Nations League with a heavy 6-1 aggregate loss to Turkey and a devastating late 3-2 home defeat to the group favourites Portugal in this qualifying group. They drew with Ireland and drew the return game with Portugal both ending 2-2, but managed to beat Armenia 2-0 at home. Hungary have struggled on home soil having won only one competitive match since 2023 that win over Armenia.

Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland have 5 wins and 3 draws from their last 12 games. This includes a 4-2 aggregate win over Bulgaria to avoid relegation from Nations League B and home and away wins over Finland in the same competition. The match that has really let them down however was the 2-1 loss in Yerevan to group outsiders Armenia, which has put World Cup qualifying on a knife-edge. The other results in this qualifying group have been a 2-2 draw with Hungary,  a tough 1-0 loss to Portugal and a vital 1-0 home win over Armenia. Away from home Ireland have won 2, drawn 1, and lost 3 from their last 6 games on the road.

Hungary vs Republic of Ireland – Possible lineups

In terms of line ups, Hungary have been rebuilding their squad a little bit in recent times bringing in some younger players like Gruber, Alex Toth and Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez who are all under 21. Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, also based on the red side of the Mersey, is experienced and a goal threat. It might also be worth an anytime goalscoring bet on either Roland Sallai or Barnabas Varga, who both scored in the last meeting between these two sides. All Hungary’s main players are fit and no suspensions hang over anyone.

For Ireland 20 year old Roma based striker Evan Ferguson should lead the front line and will be their best hope for goals. Also playing in attack they have Premier League man Chiedozie Ogbene and Turkish based Callum O’Dowda. Troy Parrott can be a handful off the bench as well. They will rely on 70 cap Seamus Coleman to marshall the defence. They have no immediate injuries or suspensions currently.  The team news below will help when making a Hungary vs Republic of Ireland – Prediction.

Hungary possible XI:

GK: Dibusz

DEF: Orbán, Dárdai · Nagy· Schafer

MID: Tóth.A. · Szoboszlai · Bolla ·

ATT:  Sallai · Varga · Kalmár

Ireland possible XI:

GK: Kelleher

DEF: Manning · Collins · O’Shea · Doherty

MID: Moran  · Cullen  · Browne

ATT: Ferguson · Ogbene· O’Dowda

Where to watch Hungary vs Republic of Ireland

Hungary vs Republic of Ireland will be shown on Amazon Prime TV like all the World Cup qualifiers. You will find various betting sites that will also stream qualifiers live, or offer a text commentary service. Other text commentary can be found at UEFA’s official website, as well as the official site for FIFA.

• RTVE Play
• Fubo
• Prime Video
• Betting Sites
• UEFA.tv
• FIFA.com

Prediction Hungary vs Republic of Ireland

With both sides likely needing a win to ensure a playoff spot. Picking a winner in such a tight match makes the Hungary vs Republic of Ireland prediction not easy. I think that this will make for an attacking game and neither side have shown particularly strong defence in recent games. A bet with both teams to score is definitely a good option but the odds do not really make this worthwhile so I am going for over 3.5 goals as the bet for this match with both sides easily capable of scoring at least 2 goals each.

The odds on over 3.5 goals will likely be around 2.70 to 3.20 and anything in this range or above will be a good value bet.