There were two Liverpool players in action for Hungary on Tuesday as they came from behind to defeat Kazakhstan 3-1.
The Magyars agonisingly missed out on World Cup qualification last November and will now be targeting a fourth successive European Championship appearance in 2028, by which stage there could be a distinct LFC flavour to their starting XI.
National team captain Dominik Szoboszlai netted their equaliser seven minutes into the second half and also claimed the assist for Andras Schafer’s goal to put the Hungarians in front, with the Reds midfielder taking his international tally to 18 goals in 65 caps.
In the 62nd minute in Debrecen, Liverpool’s number 8 was joined on the pitch by clubmate Armin Pecsi for a senior Hungary debut, being capped by his country before making an official first-team appearance for his current club.
The 21-year-old safely came through that landmark outing without having a save to make as his teammates got the business done at the other end of the pitch, with journalist Bence Bocsak proudly proclaiming on X that there’s a ‘big season coming’ for the ‘brilliant’ young goalkeeper.
As LFC academy reporter Lewis Bower highlighted on X, he’s the fourth Reds player to make his senior international debut, following on from Rio Ngumoha (England), Keyrol Figueroa (Honduras) and Kieran Morrison (Northern Ireland).
Hungary’s win over Kazakhstan also featured a bizarre and potentially dangerous moment when, as captured in footage shared by Polymarket Sports, a mounted camera became detached and fell from a height before crashing onto the pitch. Thankfully, there was nobody in the vicinity of it at the time.
🚨JUST IN: A camera fell onto the pitch during the Hungary vs. Kazakhstan match pic.twitter.com/wTp3Efdq0m
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) June 9, 2026
Szoboszlai’s agony at missing out on this year’s World Cup was evident after Hungary’s fateful defeat to Republic of Ireland seven months ago, and he’ll be all the more determined to ensure that his nation are involved at Euro 2028.
The Magyars captain was Liverpool’s standout player during an abysmal 2025/26 season for the Reds, and hopefully he can reach an even higher level again under Andoni Iraola from August onwards.
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Meanwhile, it was a proud evening for Pecsi, who may well get a chance to impress his new club boss in pre-season and potentially make an official Reds debut in one of the domestic cups over the next few months.
His big moment looked like it would come when Freddie Woodman went down injured in the win over Crystal Palace in April, when we were already without the stricken Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili, but the Englishman managed to play on that day.
Congratulations to the youngster on making his Hungary debut, the first of what’ll hopefully be many caps for him!
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