Recent Times
With the appointment of Erwin Koeman the Hungarians had high hopes for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. However, a good start turned to a moderate finish with Hungary ending up fourth in Group 1, holding close with 16 points to Sweden's 18, Portugal's 19 and Denmark's 21. Albania finished fifth with a deep gap of 9 points, gaining 7, while Malta harvested one. This qualifying run saw them three points away from making it into the world cup, and the closest they have been since the 1986 world cup in Mexico. This positive result gave the Hungarians more hope to qualify for UEFA Euro 2012 and more importantly the 2014 FIFA World Cup, however, following two disappointing season-end defeats to World Cup participants Germany and Netherlands, Erwin Koeman got dismissed as the head coach. 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup bronze medal winner Sándor Egervári replaced Koeman to coach the senior Hungarian squad at the UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers. Again, Hungary were in a tight race against the Swedes right up until the last match, however the Hungarians were eliminated following their nil draw with Finland and with the Swedes defeating the Netherlands 3-2. Despite not qualifying for the 2012 UEFA Euro, the Hungarian team is currently enjoying a competitive resurgence at the world stage, as they have earned their highest ever FIFA ranking in September 2011, listing at 27 overall. With their best team in recent history, the Hungarians have positive expectations to compete with the Netherlands, Turkey and Romania in Group D of the 2014 FIFA World Cup preliminary draw.
Read more about this topic: Hungary National Football Team
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