Netherlands v Hungary: Under-21 EURO background, form guide, previous meetings

Co-hosts Hungary bring down the curtain on their Group A campaign – and their tournament – with a first competitive Under-21 match against the Netherlands in 36 years.

• Having lost to Germany (0-3) and Romania (1-2), conceding the decisive goal in the 87th minute in the latter match, Hungary are bottom of the section and can no longer qualify for the quarter-finals. The Netherlands have drawn 1-1 against both Romania and Germany, who equalised Justin Kluivert's 48th-minute opener six minutes from time, and are two points behind both sides.

• The Netherlands are through if they beat Hungary and the other game in a victory for either side or 0-0. The Netherlands also go through if they win by any score other than 1-0 and the other game ends 1-1. The Netherlands win the group only if they win by three goals or more and the other game ends 0-0 or 1-1, though if it is the latter scoreline and the Netherlands win 3-0, they and Germany are split for first place on disciplinary ranking then coefficient.

• Hungary cannot finish in the top two.

Previous meetings
• This is only the third European U21 Championship fixture between the sides, and the first since May 1985. Each side recorded a 1-0 home win in the qualifying competition for the 1986 knockout phase, the Netherlands winning in Breda on 16 October 1984 thanks to Edwin Bakker's 83rd-minute effort and Hungary doing likewise in the Budapest return on 13 May 1985 with a 14th-minute Wil Boessen own goal.

• The latter result secured Hungary's place at the top of qualifying Group 5 on ten points, one above the Dutch; they went on to finish fourth in the final tournament.

• Myron Boadu was on target in the Netherlands' 4-0 win against Hungary in European U17 Championship qualifying on 3 October 2016. Mitchel Bakker was also in the Netherlands' starting XI, while András Csonka played for Hungary.

Form guide
Netherlands
• The Dutch have missed out on the last three U21 EURO final tournaments; this is their first appearance since losing to Italy in the 2013 semi-finals.

• Champions in Portugal in 2006 and again on home soil 12 months later, this is the Netherlands' sixth appearance in an eight or 12-team final tournament. They also reached the two-legged semi-finals in 1988.

• In the qualifying tournament for the 2019 finals, a team coached by Erwin van de Looi – who has been in charge since May 2018 – finished second behind England in their section.

• This time round, Van de Looi oversaw a near immaculate qualifying campaign, the Dutch finishing as top scorers overall with 46 goals – nine more than any other side – and winning nine of their ten fixtures. A 2-1 defeat by Portugal in their final encounter was not enough to prevent them finishing first in Group 7, above their opponents on head-to-head record.

Hungary
• This is the co-hosts' first appearance at the U21 EURO finals. Hungary and fellow hosts Slovenia are the only sides to be making their debuts at the 2021 tournament.

• Before the eight-team final tournament was introduced for 1998, Hungary reached the quarter-finals of the 1996 event, losing 4-3 to Scotland over two legs (2-1 h, 1-3 a).

• The Hungarians, who were also losing quarter-finalists in the inaugural edition of the U21 competition in 1978 and again two years later, enjoyed their most successful campaign in 1986, losing to eventual champions Spain 5-4 on aggregate in the semi-finals (3-1 h, 1-4 a) having beaten Poland 5-1 over two legs in the last eight (0-1 a, 5-0 h).

• Hungary's most successful European U21 Championship campaign since 1996 came in 2006, when they lost to holders Italy in the qualifying play-offs (1-1 h, 0-1 a).

• A team coached by Michael Boris – who was succeeded by Zoltán Gera in June 2019 – finished fourth in qualifying Group 6 ahead of 2019 U21 EURO, behind Belgium, Sweden and Turkey having picked up 11 points from ten matches. Hungary lost their last five fixtures.

Links and trivia
• Gera captained Hungary against the Netherlands in two UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers, a 4-0 defeat in Budapest on 25 March 2011 and a 5-3 loss in Amsterdam four days later in which he scored twice. He also skippered his country in a 4-1 home defeat by the Oranje in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 11 September 2012.

• Has played in the Netherlands:
Adrián Szőke (Heracles Almelo 2019–)