Qualified Germany held after last-gasp Hungary goal in final Nations League group match

BUDAPEST – Robert Andrich criticised the handball rule after Germany conceded a stoppage-time equaliser from the penalty spot and had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Hungary in their final Nations League group match on Nov 19.

Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai scored from the spot with the last kick of the game to cancel out Felix Nmecha’s 76th-minute goal. The hosts already had a place in the League A/B play-offs.

Germany had sealed top spot in Group A3 with the 7-0 demolition of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Nov 16, so coach Julian Nagelsmann rotated heavily with nine changes to his line-up in Hungary.

Said Nagelsmann: “We did some things right and some other things not. After winning 7-0 (against Bosnia and Herzegovina) and with nine changes, we took some time to get organised.

“But you have to look at the big picture. If you see how Hungary celebrated the equaliser then it is a compliment to our team.”

Germany finished top on 14 points and advanced to the quarter-finals with the Netherlands, who drew 1-1 away to Bosnia. But Die Mannschaft lacked the explosiveness of the previous match and did not easily find spaces against the Hungarians.

Instead, it was the hosts, without assistant coach Adam Szalai, who is recovering after collapsing during the Nov 16 match against the Netherlands, who set the pace. They tested Alexander Nubel with shots from Andras Schafer and Zsolt Nagy.

Four-time world champions Germany, with their sights already on the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, improved after the break and hit the post through Kai Havertz in the 63rd minute.

But Nubel had to come to the rescue once more by palming Barnabas Varga’s effort from point-blank range wide before Nmecha, in his first start for Germany, stabbed in following a goalmouth scramble.

“Of course you dream of scoring these goals – it’s just enormous to play for Germany and I’m happy I could score my first,” he told ZDF.

Szoboszlai bagged the last-gasp penalty for the hosts, who finished third in the group, in the ninth minute of added time. Bottom side Bosnia were already relegated to League B.

“It’s been a real roller coaster of a year, but I believe that with this match we can go into 2025 in good spirits,” said Szoboszlai.

However, Germany midfielder Andrich criticised the penalty award. He said: “Again with the handball (discussion). What should he (defender Robin Koch) do with his hands? He’s trying to move them away. It’s frustrating.”

Germany, who last won the World Cup in 2014, will kick off the qualification competition in March following December’s draw and, after more than a decade without any tournament success, they are desperate to restore their international reputation.

“I am overall satisfied with our year if you exclude the Euro and what we could have potentially achieved there,” Nagelsmann said. “I have never felt a ‘we’ feeling like I have here. The team has developed really well.

“In 2026 I feel we will be better prepared than we were in 2024.”

The Germans crashed out of the last two World Cups in the group stage, while they were eliminated in the last 16 at Euro 2020 and the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 on home soil. REUTERS, AFP