Ukraine had the ball, the corners, the crowd noise and almost everything else that usually decides a Nations League night. Hungary had two shots that went in. The visitors won 2-1 at the CITY ARENA in Trnava on Monday, and the gap between how the game looked and how it finished will take Ukraine a while to talk through.
Two minutes that flipped it
Nothing separated the sides at the break. Tóth broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half, converting after Vitális set him up, and from there Ukraine spent half an hour throwing bodies forward. The equaliser arrived in the 83rd minute: Oleksandr Pikhalionok swung in a cross from a corner and Roman Yaremchuk met it from very close range, steering his header into the bottom-left corner.
Ukraine had roughly 120 seconds to enjoy it. Csinger scored Hungary's winner in the 85th, with R. Tóth credited for the assist, and the hosts could not manufacture a third big moment in the time that was left.
The numbers say Ukraine, the scoreboard says Hungary
Ukraine finished with 17 shots to Hungary's 10, 33 touches inside the opposition box to Hungary's seven, and 451 passes to 419. They also hit the woodwork once. The problem sits in a single line of the match data: only two of those 17 attempts were on target, against four of Hungary's 10. A 52.1% share of possession and a 5-4 edge on corners does not buy anything when the finishing is that blunt, and Hungary's goalkeeper was asked to make one save all night.
Hungary also won the scrappier exchanges, committing 13 fouls to Ukraine's 10 and conceding only one offside against Ukraine's three. The attendance was given as 7,910, a modest number for a fixture that carried real weight in the group.
What it does to Group B2
Northern Ireland still lead on eight points after four games, unbeaten and yet to concede a goal. Hungary are a point behind on seven, with two wins, a draw and a defeat, and they now have a positive goal difference. Ukraine sit third on four points, a long way short of where performances like this one suggest they ought to be, and their goal difference of minus three is the worst in the group among teams that have actually scored. Georgia prop up the table on two points without a goal to their name.
Ukraine are playing their home fixtures in Slovakia, which blunts the one advantage a side in their position might lean on. On this evidence they are creating enough. Converting it is the thing nobody in Trnava could solve.
Match facts: Ukraine 1-2 Hungary, UEFA Nations League League B Group 2, CITY ARENA - Stadion Antona Malatinskeho, Monday 5 October 2026. Half-time 0-0. Scorers: M. Toth 52' (assist M. Vitalis), Yaremchuk 83' (assist Pikhalionok), M. Csinger 85' (assist R. Toth). Attendance 7,910. Shots 17-10, on target 2-4, possession 52.1%-47.9%.
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