Szoboszlai Shines in Hungary's Dramatic 3-1 Win
For a few terrifying seconds in Debrecen, the football didn’t matter at all.
Hungary’s 3-1 friendly win over Kazakhstan at the Nagyerdei Stadion should have been a routine international run-out, a chance for Dominik Szoboszlai to stretch his legs and a Liverpool team‑mate to finally taste senior action. Instead, it became a night framed by a stadium malfunction that could have ended in disaster.
Camera crash halts play
Midway through the first half, with Hungary still chasing the game, attention snapped away from the pitch. A TV camera, suspended high from the stadium roof on wires, began to smoke. Hungarian media reported that a fire had damaged the cable supporting the device.
In the 26th minute, the problem escalated in an instant. The heavy camera plunged around 20 metres from its rigging and smashed into the turf, just a couple of metres from a pitchside cameraman. Metal, glass and electronics thudded into the ground where, moments earlier, players had been sprinting.
Somehow, no-one was hurt.
Referee and players stood in shock as officials rushed to clear the wreckage. Play stopped while the debris was removed and the immediate safety of the area checked. Only once the danger had been dealt with did the football resume, the sense of relief hanging over the stadium.
Szoboszlai takes control
When the game settled, Hungary still had work to do. Kazakhstan had struck first, taking the lead in the ninth minute and silencing the home crowd.
Szoboszlai, wearing the armband and carrying the creative burden, dragged his side back into it after the interval. Early in the second half, the Liverpool midfielder found the equaliser, restoring both belief and noise inside the Nagyerdei Stadion.
The pressure told again. Szoboszlai turned provider, threading the pass for Andras Schäfer to put Hungary in front and flip the contest on its head. From a goal down and rattled by the earlier stoppage, the hosts now dictated the tempo, their captain at the heart of it.
Kazakhstan chased, but the home side managed the game and waited for their moment to kill it.
Liverpool debut between the posts
There was another subplot for Liverpool to note. Armin Pecsi, the Reds’ reserve goalkeeper, finally made his senior international debut.
The 21-year-old, who joined Liverpool last summer and is still waiting for a first-team appearance at Anfield, came on just after the hour mark. He replaced Hungary’s starter in goal and saw out the closing stages, a landmark night for him even if it passed with little drama compared to the chaos earlier.
Pecsi has already hovered close to a club breakthrough; he was almost called into action against Crystal Palace on April 25 when Freedie Woodman needed lengthy treatment, with both Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili out injured. This time, he got the call for real, on the international stage.
At the other end of the pitch, Bournemouth’s Alex Tóth added the gloss in stoppage time, striking in injury-time to seal a 3-1 victory and confirm Hungary’s comeback.
No World Cup stage to follow
Not every name on the Hungary teamsheet saw action. Milos Kerkez remained unused against Kazakhstan, watching as Szoboszlai and Pecsi took the spotlight on a strange, unsettling evening.
All three – Szoboszlai, Pecsi and Kerkez – now turn back to club duties with a tinge of frustration. Hungary failed to qualify for this month’s FIFA World Cup, so there will be no global stage on which to build on this performance.
For one night, though, they had enough drama of their own: a captain scoring and creating, a young goalkeeper finally stepping over the line into senior international football, and a stadium incident that served as a stark reminder of how thin the margins of safety can be.
