{"id":574531,"date":"2025-11-16T17:29:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/574531\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T17:29:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T17:29:27","slug":"dominik-szoboszlai-in-tears-after-liverpool-pair-see-world-cup-dream-dramatically-ruined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/574531\/","title":{"rendered":"Dominik Szoboszlai in tears after Liverpool pair see World Cup dream dramatically ruined"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hungary were on the brink of a World Cup playoff as they led the Republic of Ireland 2-1 going into the final 10 minutes, only for a dramatic endingPress Association<\/strong> and Mark Jones<\/strong><\/a> Liverpool Content Editor – Sport<\/p>\n

16:43, 16 Nov 2025Updated 16:46, 16 Nov 2025<\/p>\n

\"DominikDominik Szoboszlai was unable to contain his emotions at full-time(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Dominik Szoboszlai cut a disconsolate figure after his Hungary side threw away a World Cup playoff place in dramatic fashion against the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n

Troy Parrott scored a superb hat-trick as Ireland snatched a World Cup play-off place from Hungary\u2019s grasp with a dramatic 3-2 win in Budapest. Parrott cancelled out Daniel Lukacs\u2019 early header from the penalty spot and levelled for a second time after Barnabas Varga\u2019s stunning first-half strike.<\/p>\n

He then snatched an unlikely victory in the sixth minute of stoppage time on a day when only three points were enough for Heimir Hallgrimsson\u2019s men to keep their dream alive.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Mohamed Salah vs Bukayo Saka decision made as Liverpool star told he has to change<\/a>READ MORE: Liverpool set for major Premier League advantage compared to Arsenal<\/a><\/p>\n

Szoboszlai and Liverpool team-mate Milos Kerkez were left stunned after the final whistle, as Hungary missed out on a chance of a first World Cup since 1986.<\/p>\n

Ireland rather than Hungary will take part in March\u2019s shoot-out by virtue of finishing in second place behind Portugal, who trounced Armenia 9-1 to clinch top spot.<\/p>\n

The hosts, who led 2-0 in Dublin after 15 minutes before having to settle for a 2-2 draw, made a blistering start once again, taking the lead after three minutes.<\/p>\n

Skipper Szoboszlai played the ball short to Kerkez and after receiving the return pass, whipped a cross to the near post where Lukacs stooped to head past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.<\/p>\n

Ireland were handed a glorious opportunity to level when Norwegian referee Espen Eskas was advised to review Attila Szalai\u2019s challenge on Chiedozie Ogbene as the forward ran on to Dara O\u2019Shea\u2019s long ball.<\/p>\n

\"HungaryHungary were left stunned after the loss(Image: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Eskas belatedly pointed to the spot and Parrott, whose two goals against Portugal had set up the final-day showdown at the Puskas Arena, took his time before calmly dispatching his penalty past Denes Dibusz.<\/p>\n

Firm in the knowledge that a point was enough for them, Hungary \u2013 and Szoboszlai in particular \u2013 cooled the tempo to retain possession and frustrate their opponents.<\/p>\n

However, they injected pace with 28 minutes gone and it took a superb save from Kelleher to keep out Roland Sallai\u2019s shot from point-blank range after Szoboszlai had fed Lukacs to cross from the right.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s direct approach was making life uncomfortable for the Hungarians, but they fell behind for a second time with 37 minutes gone when Varga controlled Kerkez\u2019s cross 20 yards out before swivelling and smashing a left-foot piledriver high past Kelleher.<\/p>\n

\"MilosMilos Kerkez was also distraught(Image: AP)<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s fortunes took a further turn for the worse when Ogbene set off in pursuit of Parrott\u2019s inviting through-ball only to pull up clutching his hamstring.<\/p>\n

Adam Idah replaced the Sheffield United forward, but with Liverpool\u2019s Szoboszlai going through his full range of tricks, Ireland\u2019s hopes were looking increasingly forlorn.<\/p>\n

Idah had the ball in the net with 57 minutes gone, but after Kelleher had saved Sallai\u2019s audacious effort, Parrott controlled Finn Azaz\u2019s chipped 80th-minute pass brilliantly before lifting the ball over Dibusz to make it 2-2.<\/p>\n

Kelleher saved from Szoboszlai late on, and although Dibusz denied Johnny Kenny a stoppage-time winner amid a late onslaught, he was powerless when Parrott ran on to Liam Scales\u2019 knockdown and stabbed home a priceless winner.<\/p>\n

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Kitbag has slashed the price of Liverpool kits and merch with up to 50% off select items.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hungary were on the brink of a World Cup playoff as they led the Republic of Ireland 2-1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,22688,393,4884,179,763,16123,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-574531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-dominik-szoboszlai","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-fc","14":"tag-milos-kerkez","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115560563886280141","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}