International football has a funny habit of remaining unpredictable - even when it’s not supposed to.

Most previews penned from Scotland of Group A at Euro 2024 went something like this; Germany, plenty of quality but still questions about the collective, Switzerland, over the hill with an under-pressure manager, Hungary, potential tournament dark horses who’ve beaten Germany and England in recent times. It was the latter who were generally viewed as the main competitors for second spot.

Instead, as we approach the final game of the group the Germans have cemented themselves among the top tournament favourites while Switzerland are all but through with a revitalised squad. Hungary are pointless and heading home on Monday morning bar a miracle. They’d lost just once in fifteen games approaching this summer’s finals but a costly defeat against Switzerland on the opening day means any progression hopes were slim before a slim 2-0 loss against Germany.

Scotland only have one point to their name ahead of tomorrow’s clash and still need three against Marco Rossi’s side who, whether three points would be sufficient to quality through a third-placed slot or not, will presumably approach the game as such. For Steve Clarke the job description is simple - win here and history is yours. As expected when facing a game of such significance the challenge for Scotland is far from straightforward, regardless of the table.

The reason for Hungary qualifying as the cultured football viewer’s choice can be traced back to a word you’ve seen pop up increasingly on Twitter algorithms over the past 2 years - relationalism. Rossi’s side plays a different brand of football and different, often, is fun. It’s also been effective throughout qualification. As mentioned, aside from big wins over Germany and England in the Nations League Hungary had lost one in 15 pre-tournament matches with a strong supporter connection, clear style and confidence heading to Germany this June. On a name-for-name basis, Switzerland may have boasted superior individual quality but Hungary’s collective team looked more coherent until the teams faced off last weekend in Cologne.

READ MORE: How Scotland bounced back: New press, 4-2-4 and Clarke's clever solutions

The first half against Switzerland was a 45 minutes that, appears to, have ended Hungary’s tournament before it really started. Rossi conceded speaking after the game that Switzerland’s approach was unexpected - with midfielders playing on the left wing before popping up between the lines as covered here - and took a half-time review to counter. By the time his side gained control of the match, they were 2-0 down and despite coming close to drawing level, a late Breel Embolo goal against the run of play sealed all three points for Murat Yakin’s men.

In the first half of a 2-0 loss against Germany, the Hungarians were again not far away from points. Unlike the opening game of the tournament when Scotland didn’t even record a shot against the hosts, Hungary had managed seven efforts to their opponent's eight before the interval and gone close on numerous occasions. While it was Germany who eventually shaded xG 2.31 to 1.45, Ilkay Gundogan’s security goal didn’t arrive until the 67-minute mark. In the opening seconds, the forward runs Hungary attempted all game required brilliance from Manuel Neuer to keep scores level while Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick was destined for the top corner until Bayern Munich’s legendary stopper intervened before the break.

The Hungarian FA published an article on their website last year titled ‘The national team return to tradition’. For a far more detailed look at the historical and cultural significance of the text, this article published by Scottish football coach Jamie Hamilton is an excellent and worthwhile read. The work penned by Beregi Istvan, match analyst for the team, contains a lengthy explanation of how and why Rossi’s side are playing a style of football that contrasts much of the positionally restrictive coaches at the top of football. “We are playing a kind of football that is less positional and more relational, and Dominik [Szoboszlai] is a player, together with others, who is free to go where he feels he can go… and this gives him more responsibility,” Rossi explained recently, giving a practical example of what ‘relationism’ looks like in practice.

Hungary, in very simple terms, don’t subscribe to many of the football prerequisites that have dominated the modern game in recent years. The combinations they opt for are more relational than programmed, the movement of key players unencumbered by the coach in order to maximise influence on proceedings, the positions they are able to assume less restricted by areas they ought to occupy and dictated instead by the position of the ball and configuration of players. Not dissimilar to the roaming movement of Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz that troubled Clarke’s defence so visibly on matchday one, Hungary allow their best players to play without restriction and orientated the rest of their game around that. They’re not worried about symmetrical order on the pitch or congesting the play. It is their unique brand of football that brought them into this summer’s finals so impressively.

While Hungary line up in a 3-4-2-1 the way they try to build attacks differs from many nations at Euro 2024. As Rossi outlines their game is based around their 23-year-old captain Szoboszlai who is the centrepiece of the plan in possession. During matches in 2023 for his national team he touched the ball on average 80-90 times, according to his national association. That can work against Hungary if the midfielder is off form or man-marked but alternatively, get the best out of the nation’s most talented player who assumes very different positions from one game to the next.

As an example consider the below contrast. Look at where the Liverpool midfielder received passes in the defeat to Switzerland - often floating around the left where he’d deliver an assist from…

(Image: Wyscout)

…And now compare it to a far different outlook in the defeat against Germany - instead dropping to next play far more regularly…

(Image: Wyscout)

The assist provided by the midfielder in the lead-up to Barnabas Varga’s header to halve the deficit against Switzerland shows how Hungary often configure players in the final third close to one another - rather than in the equal balance we’re used to seeing across modern football.

(Image: Wyscout)

Hungary were also the strongest side when it came to set pieces in qualification, creating the most shots (5.6) and expected goals (0.62) from set pieces per 90 minutes. While this is an area that Scotland are also consistent in, deadball situations with the excellent delivery of Szoboszlai are dangerous.

Just as Scotland’s defeat against Germany wasn’t a reference point of their quality neither is the lack of points Hungary have recorded so far in the tournament. That’s something their record of one defeat in 15 heading into Euro 2024 signifies.

At their best Hungary’s unique football, if it clicks, can cause huge issues for opponents who are either left understaffed in areas they overload or dragged across the pitch by unconventional movement. Making history is rarely easy, however, and Scotland knows tomorrow’s opponents are beatable if unconventional. Clarke will hope and trust that on this occasion Scotland’s hopes at a major tournament can go to plan.