Though he was stretchered off the field in a scary moment, Hungary striker Barnabás Varga is in stable condition in a local hospital, the team confirmed on Sunday night.
Varga was transported to a local hospital in the second half of Hungary’s 1-0 win over Scotland in Germany, on Sunday, after he collided with Scotland goalie Angus Gunn. The win kept Hungary’s European Championship hopes alive while officially kicking the Scots out of the event befor the knockout stage.
Varga went to challenge a ball in the air after a free kick in the 68th minute of the match, but he awkwardly collided with Gunn mid-air in the box. Gunn punched the ball with his right arm to stop Varga, but Varga’s head ended up hitting Gunn’s left arm in the process.
Varga immediately fell to the pitch hard and remained down for several minutes, clearly shaken up. He was eventually stretchered off the field and taken to the hospital.
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The Hungarian player Barnabas Varga received a strong blow – an ambulance took him to hospital and his condition is stable pic.twitter.com/l2mUEf6k8F— Koneser UE (@KoneserUnii) June 23, 2024
The Hungarian national team then confirmed on Sunday night that he was in stable condition in the hospital. Varga broke several bones in his face and sustained a concussion in the incident. He’s likely to undergo surgery in the coming days, which will knock him out for the rest of Euro 2024.
Several bones in Barnabás Varga’s face were broken during the collision during the match, and he also suffered a concussion. Surgery is most likely to be expected @Fradi_HU to his striker. He spends the night in the hospital in Stuttgart. The whole team is rooting for him! #only together #Hungarians #SCOHUN
— MLSZ (@MLSZhivatolos) June 23, 2024
Despite losing Varga in the second half, Kevin Csoboth came in and scored the lone goal of the game in stoppage time to lift Hungary to the 1-0 win. Hungary earned three points in Group A play after falling to both Germany and Scotland, though it can still make it to the knockout stage depending on how the rest of pool play shakes out.
“It means everything, obviously we were celebrating with the fans then, my voice is a little bit gone because of all the shouting,” Hungary midfielder Callum Styles said, via ESPN. “Hopefully that does the job, but we’ve done all we can now so we’ll have to wait.”
The loss for Scotland, however, officially knocked it out of the tournament.
“Tonight’s devastating, the lads are absolutely gutted. Yeah but it’s up to us to pick them up and that will happen slowly but surely,” Scotland captain Andy Robertson said, via ESPN.
“But thank you to the country because we felt everyone behind us, and we knew the excitement back home — sorry for letting you down.”
