Although he was stretchered off the field in a terrifying moment, Hungarian forward Barnabás Varga is stable in a local hospital, the team confirmed Sunday night.
Varga was transported to a local hospital in the second half of Hungary’s 1-0 victory over Scotland in Germany on Sunday after colliding with Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn. The victory kept Hungary’s European Championship hopes alive and officially expelled the Scots from the event ahead of the knockout stage.
Varga tried to challenge a ball in the air after a free kick in the 68th minute of the game, but clumsily collided with Gunn in the air in the area. Gunn hit 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 hard to the field and remained on the ground for several minutes, clearly shaken. He was finally stretchered off the field and taken to the hospital.
Mocny cios otrzymał węgierski zawodnik Barnabas Varga – Karetka wzięła Go do szpitala jego stan jest stabilny pic.twitter.com/l2mUEf6k8F
— Koneser Unii Europejskiej (@KoneserUnii) June 23, 2024
The Hungarian team confirmed on Sunday night that he was stable in hospital. Varga broke several bones in his face and suffered a concussion in the incident. He is likely to undergo surgery in the coming days, which will rule him out for the remainder of Euro 2024.
Varga Barnabás arcában több csont is eltört a mérkőzésen történt ütközés során továbbá agyrázkódást is szenvedett. Nagy valószínűséggel műtét vár a @Fradi_HU csatárára. Az éjszakát a kórházban tölti Stuttgartban. Az egész csapat szorít érte! #csakegyutt #magyarok #SCOHUN
—MLSZ (@MLSZhivatalos) June 23, 2024
Despite losing Varga in the second half, Kevin Csoboth came on and scored the only goal of the game in stoppage time to lead Hungary to a 1-0 victory. Hungary earned three points in Group A after losing to Germany and Scotland, although they can still make it to the knockout stage depending on how the rest of the group play unfolds.
“It means everything, obviously we were celebrating with the fans at the time, my voice has gone a little bit because of all the shouting,” said Hungarian midfielder Callum Styles. via ESPN. “Let’s hope that works out, but we’ve already done everything we can, so we’ll have to wait.”
Scotland’s defeat, however, officially eliminated them from the tournament.
“Tonight is devastating, the lads are absolutely gutted. Yes, 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 like everyone had our back and we knew the excitement at home. Sorry to disappoint you.”
