Hungary vs Ireland Prediction: In-form Parrott massive price to net again

The Republic of Ireland had quite the night on Thursday as they beat Portugal 2-0 and revelled in Cristiano Ronaldo’s second-half red card. It has kept their World Cup dream alive as they now sit one point behind second-place Hungary ahead of their winner-takes-all meeting on Sunday (14:00 GMT, Amazon Prime PPV). 

Below you can find my Hungary vs Ireland predictions featuring team news and more. 

Team News

Hungary got a vital 1-0 away win over Armenia last time out as Barnabas Varga scored the only goal of the game. He will start again up top in a 4-3-3, with the Liverpool duo of Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez starting in midfield and at left-back respectively.

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson is likely to name an unchanged XI from the team that beat Portugal, with Troy Parrott scoring twice to down the European giants. Chiedozie Ogbene and Finn Azaz supporting the lone striker. 

Celtic defender Liam Scales got an assist from left wing-back, with Seamus Coleman offering massive experience at 37 on the right. Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea will line up as the back three in front of Caoimhin Kelleher as they target another clean sheet. Conor Coventry and Adam Idah will look to make an impact off the bench.

Football Odds

Today's Football Fixtures

Hungary vs Ireland Odds

Hungary are priced at 5/6 to win this game, while the Republic of Ireland are 18/5 to secure all three points. That gives the hosts an implied win probability of 54%, while a draw is 12/5. 

Over 2.5 goals is 6/5, BTTS is 1/1 and Varga is 9/2 to open the scoring. 

BTTS - Yes @ 1/1

There is a small chance that Hungary can still overhaul Portugal for top spot, but in reality given that Portugal host an Armenia that they have already beaten 5-0 in this group, first place is sewn up. 

That makes this a straight shootout for the play-off position, with a draw being enough for Hungary to keep them above their opponents. Ireland however, need to win this game, which means they have to score. Given they showed great attacking impetus against Portugal at times, I think they can find the net against Hungary and that will force the hosts to come out and attack. 

Game state plays such a key part in these qualifiers, and the away side simply can’t set up defensively or settle for a point. This feels like a big price given that fact. 

Troy Parrott to score anytime @ 16/5

Massive price on offer here. Parrott is going to start up front for Ireland again, scored twice against Portugal and Ireland have to score in this game if they stand any chance of getting to the World Cup next summer. 

He is on fire for his club AZ Alkmaar as well, having scored a whopping 13 goals in 14 games in all competitions in 2025/26. This price honestly feels like a big of an error at the time of writing, that’s how big it is on paper. Jump on board while you can.

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