Coming off a season where they lost the Hungarian title for the first time in eight years, Ferencváros had impressed in the European qualifying coming into their game against FC Twente at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Thursday, 30 July.
They knocked out the runner-up finishers of the Serbian league, FK Vojvodina, with back-to-back victories in the first round of UEFA Europa League qualification. Then, they travelled to Enschede, Netherlands to face the favoured Dutch side FC Twente in the first leg of the next round, but came home with a 2–1 victory. Haiti international and 2026 FIFA World Cup participant Lenny Joseph scored the winning brace for Fradi.
The Budapest green-and-whites built upon that good European form in the first half, with Belgian centre-back Toon Raemaekers converting a penalty won by Kristoffer Zachariassen in the 22nd minute. However, the other Belgian on the home side, midfielder Philippe Rommens, was sent off by a strict VAR call in the 36th minute. Otherwise, it was a game of few chances in the first 45 minutes.
Despite playing one man down, Ferencváros extended their lead early into the second half. Joseph dribbled all the way from the halfway line to the edge of the Twente box with the ball, then slotted it into the bottom near corner in the 50th minute. This was his third goal in the two legs against the Dutch.
It took 66 minutes for Twente to hit the target for the first time in the game, but Daouda Weidmann’s long-range shot was collected by Dénes Dibusz in the Fradi goal.
Then, despite posing little threat for most of the game, Twente equalized by scoring two goals in just four minutes. They kept putting crosses into the Fradi box from all over the pitch, and two of them were headed into the net: first, by Wout Weghorst in the 82nd, then by Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink in the 86th minute.
Ferencváros had a nerve-wracking last few minutes to fight through. But ultimately they did it: Fradi held onto the 2–2 draw, and advanced with 4–3 on aggregate. They will be facing the Polish side Górnik Zabrze in the next round of EL qualifying.
Ferencváros & All Other Hungarian Teams Tie in Europe
Apart from FTC, all three other Hungarian clubs currently competing in European qualifying tied their respective games on Thursday.
They are playing in the Conference League. ETO FC Győr blew out their Luxembourgish opponents Atert Bissen 6–2 on the road, thus a modest 1–1 tie in the rematch at home was well enough to advance.
Debrecen played to a goalless draw in Armenia against FC Pyunik. They won the first leg 1–0, so they too are off to the next round. Paks, however, ultimately fell short against the prestigious Greek club Panathinaikos. They lost their home game 2–1, so the 2–2 was not enough for them in Athens, Greece.
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