United midfielder Zoltán Stieber earned the starting nod, his sixth World Cup Qualifier cap and 22nd Hungarian cap across all competitions. Stieber logged 74 strong minutes for Hungary in his country's 3-1 victory over Latvia in Thursday's Group B World Cup Qualifier. Hungary sit in third place in the group with 10 points.
Hungary dominated bottom-dwellers Latvia from the get-go, controlling possession and finding plenty of looks on goal. With Stieber playing as a second forward for his country, the new United midfielder was well involved with Hungary's aggressive attack. That aggression paid off early when Hungary netted a goal in the 6th minute after a free kick connected with teammate Tamas Kadar's head, giving the home team an immediate advantage over their counterparts.
The Hungarians doubled their lead in the 26th minute, again off of a set piece. Hungary used their physical and aerial advantage over Latvia as Adam Szalai connected on another header, this time off of a corner kick. While Latvia were able to pull back within a goal in the 40th minute, the Hungarians did well to close out the match in front of their home crowd in Budapest, as Balazs Dzsudzsak scored their third and final goal off of another free kick in the 68th minute.
In his 74 minutes played, Stieber continued to show what United fans got glimpses of in the Hungarian's first match with the Black-and-Red—technical ability that can launch the attack and connect those around him. Hungary play their second qualifier of the week on Sunday when they host Portugal, who currently sit one spot above the Hungarians in Group B.
| TEAMS | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |  SWITZERLAND | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 21 | |
| 0 |  PORTUGAL | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 23 | 18 | |
| 0 |  HUNGARY | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 10 | |
| 0 |  FAROE ISLANDS | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 5 | |
| 0 |  ANDORRA | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 16 | -14 | 4 | |
| 0 |  LATVIA | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 3 |
