Hungary striker Barnabas Varga was stretchered off during his side’s crunch clash with Scotland after a horrific collision in a scary moment at Euro 2024.
With the score at 0-0 in the 68th minute of the Group A clash, that both sides needed to win to keep their realistic hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive, Varga, Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn and defender Anthony Ralston all collided while competing for a ball in the air.
Varga clattered hard into the ground and appeared to be knocked unconscious as his teammates immediately called for medical attention. Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai helped him into the recovery position as physios raced on to the pitch to help.
Medics then put up a blanket screen around the 29-year-old while they treated him and the stretcher was called for. Hungary players and manager Marco Rossi then appeared to be furiously screaming at the stretcher carriers for not getting on to the field of play more quickly, while Szoboszlai appeared to be in tears.
Varga – who plays his club football in Hungary for Ferencvaros – was stretchered off after a few minutes of treatment, with the relief palpable in the supporters of both sides as they clapped him off.
Hungarian football’s governing body later reported that he was in a stable condition in a Stuttgart hospital. He will require surgery on a broken cheekbone.
A statement from the Hungarian Football Federation read: “Barnabas Varga’s condition is stable. The Ferencvaros player is currently in one of the hospitals in Stuttgart. We will inform you immediately if there is any news about his status.”
And in his post-match press conference, Rossi added further clarity, saying: “I’m not sure if it was a collision with the goalkeeper, it was a confused situation, that’s why the VAR was checking. The players were saying he looked unconscious so everyone was really worried about his condition and worried about the fact that the doctors arrived late, we can say, but they probably didn’t realise it was a dangerous situation.
“Thankfully he is not under risk, he will be operated on here (points to cheek). He’s healthy, and that’s the most important thing. If we go through, he is no longer part of the team”
Gunn and Ralston were also treated after the collision although both were able to continue the game for Scotland, while there was also a VAR check for a penalty around the incident but no foul was awarded.
After the match, Gunn told the BBC: “It was a bit of a blur. I thought I had to come and thought I’d done well. It was a bit painful. Hopefully the guy is all right. I can’t really remember too much about it.”
Play resumed after a stoppage of around seven minutes and there were 10 minutes of injury time added on to the end of the match due to the delay.
Hungary ultimately snatched a last-gasp, 100th-minute winner through Kevin Csoboth to sending Scotland crashing out of the Euros with a 1-0 defeat, while the Hungarians will have to wait to see if their three points is enough to qualify for the last 16 as one of the best third-placed finishers.
And Scotland captain Andy Robertson was devastated about the result after the final whistle, telling BBC Sport: “It could have gone either way but that’s football – that’s how it goes. It will take a long time to get over this one.
“We had a lot of possession first half without really doing anything with it but we were in control – we controlled the game. We just had to find that cutting edge.
“We knew there was going to be a point in the game where we could go for it. We did go for it but we got sucker-punched at the end. A draw wasn’t going to be enough realistically so both teams had to go for it and unfortunately one of us had to lose.
“Tonight is devastating, there’s no buttering it up. All the lads are absolutely gutted. What I will say is thank you to the country because we felt everyone behind us and we knew the excitement back home and sorry for letting you down.”
The Varga situation brought back memories of the Christian Eriksen incident at the previous Euros, when the Denmark midfielder collapsed on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Eriksen received extensive and immediate medical attention on the pitch in Copenhagen and was taken to hospital soon afterwards – before it was revealed post-match that he had effectively died before being resuscitated.
“He was gone. We did cardiac resuscitation, it was a cardiac arrest,” team doctor Morten Boesen said. “How close were we to losing him? I don’t know, but we got him back after one defib, so that’s quite fast.
“[Having top-class medical equipment close by] was completely decisive, I think,” Boesen added. “The time from when it happens to when he receives help is the critical factor, and that time was short.”
A period of rehabilitation followed for Eriksen and he ultimately left the club he was with at the time, Inter Milan, but went on to make a full recovery, returned to the Premier League with Brentford and then Manchester United and is playing for Denmark at Euro 2024.