Northern Ireland to host Hungary in March friendly

Kyle Lafferty's goal secured Northern Ireland a 1-1 draw in their last meeting with Hungary at Windsor Park in 2015 which helped secure Michael O'Neill's side a place at Euro 2016

Northern Ireland will play Hungary in Belfast on 29 March in their second friendly in preparation for the summer's Nations League campaign.

The game will take place four days after Ian Baraclough's side face Luxembourg away.

Northern Ireland last faced Hungary in the successful Euro 2016 qualifiers when Michael O'Neill's side won 2-1 in Budapest before a 1-1 draw in Belfast.

Northern Ireland play Greece in their Nations League opener on 2 June.

Hungary, whose 39th spot in the Fifa rankings puts them 15 places above Northern Ireland, qualified for Euro 2020 and produced impressive performances at the finals as they secured draws against France and Germany but they missed out on qualification for this year's World Cup after finishing fourth in a group won by England.

The Hungarians will face England again in their Nations League campaign after securing promotion from League B in the second edition of the competition from a group that also included Russia, Serbia and Turkey.

Northern Ireland's 2022-23 Nations League campaign begins with the home game against Greece followed by an away trip to Cyprus or Estonia on 5 June.

Next up is a trip to Kosovo (9 June) and then there's a home game v Cyprus/Estonia on 12 June. Their final two games in Nations League C2 will take place in late September - against Kosovo at home on 24 September before a trip to Greece three days later.