After being called up for international duty, United midfielder Zoltán Stieber will join the Hungarian National Team for their upcoming friendlies against Kazakhstan (March 23) and Scotland (March 27).
Stieber has made more international appearances (25 caps) than any other player on D.C. United. He has scored three goals for his country with his first coming on June 15, 2015, in a 4-0 win against Lithuania in an international friendly. The midfielder made his debut for Hungary on Sept. 2, 2011, in a 3-1 win against Sweden in European Qualifiers.
This MLS season, Stieber has started in all three matches for United, recording 122 minutes and leading the team with four chances created.
Hungary Outlook
The Hungarian National Team haven't qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 1986 in Mexico where they failed to progress past the group stage. The Hungarians were in UEFA Group B for 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and ended the qualification process in third place in their group after going 4-1-5 (13 pts.). Portugal automatically qualified and Switzerland progressed to the second round after finishing as runner-ups in the group, leaving the Hungarians out of this summer's competition.
Since the conclusion of 2018 World Cup Qualifiers, Hungary have played in two international friendlies. They lost 2-1 against Luxembourg on Nov. 9, 2017, and won 1-0 against Costa Rica (and fellow United teammate Ulises Segura) on Nov. 14, 2017. Stieber made substitute appearances in both fixtures.
Major League Soccer's 2017 Golden Boot winner and Chicago Fire forward Nemanja Nikolić and New England Revolution forward Krisztián Nemeth were also called into the Hungarian National Team for their upcoming friendlies.
Kazakhstan Outlook
The Kazakhstan National Team have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup since they seceded from the Soviet Union in 1991. Kazakhstan were winless in UEFA Group E for the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers, ending the process at the bottom of their group after going 0-7-3 (3 pts.).
History
Hungary and Kazakhstan last played in an international friendly on June 7, 2014. Hungary won 3-0 and Stieber started and played 90 minutes on the left wing. This is the second match in fixture history between the two countries.
