Hungary twice took the lead through Dániel Lukács and Barnabás Varga in a packed Puskás Aréna, but Parrott twice hauled his side level and then completed his hat-trick with seconds remaining to ensure Republic of Ireland would leapfrog Hungary into second spot in the group and therefore beat them to a place in the upcoming World Cup qualification play-offs.

Ahead of Sunday's winner-takes-all encounter in Budapest, Hungary head coach Rossi opted to make two changes from the eleven which started their 1-0 win over Armenia last Thursday, Alex Tóth and Daniel Lukács coming in for Callum Styles and Bendeguz Bolla.

The decision to bring in striker Lukács paid almost immediate dividends when the hosts took the lead in just the third minute, Szoboszlai taking a short corner and whipping in the return pass from Milos Kerkez for the Paks forward to glance a header into Caoimhin Kelleher's goal from close range.

It was the perfect start in front of a raucous Puskás Aréna crowd, but Hungary were pegged back just 12 minutes later when Attila Szalai was adjusted to have fouled Chiedozie Ogbene inside the home team's penalty area and Troy Parrott stepped up to stroke the resultant spotkick low past Dénes Dibusz and restore parity.

That equaliser initially helped Ireland settle into the game but Hungary soon reasserted their dominance and were rewarded in fine style in the 37th minute when Barnabás Varga chested down Kerkez's cross and  crashed a superb left-footed shot into the top-left corner of the Ireland net.

That was the Ferencváros forwards sixth goal in as many games and put his side in a tremendously strong position, one in which they looked comfortable all the way until the last ten minutes. Then, Parrott, who also scored twice in Ireland's sensational victory over Portugal last Thursday, found a second leveller by lifting Finn Azaz's pass over Dibusz and into the far corner of the net to make the scoreline 2-2.

There were chance for both sides in the closing stages, Kelleher diverting Szoboszlai's angled shot wide for a corner and Dibusz denying debutant substitute Johnny Kenny from just a few metres out as both teams went for the win they knew would keep them in with a chance of World Cup qualification.

There would be a late, late winner, but unfortunately it was to go the way of the visitors, Parrott latching on to Liam Scales' flick-on and sending the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal to complete his hat-trick and break Hungarian hearts in the process.

Ireland will now contest a World Cup qualification play-off after finishing second behind group winners Portugal, who qualify for next year's showpiece tournament automatically.

Rossi: It's difficult for everyone - there is huge sadness

Hungary suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Republic of Ireland in their final 2026 World Cup qualifier on Sunday afternoon, after which head coach Marco Rossi expressed his sincere sadness.

Rossi's team led twice and even after Ireland equalised for the second time, were still in position to qualify for the play-offs, but a winning goal in the 96th minute meant their opponents snatched that play-off berth from them in the cruellest of ways.

"It's difficult in this situation now, for everyone - there's huge sadness... I can't really find the words," Hungary Men's head coach Marco Rossi began Sunday's post-match press conference. "I'm very sorry for the defeat... for the players, for the fans, we didn't deserve to leave this match like this, but we conceded another goal in second-half added time, just as we did in Ireland.

We knew they'd pass the ball forward, so the match became about physicality and we couldn't compete with them in that respect. At half-time, when we were 2-1 up, I told the players we should try to get a third goal, because we couldn't rely on a one-goal lead.

We created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we didn't succeed in taking advantage of the situation, and then in the end what happened, happened. All I said to the guys for now is that I can't blame them for anything and that they did what I asked them to. It's hard to think about the future now, but the team spirit in the national team is strong and we'll be able to start again when that moment comes; this is also part of our job."
 

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