The Magyar Kupa, as it is known locally, is the main domestic football cup competition in Hungary. It is administered by the Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség, the Hungarian Football Association.
The cup was started in 1909, shortly after the start of the Nemzeti Bajnokság, otherwise known as the Hungarian League. It now stretches right from the preliminary rounds in the summer to the end of May when the final takes place.
There are plenty of rounds of matches and therefore lots of opportunities to have a bet on the Hungarian Cup. Games often provide tons of tension in the final stages and plenty of goals and entertainment in the earlier rounds.
How Do Things Work in the Hungarian Cup?
As well as all professional clubs from the top leagues, a host of amateur clubs can take part in the Hungarian Cup too. Those from the lower echelons of the football pyramid play in local cup competitions first to decide who can join the big boys in round 6 in late September. The professional teams are playing away from home at this stage.
Across the penultimate weekend in September, the remaining teams are whittled down. The process involves one match each to 64 sides who play in round 7 during the last possible midweek in October. Again, all the major sides are drawn away.
The same format takes place during round 8 in early December before the last-16 ties which can be drawn at random. At this stage, ties take place over two legs in early February before a similar scenario in the quarter-finals, though this time things are more drawn out.
Quarter-final first leg ties are in mid-March with the return games set for early April. Next, it moves quickly to a two-leg semi-final the same month and then eventually the one-off final in late May. Nowadays, the final is always played at the Groupama Stadium in Budapest.
The winner of the tournament or the runner-up should the winners already be engaged in Europe, qualifies for the following season’s Europa League.
The Most Successful Teams in the Hungarian Cup
The Magyar Kupa’s most successful team over the years is the well-known Budapest outfit Ferencvaros. The team has 23 wins in their history, while Budapest derby rivals MTK are next on the list with 12 wins.
There was a change in the guard recently, however. In 2019, Videoton, as they are known without sponsors, won the final against Honved while the year before Ujpest took the crown.
All of these teams, along with 2013 winners Debrecen, will be familiar names to many punters around Europe. They have all taken part in Champions League or Europa League/UEFA Cup matches in recent years, allowing this competition and the Hungarian League to enjoy a relatively strong reputation on the wider stage.
The Best Magyar Kupa Betting Markets
In the early stages of the Hungarian Cup, there are precious few home wins for the smaller sides over 90 minutes, yet at the same time, there are a lot of close calls. This can be attributed either to the fact that the major sides rest their best players at this stage, or they are not sufficiently motivated but either way, we should avoid the early stages of this competition completely for betting purposes as they will offer no value at all.
Later on, things are a little different, but again patience is required. As the final stages of the cup are played out over two legs, they often mirror what we see in European competition, i.e. first leg games can be cagey as teams do not want to concede an away goal.
With that in mind, here are the best markets to concentrate on:
- Match Betting – home win/draw/away win. Having potentially secured a draw or even a narrow away defeat in the first leg, the better Hungarian teams go on to do very well at home in the second leg of the final stages of this cup and represent better value for money at that stage.
- Asian Handicap Betting – Betting on away sides in the first leg of games in the last-16 and beyond with a goal head start often pays off, as draws are common at this stage.
- Total Goals Betting – again in the first leg of games, betting under 2.5 goals is often the way to go.
Take a Punt on the Hungarian Cup
As long as you’re willing to wait until the latter stages when things get interesting, betting on the Hungarian Cup with any of our recommended bookmakers can pay off if you stay on the ball but make sure you shop around for the best value.