Hungary qualified for the Euro 2024 finals with a game to spare after a last-gasp own goal from Alex Petkov earned them a 2-2 away draw against Bulgaria in their qualifying Group G on Thursday.
The result put them on top of the group with 15 points from seven games, with an unassailable seven point lead over third-placed Montenegro, who have two games left to play.
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The game was marred by violent clashes outside the empty stadium in Sofia as thousands of Bulgarian supporters protested the management of the country’s soccer federation, which they blame for the national team’s poor results.
Fans were made more upset with the decision to play the match against Hungary in an empty stadium.
Bulgarian fans threw makeshift bombs, stones and plastic bottles at the police, which responded with a water cannon after trash cans were set on fire in the capital. Local media reported several protesters were injured.
The Bulgarian national team hasn’t qualified for a major tournament in nearly two decades. It was coming off humiliating losses to Albania in a friendly and to Lithuania in qualifying, prompting fans to call for a nationwide protest and demand for the resignation of officials.
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Hungary took the lead on Thursday through Martin Ádám‘s close-range header following a free kick from captain Dominik Szoboszlai from the right after 10 minutes.
Marco Rossi’s squad seemed close to doubling their lead, but on Bulgaria’s first chance, Spas Delev scored with a shot into the top right corner to make it 1-1 in the 24th minute.
The hosts were dealt a blow before half-time when they were reduced to nine men after red cards for Valentin Antov and Ilia Gruev, but the VAR intervened to overturn the latter and keep hopes of a Bulgarian comeback alive.
Hungary were also reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Milos Kerkez was sent off and suffered a major setback in the 78th minute as Kiril Despodov scored with a penalty to give Bulgaria a 2-1 lead.
As Hungary got close to suffer their first defeat in a year, Petkov headed in his own goal from a corner seven minutes into stoppage time to send his team into their third consecutive European championship finals.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.