On Tuesday -- the final day of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying with nine games played concurrently -- Hungary and Norway were 20 minutes away from advancing directly to a long-awaited European championship.
Norway led 1-0 on Italy in Rome until Toronto FC playmaker Sebastian Giovinco came off the bench to set up two goals for the Azzurri in a 2-1 comeback win that knocked Norway out of a top two-finish in Group H.
Hungary, who had gotten two goals from Sporting KC forward Krisztian Nemeth in their qualifying finale two days earlier, were poised to go through as the best overall third-place finisher until Turkey vaulted to the top of that table with an 89th-minute game-winner.
Instead, Hungary and Norway will now meet in a two-game, aggregate goal playoff to be held Nov. 12 (Oslo, Norway) and Nov. 15 (Budapest, Hungary) with only one of the two teams booking a berth for the field of 24 in France next summer. Norway has held the upper hand in the recent series history, going unbeaten against Hungary since 1981.
Hungary's quest for their first UEFA European Championship since 1972 will likely see Nemeth return to his national team next month after the 26-year-old appeared in each of their final five qualifiers. He is one of three MLS players in contention for a role in the Euro 2016 playoffs along with the Irish duo of Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) and Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids).
The games will be played during the FIFA fixture window from Nov. 9-17, during which time CONCACAF's World Cup qualifying campaign will resume with both the United States (Matt Besler, Graham Zusi) and Canada (Marcel de Jong) in action on Nov. 13 and Nov. 17. The Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs accomodates the international break with the conference semifinals concluding on Nov. 8 and the conference championships kicking off on Nov. 22.
Nemeth has contributed 15 goals, including the game-tying goal in the U.S. Open Cup Final, to go along with seven assists in 30 games played across all competitions in 2015. His 22 combined goals and assists are the most by a KC newcomer since the team's inaugural 1996 season.
