Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi has been selected to the Hungary Men's National Team for their first four matches of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League group stage.
After making his debut for Hungary's senior national team last September, Salloi will join the Magyars once again for four group stage matches in June. Hungary was drawn into Group 3 in the top-flight League A of the Nations League after earning promotion from League B last season. Hungary will open their Nations League campaign by hosting England at Puskas Arena in Budapest on Saturday, June 4. Following that match, the Magyars will travel to face Italy on June 7, host Germany on June 11 and reunite with England away from home on June 14.
Opponent |
Date |
Time (CT) |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|
England |
Saturday, June 4 |
11 a.m. |
Puskas Arena - Budapest, Hungary |
Italy |
Tuesday, June 7 |
1:45 p.m. |
Stadio Dino Manuzzi - Cesena, Italy |
Germany |
Saturday, June 11 |
1:45 p.m. |
Puskas Arena - Budapest, Hungary |
England |
Tuesday, June 14 |
1:45 p.m. |
Molineux Stadium - Wolverhampton, England |
Salloi will depart for Europe following Sporting's home match on May 28 against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Salloi linked up with Hungary for a trio of World Cup qualifiers last September, earning his first senior national team minutes against future group stage opponent England. He earned his first national team start a month later on Oct. 9 in a 1-0 loss to Albania.
Led by Italian head coach Marco Rossi, Hungary earned a promotion from League B into League A of the UEFA Nations League after topping a group consisting of Russia, Serbia and Turkey. Their 11 points from six matches in the group stage were good enough to earn them a spot in the top flight of the UEFA Nations League.
Before his senior-team debut last season, Salloi represented Hungary in UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifying in 2019, where he scored once in four appearances. He earned his first selection to Hungary's senior team in September 2018 and was an unused substitute in UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and Finland.
Salloi has been an offensive force to be reckoned with in MLS since the start of 2021. In that time span, he ranks fourth in the league in non-penalty goals (18) and goals from the run of play (16). His 16 goals for Sporting last season gave him his second Golden Boot award for the club and his eight assists were tied for the most on the team. He has two goals and one assist this season.
Now in his seventh season as a member of Sporting, the Academy product has started all nine of his appearances in 2022. Against FC Dallas on April 30, he earned Sporting a penalty leading to their first goal, then scored the equalizer late in the second half to give Sporting a come-from-behind draw. His performance earned him his first nod to the MLS Team of the Week bench in 2022 after receiving eight nods to the Team of the Week a season ago.
Signing for Sporting as a Homegrown Player in 2016, Salloi has blossomed into an MLS star. In 2018, he took home his first Sporting KC Golden Boot with 11 goals in the regular season to help Sporting finish atop the Western Conference. The forward added three additional goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs that season and netted the game-winner in the 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup final. Salloi was also named the club's Neal and Jeanne Patterson Humanitarian of the Year in 2019 for his philanthropic work with The Victory Project and across the Kansas City community.
A native of Budapest, Salloi moved to the United States in August 2014 as an exchange student and attended Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas. He joined the Sporting Kansas City Academy U-18s for the 2014-15 season and scored a team-high 21 goals in 28 appearances, including three hat tricks.
