Ferencváros punish Celtic to win 3-1 in Glasgow
Celtic’s difficult run in Europe continued as Ferencváros claimed a 3-1 win at Celtic Park in the opening round of the 2026/27 Europa League group stage.
The loss made the all-time head-to-head record between the two clubs with two wins each and happened just a few days after Celtic’s big 3-0 loss in the League Cup against Rangers.
Match highlight
Martin O’Neill’s team started with an aim and had the majority of the ball in the early part of the game. James Forrest and Camilo Durán both had chances. Celtic could not turn their early pressure into goals.
Ferencváros scored after 20 minutes. Bamidele Yusuf moved forward from the right. Took a strong left-footed shot across the goal. The shot hit Liam Scales. Went into the bottom-left corner leaving Viljami Sinisalo with no chance to stop it.
The visitors almost scored again after. Former Celtic player Daniel Arzani took a shot but Sinisalo made a good save to keep the gap at one goal.
Celtic finally scored an equalizer through a organized move on the left. Oliver Sørensen, Forrest and Kieran Tierney worked together before Tierney sent in a cross for Mika Baur, who finished with his foot to bring the home fans back into the game.
That relief did not last long. In the attack of the first half Yusuf again created problems on the right and passed to Kristoffer Zachariassen in the penalty area. The Ferencváros captain made a backheel finish to put the Hungarian team ahead 2-1 at half time.
Celtic brought on their record signing Kasper Høgh at time but it was Arzani who made the decisive play early in the second half. The Australian, who did not score during his time in Glasgow because of injuries ran forward on a counterattack moved the ball to his foot and curled a great shot from 20 meters into the top corner.
O’Neill brought on Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti as Celtic tried to respond. Nygren had a shot that went wide while Tounekti forced Adam Varga to make a save. Nygren later missed another chance from 25 meters when Varga played the ball straight to him.
Celtic showed moments of hope. Suffered for their missed chances. The result is another problem after their loss in the Champions League qualifying play-off in Linz, with the first Old Firm derby of the season coming up on Sunday. Ferencváros leave Glasgow with three points even though they have only kept one sheet in their last 10 Europa League away games.
