The fact that Hungary require an extraordinary turn of events to qualify for the knock-out round is not quite how their legions of followers anticipated Euro 2024 unfolding.

Yet, none present in the MHPArena in Stuttgart tomorrow will ever blithely dismiss the achievement of simply competing at this level again.

For fully three decades, a country credited with revolutionising the game in the 1950s with their prototype Total Football found itself in international exile, a perennial spectator whenever the great summer festivals began.

Given their significant contribution to the evolution of the beautiful game, there was a profound sense of sadness to this hopeless situation.

As any student of the game will tell you, the Magical Magyars, as they became known, were one of the great sides of all time, twice slaughtering Walter Winterbottom’s England in their heyday (6-3 and 7-1).

With Ferenc Puskas heading an all-star cast including Zoltan Czibor, Jozsef Bozsik, Nandor Hidegkuti and Sandor Kocsis, they remained unbeaten for almost four years.

Dominik Szoboszlai heads his nation in applause of the fans after defeat to Germany in 2024

Ferenc Puskas (right) swaps pennants with Fritz Walter before the 1954 World Cup final

Their defeat to West Germany in 1954 in Berne remains arguably the single biggest upset in a World Cup final.

A few years ago, the BBC listed the so-called Golden Team as the greatest in international football history. By common consent, only the majestic Brazil side of 1982 and the Netherlands throughout the 1970s offer them competition for the finest never to lift the trophy.

Yet, after the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Hungarian football entered the equivalent of a nuclear winter, only re-emerging when the national team secured qualification for Euro 2016.

How was it even possible? The answer appears to be nuanced.

Take to the streets of Budapest and the advent of democracy is often cited as the main reason for the great decline in those over the age of 50.

Their reasoning is that when the country was under communist rule, football was collectivised. The majority of the great side of the 50s played for Honved — the army team. This ended at a stroke in the late 1980s.

Puskas was a product of the famed army side Honved, but he defected after the 1956 uprising

Puskas leads his nation out at Wembley in 1953 against England for a game Hungary won 6-3

It says much about the standard of player Hungary regularly produced at its peak, though, that a similarly disruptive event did not prevent the standard of the national team from nosediving long before it did.

When Honved lost the first leg of their 1956-57 European Cup clash with Athletic Bilbao 3-2, the expectation was they would progress in Budapest.

But before it could be played, the capital was gripped by an uprising. The players decided against going back to Hungary and arranged for the return leg to be played in Brussels.

Honved were eliminated 6-5 on aggregate and many of their players were left in limbo. Kocsis and Czibor moved to Barcelona, with Puskas signing for Real Madrid.

Outraged at the Red Army’s tanks suppressing all public opposition to the communist regime, none of the three ever played for Hungary again (although, having taken Spanish nationality, Puskas was permitted to represent his adopted country at the 1962 World Cup).

Honved line up for a game against Roma in 1956, before the Revolution changed everything

Tibor Nyilasi scores the opener against El Salvador in the 1982 World Cup. Hungary won 10-1

Despite losing the jewels in their crown, Hungary still made it to three successive World Cups — Sweden 1958, Chile in 1962 and England in 1966.

A new generation, spearheaded by Ferenc Bene and Florian Albert, took them to the semi-finals of the 1964 and 1972 European Championships.

All along, whether at club or international level, there was no apparent decline in standards. Far from it, in fact.

MTK Budapest were runners-up to Sporting Lisbon in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1964. Ferencvaros won the tournament a year later, defeating AS Roma, Manchester United and then Juventus in the final.

Years later, at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, El Salvador were beaten 10-1 by the Hungarians — a tournament record which stands to this day.

Although qualification for the finals in Mexico was secured four years later, it proved to be a chastening experience and, to date, the last time Hungary made it to the greatest show on earth.

Hungary go up against France and their flying midfield superstar Michel Platini in 1982

Yugoslavia’s Dragan Stojkovic celebrates after a 12-1 aggregate win over Hungary in 1997

They lost their opening match 6-0 to the Soviet Union, partly redeemed themselves with a 2-0 win over Canada only to be sent packing with a 3-0 loss to Michel Platini’s France.

By now, the warning signs of decay were clear. The 1990s saw the rate of decline accelerate. By 1996, Hungary had slumped to 87th place in the FIFA rankings.

The following year, there was just a glimmer of hope — a play-off against Yugoslavia for a place in the following summer’s World Cup in France. The upshot was a soul-destroying 12-1 aggregate defeat.

If this was simply a consequence of the game going to rot after the dawning of democracy eight years previously, it seemed perplexing that other nations in the same situation — Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland — continued to produce fine international sides.

The feeling in Hungary is that football was simply not deemed to be important to the powers that be any more.

Attila Fiola slides in on France winger Ousmane Dembele during a match at Euro 2020…

…and Fiola had plenty to cheer later as he celebrated opening the scoring against the French

Previously financed directly from the central budget and indirectly through state-owned companies, the democratically elected government simply ceased supporting the game.

Clubs either disappeared overnight or were pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Ferencvaros were demoted because of their financial affairs. With the Bosman ruling depriving clubs of external finance, academies were cut and the panic selling of assets became the order of the day.

By 2010, with the game a source of national embarrassment, a change of government regime brought a change in direction. Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged to do whatever was required to restore Hungary’s reputation as a credible football nation.

More than £2billion has been invested since, according to the Hungarian Football Association. Pro-government oligarchs also put their wealth towards a number of projects.

Gradually, the dilapidated stadia were replaced by shining structures and new pitches were put down across the country. The game was effectively rebuilt from the bottom up.

Yet it would take until November 2015, the night Norway were beaten in the Euro 2016 play-off, for the nation to look itself in the mirror again.

Szoboszlai is watched closely by German star Toni Kroos in the German’s 2-0 over Hungary

Regardless of the outcome in Stuttgart, Hungarian fans will take pride in playing at elite level

It was quite the reintroduction to the big stage. Hungary not only qualified but topped a group containing Austria, Iceland and eventual winners Portugal, only to go out to Belgium in the last 16.

A humiliating loss to Andorra in the failed 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign was a reminder of the many dark days, but it proved to be a freakish occurrence.

Hungary made it to Euro 2020 thanks to a play-off win over Iceland and romped to automatic qualification this summer by topping their section without losing a game.

A new generation, led by Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, have progressed to play for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Significantly, the bumper transfer fees they’ve moved for have helped to further develop the domestic game. It says much that nine of the players in manager Marco Rossi’s 26-man squad for Germany play for clubs in their homeland.

The Magyars may not yet have been quite as magical at this tournament as they would have hoped but they are least back where they belong.