Will the visitors defend their lead from the first leg?
For a brief moment, it looked like there was going to be a surprise in the first leg when Stefan Gartenmann scored an own goal to put FC Noah ahead 1-0 against Ferencvaros Budapest. But then the Magyars reacted and ended up winning 2-1 away from home, thus securing qualification for the third round of the Champions League qualifiers. However, if Ferencvaros Budapest beat Noah away from home, the Armenian underdog’s away win would take the match to extra time.
But there are not many arguments in favor of the newcomer from Armenia. After five consecutive defeats away from home in international competitions, FC Noah drew 2-2 against Buducnost Podgorica in the first round of qualifying. The Hungarians, meanwhile, have won their last four home games in Europe, which tips the scales even more in favor of Ferencvaros Budapest against Noah.
The Armenians will certainly try again in the second leg on the Danube. However, Yerevan’s players failed to score any goals at home, as the advantage, as mentioned, was an own goal by the Budapest player Gartenmann. In addition, Zöld sasok has a lot of defensive quality and starts the game at home with a 2-1 lead, so the pressure falls on the visitors.
Ferencvaros Budapest – Stats and current form
The Ferencvárosi Torna Club – FTC, in its Hungarian acronym – is based in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. The club from the Danube city is the country’s biggest champion and cup winner, and this summer it won the national title for the 36th time in the club’s history. Only the conquest of the cup was not repeated for the third consecutive year.
Now, Zöld sasok (in Portuguese: the Green Eagles) want to reach the group stage (or, as we now know, the league stage) of the UEFA Champions League for the third time, after 2004/05 and 2020/21. The path to that was already traced last week, despite Gartenmann’s own goal and the numerical disadvantage after Cissé’s dismissal. If Ferencvaros Budapest fail to beat Noah away from home, a draw would be enough for Robbie Keane’s side to advance to the third qualifying round.
Ferencvaros Budapest drop points in league debut
However, the chances of getting another win at home are very good. Ferencvaros Budapest have won their last four home games in Europe, despite facing much tougher opponents than Armenian champions Yerevan, such as Viktoria Pilsen (1-0), AZ Alkmaar (4-3), Malmö (4-1) and OGC Nice (1-0).
But this match will not be easy for the Hungarian champion, because on Saturday, in the preview of the Hungarian first division (NB I), there was a setback. Precisely against rival MTK Budapest, Zöld sasok could not go beyond a 1-1 draw, in which Joseph’s early advantage was not enough to secure the three points. After a restructuring of the squad, with ten departures and 17 signings – including the return of several loan players –, the automatisms still do not seem to be fully consolidated at this early stage of the season…
Ferencvaros Budapest Squad Prediction:
Dibusz – Dowda, Ötvös, Gustavo, Gartenmann, Makreckis – Joseph, Keita, Tóth, Levi – Varga
Noah – Stats and current form
FC Noah is based in the Armenian city of Yerevan. The club was founded only in 2017, but in its second year it managed to rise to the country’s first division. In 2020, the newly promoted won their first major title, winning the Armenian Cup. Five years later, in addition to the second cup win, the first championship title also came. The players, who now wear the black shirt, enter their first qualifying phase for the Champions League with the boost of the national double.
In 2024/25, the Armenians went through all the stages of the Conference League qualifiers, eliminating, among others, AEK Athens, and advanced to the group stage of Europe’s third most important club competition. There, however, the small club quickly showed its limitations. Among other results, they suffered an 8-0 thrashing to Chelsea, who ended up winning the competition.
Noah underperforming away from home in Europe
Once again, the rookie proved to be very resilient in 2025/26 and managed to eliminate Montenegrin champions Buducnost Podgorica in the first qualifying round for the Champions League, with an overall result of 3-2. But, after four consecutive defeats away from home in Europe, the team also managed “only” a 2-2 draw in the visit to Montenegro.
Of the first ten games played away from home in Europe, the Yerevan club won only one match (two draws and seven defeats) – a 2-1 victory over KF Shkendija, which dates back to the first round of last year’s Conference League qualifiers. Another worrying fact is that Sandro Perkovic’s team has only played official international matches so far, without having yet played in the Armenian league, which can be considered a disadvantage in terms of competitiveness. It is no coincidence that the ODDSET app offers odds of 7.50 for a win away for Ferencvaros Budapest against Noah.
Noah lineup prediction:
Cancarevic – Sualehe, Muradyan, Silva, Boakye – Eteki, Sangaré – Grgic, Omar, Ferreira – Gregório
Ferencvaros Budapest – Noah Head-to-Head / H2H Results
Head-to-head: 1–0–0
The first leg, last Tuesday, was the first and only official international match played between the two teams. With the 2-1 victory away from home in Armenia, Ferencvaros Budapest leads the head-to-head against FC Noah.
Ferencvaros Budapest – Noah Prediction
Also before the return match, the bets of the best bookmakers clearly point to Ferencvaros Budapest against Noah, who is not only superior in terms of squad, but also has a great asset in his favor: the home factor. Zöld sasok have won their last four European home games, while visiting Armenia have won just one of ten European away games in the club’s history (two draws and seven defeats).
At the end of the day, Zöld sasok’s qualification for the third round of the Champions League qualifiers should not be threatened. We also don’t expect any reaction from the Armenians, who, in our opinion, should already have a lot of difficulty scoring an away goal, without which there would be no more emotion.
