Denzel Dumfries’ late header salvaged a point for the Netherlands in Budapest to leave their hopes of qualifying for the Nations League knock-out stages hanging by a thread.

Dumfries took over the captain’s armband from Virgil van Dijk after the Liverpool defender picked up two yellow cards in two minutes during an increasingly frantic second half.

Hungary had taken the lead in a first half where Oranje dominated possession but struggled to cut through a well-organised defence. In the 32nd minute Zsolt Nagy seized on a loose pass by Tijjani Reijnders and found Rolland Sallai, who beat Bart Verbruggen at the far post.

The Dutch were handed a lifeline six minutes later when Hungary were penalised for infringing at a goal-kick, but Cody Gakpo was unable to take advantage of the bizarre situation.

Hungary dug in for the second half as Oranje bombarded the home side’s goal, with Stefan de Vrij twice going close with headers.

And Ronald Koeman’s misery deepened when Van Dijk picked up his second yellow card in the 79th minute for a clumsy tackle, two minutes after he had been booked for protesting too hard against a Hungarian challenge.

But four minutes later Dumfries rose to meet a free-kick by Gakpo with a header that was too powerful for goalkeeper Denez Dibusz to keep out.

The result leaves Oranje two points behind Germany, who beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 in Zenica with two goals from Deniz Undav. The Netherlands’ next match is against Germany in Munich on Monday.