BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar spent most of his professional life moving comfortably within the political world built by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. On Sunday, he brought that system down.
The 45-year-old lawyer and leader of the opposition Tisza party has charted a meteoric political rise since bursting into public view in early 2024. He galvanized large numbers of voters across Hungary who gave him a powerful mandate in Sunday's election, ending Orbán’s 16-year grip on power.
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Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party waves a national flag after a parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party applauds after claiming victory in a parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
FILE - Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider that broke ranks with the party in February, poses for a portrait after an interview with The Associated Press in Vac, Hungary, on May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
FILE - Former Hungarian government insider Peter Magyar gives a speech next tot Kossut Lajos Square on Tuesdy, in Budapest, Hungary, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
FILE - Péter Magyar, the former husband of one-time justice minister and Orbán ally Judit Varga meets with people in the crowd after his speech on Hungary's National Day in Budapest on Friday, March 15. 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
“Together we liberated Hungary, we took back our country,” Magyar told tens of thousands of his jubilant supporters at a victory party alongside the Danube River in Budapest, the country's capital, late on Sunday night.
“You gave us a mandate to build a functioning and humane home for all of us,” he said to thundering cheers from the jubilant crowd.
Before emerging as the prime minister’s most effective critic, Magyar spent years inside the governing elite. A member of Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz party since 2002, he moved easily within its political ecosystem, holding senior posts at state-run institutions and rubbing elbows with figures at the center of power.
While some of Magyar’s supporters are wary of his former ties to the ruling party, others believed only someone who has seen Orbán’s system from the inside can bring it down.
Magyar's personal life has faced scrutiny. His ex-wife, Judit Varga, accused him of abusive behavior during their marriage. Magyar has denied the allegations, saying they were part of a political campaign to discredit him after he turned against the ruling party.
His rise energized a broad segment of Hungarian society that, disenchanted with previous generations of fragmented and ineffectual opposition parties, has long sought a viable alternative to Orbán.
While Orbán has campaigned on a myriad external threats facing Hungary, like the war in neighboring Ukraine, Magyar has focused on bread-and-butter issues that affect ordinary Hungarians: inflation, low wages, the deterioration of public health care and transportation, and endemic corruption.
While Magyar has succeeded in mobilizing Orbán critics from across the political spectrum, support for him is not always rooted in ideological alignment. Some liberal voters remain wary of his combative style and conservative views.
Hoping to avoid mistakes by previous opposition leaders who gave Fidesz ammunition for attacks, Magyar has carefully avoided taking firm positions on a number of divisive issues like Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies and whether Hungary should extend more support to Ukraine.
Magyar has described himself as drawn to politics from an early age. As a child growing up during the final years of communist rule, he admired Orbán and his circle of young liberal democrats who were challenging Soviet domination at the end of the Cold War.
Magyar has said he watched parliamentary debates on television while in grade school and attended political demonstrations with his parents. Immersed in conservative politics, Magyar joined Fidesz in 2002 at 21, and formed friendships with other rising figures in the party including Gergely Gulyás, who would later become Orbán’s chief of staff.
After graduating with a law degree from a Catholic university in 2003, Magyar began working as a lawyer. In 2006, while Fidesz was in opposition, he provided pro bono legal representation to anti-government demonstrators arrested during violent protests against the then-Socialist government.
That same year, he married fellow lawyer Judit Varga, who would later become one of Orbán’s most prominent ministers. The couple moved to Brussels in 2009, where Varga worked advising a Hungarian member of the European Parliament.
During their years abroad, alongside a stint as a stay-at-home father for their three children, Magyar worked for Hungary's Foreign Ministry and as a diplomat with its permanent representation to the European Union.
After returning to Hungary with his family in 2018, Magyar moved into leadership roles at several state-affiliated institutions. Meanwhile, Varga’s star was rising within Fidesz, and she was appointed justice minister in 2019. Alongside Katalin Novák, an Orbán ally who in 2022 became Hungary’s youngest president and the first woman to hold the office, Varga was widely seen as a possible successor to Orbán.
But a political scandal in 2024 was soon to change Magyar’s personal and political trajectory, and fundamentally transform Hungarian politics.
After returning from Brussels, Magyar's relationship with Varga deteriorated, and the couple divorced in 2023.
The following year, Varga was implicated in a scandal that rocked Hungary when it emerged that President Novák had granted a pardon to a convicted accomplice in a child sexual abuse case. The decision shocked the country and led to Novák's resignation, while Varga, who had endorsed the pardon, also stepped down.
The next day, Magyar gave a lengthy interview to the popular Hungarian YouTube channel Partizán in which he publicly broke with Fidesz, accusing Orbán’s government of systemic corruption and operating in the interests of a small circle of political and economic elites.
The interview quickly went viral, drawing more than 2 million views in a country of fewer than 10 million, and transformed Magyar from a relatively obscure insider into a national political figure overnight.
In the weeks that followed, he intensified his criticism of the government and began organizing public events. On March 15, Hungary’s national holiday, he addressed thousands of supporters in Budapest and announced plans to launch a new political movement that would later become the Tisza party.
In June that year, Tisza won 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections, and Magyar became an EU lawmaker.
In interviews since entering politics, Magyar has portrayed himself as someone who often voiced dissent even while working within the Fidesz system, saying he regularly expressed criticism and pushed for internal debate.
Beyond the substance of his criticism of Orbán’s rule, Magyar has developed a level of political celebrity that, not counting Orbán, is rarely seen in Hungarian politics. After his rallies, crowds often surge toward the stage to take selfies with him, waiting patiently as he poses for photos with supporters one by one.
Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party waves a national flag after a parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Peter Magyar, the leader of the opposition Tisza party applauds after claiming victory in a parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
FILE - Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider that broke ranks with the party in February, poses for a portrait after an interview with The Associated Press in Vac, Hungary, on May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
FILE - Former Hungarian government insider Peter Magyar gives a speech next tot Kossut Lajos Square on Tuesdy, in Budapest, Hungary, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
FILE - Péter Magyar, the former husband of one-time justice minister and Orbán ally Judit Varga meets with people in the crowd after his speech on Hungary's National Day in Budapest on Friday, March 15. 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
Paris Saint-Germain has won the Champions League for the second consecutive year after beating Arsenal in a penalty shootout in Budapest, Hungary.
Arsenal missed two of its five spot kicks while PSG only missed one. The game was tied at 1-1 after extra time.
Arsenal was bidding to become European champion for the first time on its return to the final after a 20-year wait. Both teams were coming off winning their own domestic leagues, in France and England, respectively.
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The French team converted four of its five penalty kicks in the shootout.
Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes missed for Arsenal.
Paris Saint-Germain is European champion once again.
It’s the eighth time a shootout has been needed to settle the title match since the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.
The last one was in 2016, when Cristiano Ronaldo converted the decisive kick for Real Madrid and flexed his muscles after removing his jersey.
No big chances so far in the second half of extra time.
PSG are passing the ball around but not finding paths through Arsenal’s defense.
Arsenal appear content to sit back and let this end in a penalty shootout.
It's still 1-1 at Puskas Arena.
Boos from Arsenal fans rang around the stadium after the referee turned down a penalty appeal by Noni Madueke following a challenge by Willian Pacho.
Arsenal's Declan Rice was livid that a spot kick wasn’t given and took his disgruntlement too far, getting a yellow card from the referee.
In Paris, riot police have clashed with PSG supporters after a bus shelter window was smashed on the famous avenue in Paris.
There was widespread disorder across the French capital and beyond following PSG’s Champions League title last year, which led to hundreds of arrests nationwide.
Goncalo Ramos has replaced Ousmane Dembélé for PSG. Dembélé appeared to be struggling with a leg injury toward the end of the second half.
It's 1-1 after regulation time and there will be an extra 30 minutes of play.
The last time there was extra time in the Champions League final, Real Madrid was drawing 1-1 with Atletico Madrid in 2016. Real Madrid went on to win on penalties.
Wingers Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli come on for Arsenal, replacing Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard.
Meanwhile, PSG makes its first chance, bringing on Bradley Barcola for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Dozens of police in riot gear entered the perimeter of the field as PSG fans set off flares to celebrate the equalizer.
They formed a wall in front of the PSG section for a few minutes before retreating down the tunnel.
Just marking their presence – flares and other pyrotechnics are forbidden by UEFA.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reacted to conceding the goal by making two changes: one of them being striker Viktor Gyökeres coming on for Martin Odegaard in a switch that will see Kai Havertz drop into midfield.
Also, Jurrien Timber replaces Cristhian Mosquera as right back.
Ousmane Dembélé holds his nerve and converts his penalty kick into the bottom left corner.
PSG fans are setting off flares to celebrate.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been fouled by Cristhian Mosquera in the area and the referee points to the penalty spot.
PSG is pushing forward and Arsenal is trying to slow things down. Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera is dragging his feet a bit too much at a throw-in and receives a yellow card for time wasting.
They do have potentially game-changing options on the bench, notably in France forward Bradley Barcola and Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos.
Ousmane Dembélé has been quiet – is he fully fit? – and has been snuffed out by Arsenal’s big center backs.
There’s also Senny Mayulu, a 20-year-old attacker who scored as a substitute for PSG in last year’s 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the final.
Arsenal has done a very good job of keeping PSG’s wide players quiet. Désiré Doué, the star of last year’s final, has been ineffective. So has Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
PSG is having lots of possession, but keeps coming up against a red wall with so little space around the box.
PSG’s players also look unusually nervous on the ball. Perhaps a little too afraid to get caught on the break again after falling behind early in the first half.
An early goal, then defend the lead.
This final is going just how Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta might have dreamed.
There was an element of fortune about Kai Havertz’s goal. But Arsenal fans won’t care about that.
PSG has had one shot on goal – a speculative long-range effort in the final minute of the half.
The defending champions need to improve drastically.
We’re past the half-hour point in the final, and PSG still hasn’t had a shot on target.
The French champions have, though, had more than 70% possession. But it’s not getting them anywhere.
The coaches of the two finalists – PSG’s Luis Enrique and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta – are both Spanish. And they go way back.
They were together at Barcelona in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Arteta was starting his professional career and Luis Enrique was coming toward the end of his.
Arteta has said he “learnt a lot of things” from Luis Enrique as a player and now as a coach, saying he has “this unbelievable power” and an approach to life that he really likes.
Arteta had a spell on loan at PSG in 2000-01, when he played alongside Ronaldinho and Nicolas Anelka.
PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov needs attention from team medics after receiving a blow to the head.
Backup keeper Lucas Chevalier is warming up but Safonov remains on the field for now. Chevalier lost his starting spot in favor of Safonov earlier this season and, due to his limited playing time, was not selected for the French national team for the World Cup.
The teams are taking a break for drinks at the midway point of the first half.
Things are going just as Arsenal would like, still leading 1-0.
The Germany forward becomes only the third player – after Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Real Madrid) and Mario Mandzukic (Juventus and Bayern Munich) — to score in a Champions League final for two different teams, according to stats supplier Opta.
Arsenal is sitting deep and PSG has all the possession.
Expect that to be the case while Arsenal leads.
There’s even a bit of time-wasting from Arsenal on goal kicks -- to the annoyance of PSG fans.
Kai Havertz makes it 1-0 for the Gunners in the sixth minute.
Marquinhos’ attempted clearance rebounds off Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard and into the path of Havertz, who strides through on goal from near halfway. His shot from a narrow angle goes into the roof of the net.
The players emerge from their huddles and the Champions League is underway with Arsenal taking the kickoff.
An English fan was taken to hospital Saturday afternoon after suffering what police called a “life-threatening” injury in an electric scooter accident, but wasn’t willing to let the injury keep him from the final.
Budapest police said the man “left the hospital without permission because he was adamant about going to the match.”
They added that they are looking for the man and trying to contact his family “because he requires immediate medical attention.”
Only Real Madrid has successfully defended the Champions League title since the competition was rebranded in 1992.
Can PSG be the second team to do so?
The Madrid team of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale won the Champions League three times in a row (2016-18), under coach Zinedine Zidane.
Since then, no defending champion has reached the final until this PSG team, which beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich last year.
PSG and Arsenal have reached the title match adopting vastly different playing approaches.
PSG is the top-scoring team in the competition with 44 goals -- that’s an average of more than three per game.
Arsenal has the Champions League’s best defense, letting in just six goals in 14 games and keeping nine clean sheets, three more than any other team has registered.
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The man entrusted with being the referee for the biggest match in club soccer won’t even be going to next month's World Cup.
German ref Daniel Siebert was left off FIFA’s list of match officials for the World Cup – after going to the 2022 edition in Qatar – so handling the Champions League final is a consolation prize in a sense.
This will be the third straight round Siebert will have worked an Arsenal match.
Video review – or VAR, as it’s known in soccer circles — will be in operation for the final.
PSG: Matvey Safonov; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Vitinha, João Neves, Fabian Ruiz; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué.
Arsenal: David Raya; Cristhian Mosquera, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Piero Hincapié; Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard; Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka.
Zohran Mamdani is a big Arsenal fan and the New York Mayor was seen wearing club-branded clothing when he joined residents across the city for Eid al-Adha prayers this week.
In an article he has written for The Athletic ahead of the final, Mamdani said he started supporting Arsenal from the age of 9 after his uncle “introduced me to a team with a cannon on its shirt.”
He says supporting the team “increasingly became an exercise in nostalgia” until the recent uplift under Mikel Arteta.
“Over these past two years, no matter how chaotic life became, Arsenal remained the constant,” he writes.
Mamdani acknowledges PSG is “brilliant” and “frustratingly well-managed” by Luis Enrique, but has a message for Arsenal and its fans: “Enjoy this moment, because they don’t come around often.”
Fans are making their way to the stadium under a cloudy, threatening sky in Budapest, and they’ll have a role to play in the final.
Not least with the rival chants that you might get to hear in your TV broadcast.
PSG’s most notable song will see their passionate Ultras bellow “Tous ensemble on chantera” (All together we will sing).
Arsenal fans have their own chant that has grown in popularity over the last few seasons in manager Arteta’s 6 ½-year reign, with a chorus taken from “The Angel (North London Forever)” -- written by singer and Arsenal fan Louis Dunford in 2022.
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This is the first European Cup final to be staged in Hungary and it comes at an interesting time for the Central European country, a few weeks after right-wing populist leader Viktor Orbán‘s heavy defeat in the elections.
Péter Magyar is the prime minister and is set to attend the match at the 67,000-seat Puskas Arena, a stadium that opened in 2019 and was built on the same site as the previous Ferenc Puskas Stadion — named after the Hungarian and Real Madrid great who won three European Cups as a player.
Orbán is a massive soccer fan and attempted to bring back the glory days of the 1950s, when Hungary had one of the world’s top teams.
To that end, the arena, located a few kilometers east of central Budapest, has become a well-known host for European games. The stadium staged the UEFA Super Cup in 2020, as well as a slew of Champions League group games and four European Championship matches in 2021. In 2023, it hosted the Europa League final won by Sevilla.
Pre-match entertainment is being provided by American rock band The Killers, who are best known for songs like “Mr. Brightside,” “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Somebody Told Me.”
It differs from the Super Bowl, where artists perform in a halftime show.
The Killers, who hail from Las Vegas, predicted an “epic match” when they were announced to be performing – though at the time, they didn’t know who the finalists would be.
In previous years, Linkin Park, Lenny Kravitz and Dua Lipa have been headliners in Champions League finals.
Some 48,000 fans are expected to fill PSG’s stadium in Paris, the Parc des Princes, to watch the match on giant screens.
PSG said Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire is among the officials expected to attend.
Former players, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Claude Makélélé and Ronaldinho, have been invited to Budapest for the final.
It’s the first time in 55 years that clubs from two different capital cities are competing in the final of Europe’s biggest club competition.
The last was Ajax (of Amsterdam) vs. Panathinaikos (of Athens) in 1971.
There were only two before that: Benfica (Lisbon) vs. Real Madrid in 1962 and Real Madrid vs. Partizan Belgrade in 1966.
This is also the first major European final featuring teams from France and England.
It’s the last match of the European club season – and World Cup coaches will be watching on with a mixture of intrigue and nervousness.
The World Cup begins in 12 days, and the squads of both PSG and Arsenal are bulging with players heading to the tournament being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Any injuries sustained in the final could be devastating so close to the big kickoff.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says winning the Premier League has whetted the players’ appetite for more trophies.
Nothing comes bigger than the Champions League.
“The ambition is bigger,” Arteta said in his pre-match news conference. “We have one, and we want the second one ... there has to be a platform to reach bigger destinations.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was the first player in the squad to get his hands on the Premier League trophy, and he liked it.
“When you get the taste of winning and lifting a trophy,” Odegaard says, “you know how nice it feels. And we want to do it again.”
Many of soccer’s superstar players will be taking the field at Puskas Arena – not least PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé, the most recent world player of the year.
Désiré Doué, the 20-year-old forward who lit up last year’s final with two goals in the record 5-0 win over Inter Milan, is still a shining light for PSG along with Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and three of Cristiano Ronaldo’s top teammates with Portugal – Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Joao Neves.
Arsenal has England stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice in midfield and the striker who has just sent Sweden to the World Cup – Viktor Gyökeres.
Groups of fans got physical late Friday in Budapest’s frequented party area, leading police to launch an investigation over disorderly conduct.
Videos on social media showed several dozen people throwing punches and kicks, driving another group down Király street in the capital’s District 7.
One fan held a burning red flare before throwing it toward the other group, which was retreating down the street. Budapest police said in a statement that the violence erupted shortly after midnight, and that it was using surveillance footage to try to identify participants.
__ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG fans celebrate their side's first goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring from a penalty kick during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Arsenal's Leandro Trossard falls to the ground in a clash with PSG's Desire Doue during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz celebrates after scoring during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Arsenal fans cheers before the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz celebrates after scoring during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
PSG fans hold up their scarves before the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
The trophy is displayed on the pitch before the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Generel view of the Puskas Arena a day ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
PSG supporters react as they make their way to the stadium ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rudolf Karancsi-Albert)
PSG supporters are accompanied by security ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rudolf Karancsi-Albert)
