Sandor Torghelle's strike was enough to sink Albania and keep Hungary in second place in Group 1. The FC Augsburg striker got the only goal in the 38th minute in a hard-fourth encounter in Tirana.
Both teams started the match knowing that nothing less than a victory would realistically keep their South Africa 2010 hopes alive, and it was Albania, with a raucous crowd behind them, that had most of the early pressure.
Hamdi Salihi came closest to opening the scoring midway through the half, heading wide at the back post before dragging a 20 yard shot wide after a Szabolcs Huszti mistake had put him through.
Hungary, playing quickly on the counter, saw two long-range efforts from Tamas Hajnal go past the post as the game went from end to end.
