WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Reuters) – Hungary thrashed a dreadful England 4-0 away on Tuesday to go top of their Nations League group and perpetuate the hosts’ winless run in a competition they had hoped would be a morale-boosting warmup for the World Cup.
With only one goal and two points in their first three games of this Nations League campaign, England dominated early possession at Molineux stadium and could have gone ahead had Jarrod Bowen been sharper with a close-range header.
But Hungary shocked last year’s European Championship finalists in the 16th minute when a miscued header from John Stones dropped to Roland Sallai who controlled the ball on his thigh before drilling it past Aaron Ramsdale into the goal.
Sallai scored a second in the 70th minute with a perfect finish with the outside of his boot after Kalvin Phillips lost a tackle. Zsolt Nagy chipped Ramsdale and Daniel Gazdag drove from distance into the corner for two late goals that heaped humiliation on England playing in Wolverhampton.
Adding to their disastrous night, England defender Stones was sent off for two yellow cards.
England captain Harry Kane, who provided some of England’s few moments of quality and hit the bar with a header, acknowledged his side’s second half capitulation was “unacceptable” but urged fans to be forgiving.
“It’s our first big defeat in a long time. It’s not time to panic, it’s time to keep our heads up,” he said.
“We have to take it on the chin and move forward, prepare for the World Cup, we’ll learn a lot … Let’s not forget where we’ve come from. It’s not going to be perfect every game.”
The result left Hungary top of Group A3 on seven points with England in fourth and bottom spot on two points. The group winners go to the Nations League finals next June while the bottom team are relegated.
After reaching the semi-finals of the last World Cup in Russia then narrowly losing last year’s Euros to Italy, England have high hopes for the Qatar World Cup at the end of this year. But their dismal form in the Nations League has baffled fans and saw boos ringing out as they traipsed off the Molineux pitch.
It was the first time England had lost a home match by four or more goals since March 1928 when Scotland beat them 5-1.
(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Toby Davis)
