England is staring down the possibility of being knocked out of UEFA’s Nations League at the highest level in the eyes of their nation following a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Hungary on Tuesday, which handed England their most heavy home defeat since 1928. The cruelly humiliating loss means that England’s hopes of reaching the Nations League finals are at an end, but with a World Cup just over five months away, a demolition feels like it could have far broader implications.
Less than a year on from reaching the final of the European Championships on home soil, accompanied by wild celebrations, England was being booed by their fans following a resounding defeat against a lesser-heralded Hungary side who completed the double following their shock upset over England the previous week. England suffered a cruelly humiliating defeat when Hungary swept them aside 4-0, with home fans crying foul on manager Gareth Southgate for not knowing what he was doing. England is heading towards a loss to Hungary for the second time in 10 days.
The defeat was England’s first home loss of four goals or more since March 1928, when Scotland defeated England 5-1. It got ugly for England after that, with both Zsolt Nagy and Daniel Gazdag scoring on either side of a red card to John Stones, inflicting the 4-0 humiliation. England’s wretched Nations League campaign continued as they slipped to their worst defeat at home since 1928 to an unforgiving Hungary, leaving Gareth Southgate’s men entrenched at the bottom of Group A3. With Gareth Southgate’s team falling 4-0 to Hungary in the UEFA Nations League, it was a night to forget for Italy, too, as they lost 5-2 to Germany.
Hungary humiliated England 4-0 on away turf Tuesday, topping their Nations League group and handing the hosts their worst home defeat for 94 years. According to Gareth Southgate’s England, the failure was 1-0 to Hungary, which leaves the hosts with no points and no goals in World Cup football. Gareth Southgate was targeted by a large portion of the home crowd in Wolverhampton for his snubbing, even though he has the credentials of taking England to a major tournament final for the first time in 55 years at Euro 2020 and a semifinal appearance at the World Cup in 2018. After failing to win any matches in four Nations League matches, scoring only once, Southgate has defended his decision to rotate his squad and allow fringe players playing time. After the defeat against Hungary, coach Gareth Southgate told Channel 4, “The irony is the two United States Football Association (Uefa) Nations League campaigns are probably what has piled negativity and pressure on England; you do not usually get [the Uefa Nations League] that way as an England coach.