Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Jack Rathborn

Soccer Aid LIVE: World XI beat England on penalties to win 2022 charity match for fourth straight year

Getty Images
Southgate oversees England training for Hungary test in NL

This can no longer be written off as meaningless. The Nations League has instead produced England’s worst-ever home defeat to a side from outside the old “home nations”, and worst in all since 1928, as Hungary symbolically surpassed their own famous 6-3 of 1953.

We might well see a similar inquest. This obviously can’t be dismissed as just the Nations League any more. There felt more to it than fatigue or circumstances.

Gareth Southgate has real problems to solve, as his team lost momentum and - perhaps most relevantly - he lost the support of a significant section of a home crowd. It is the first show of the sort of negativity that used to sour so many campaigns and managerial reigns of the past, and this went really toxic.

Southgate and his players were repeatedly booed, with that reaching a crescendo as Harry Maguire was brought on to shore up a defence that had lost John Stones to a red card.

It was that kind of night, where it was hard to settle on what the low point was. It just kept getting worse. Follow all the reaction as England lose to Hungary below:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.