This was not how Gareth Southgate had envisaged the start of the countdown to the Qatar World Cup. On a night when more than 30,000 Hungarian schoolchildren massed into this boisterous arena, blowing their vuvuzelas, making a screeching din from start to finish, England produced one of their worst performances for some time.
They had entered this Nations League opener – nominally to be played behind closed doors because of the bad behaviour of Hungary fans during Euro 2020 but with kids allowed under a Uefa loophole and lots of them – boasting an intimidating record. Eighteen wins in 22 matches and only one defeat – on penalties to Italy in last summer’s Euro final.
