UEFA Nations League | Ruthless Hungary hand dismal England a historic 4-0 home defeat

England suffered its worst home loss since 1928 with a 4-0 loss to Hungary in the Nations League on Tuesday.

Less than a year after reaching the European Championship final on home soil to raucous celebrations, England was jeered by its own fans after a heavy loss to an unheralded Hungary team, which completed a double after upsetting England last week. European champion Italy had it little better as it was beaten 5-2 by Germany.

Hungary had been clinging on to a 1-0 lead from Roland Sallai’s early goal for much of the match, before England fell apart in the latter stages. Sallai made it 2-0 in the 70th minute before Zsolt Nagy fired in a shot from the edge of the box for 3-0. England defender John Stones was sent off for a second booking and Daniel Gazdag added a fourth for Hungary.

It was England’s heaviest home loss since being beaten 5-1 by Scotland 94 years ago.

Italy, still trying to recover from failing to qualify for the World Cup three months ago, was swept aside by Germany as Timo Werner scored twice.

Also in League A, Belgium’s 1-0 win over Poland in Group 4 was more restrained than its 6-1 thrashing of the same opposition last week. The Netherlands stayed atop the group by beating Wales 3-2.

Other matches

Tuesday’s Nations League games marked the end of a long, draining season of European club and international games. For some players, the next season is already looming.

Two of Andorra’s starting lineup for a 2-1 loss to Moldova are set to kick off the 2022-23 Champions League in seven days’ time when national champion Inter Club d’Escaldes plays in the preliminary round of qualifying.

Elsewhere, Scotland came back from 1-0 down to beat nine-man Armenia 4-1, Turkey beat Lithuania 2-0, and Ukraine and Ireland drew 1-1, with Ukraine playing its home game in Poland because of the Russian invasion.