June 04, (THEWILL) – Gareth Southgate’s England team lost 1-0 to Hungary in their Nations League opening tie, with a Dominik Szoboszlai penalty ending England’s record 22-game unbeaten run.
The Three Lions had not lost outside of penalty shootouts since 2020, but came up short in their first competitive match in a World Cup year in Budapest.
Substitute Reece James was penalised for a trailing arm on Zsolt Nagy in the box and Szoboszlai scored from the penalty spot 24 minutes from time to give Hungary its first win over England since 1962, ending England’s longest ever unbeaten run.
Despite a stadium ban for racist behaviour at Euro 2020, nearly 35,000 people cheered the result in a behind-closed-doors match, as children were allowed to attend in accordance with UEFA restrictions.
Again, there were boos from the crowd as England took a knee ahead of kick-off in Budapest, where their players had been abused the year before.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
