Hungary beats England by 4-0 in their league game of UEFA Nations League group game

Southgate made nine changes from the team that drew with Italy at the weekend to give some fringe players a chance. But despite dominating possession, England created few chances and the experiment backfired against a Hungary team who beat them in Budapest earlier in the month and were out for blood again.

“Tonight is a chastening experience,” Southgate said, after last year`s national heroes as European Championship finalists were booed off at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton.

Hungary’s Roland Sallai began the rout when he controlled the ball on his knee after a miscued header from John Stones before drilling past Aaron Ramsdale in the 16th minute.

Sallai scored a second in the 70th minute with a perfect finish with the outside of his boot after Kalvin Phillips lost a tackle. Zsolt Nagy chipped Ramsdale and Daniel Gazdag drove from distance into the corner for two late goals that heaped pain on England.

Southgate said he had picked a young, experimental team, heavy on attacking talent, which left his side exposed when the game turned against them.

The result left Marco Rossi’s tough Hungary side top of Group A3 on seven points, with England in fourth and bottom spot on two points. Germany is second on six points after winning 5-2 against Italy, who are third on five points.

With two games left, the group winners go to the Nations League finals next June while the bottom team are relegated.

England captain Harry Kane, who provided some of England’s few moments of quality and hit the bar with a header, acknowledged his side’s second-half capitulation was “unacceptable” but also urged fans to be forgiving.

It was the first time England had lost a home match by four or more goals since March 1928 when Scotland beat them 5-1. And it was the first time an away team had scored four goals against England since the Hungarians themselves won 6-3 in 1953.