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England swept Hungary aside in their 2022 World Cup qualifier tonight, winning 0-4 in Budapest’s Puskas Arena. The win puts them in firm control of Group I and means they look set to qualify for next year’s tournament in Qatar.
Hungary were expected to give England a tough game, but that never materialized, and after a slow first half, the Three Lions ripped their hosts apart in the second period.
Goals from Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Declan Rice were enough to hand England three points. And while the win won’t erase the memories of their loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final, it was an excellent performance overall.
Here are five talking points from England’s win over Hungary.
#1 Ruthless England waste no time in getting back in the saddle after their Euro heartbreak
The summer of 2021 was obviously a tumultuous one for England. Gareth Southgate’s men made history by reaching their first major final since 1966, only to fall at the final hurdle against Italy following a heartbreaking penalty shootout.
A post-Euros hangover in this game could perhaps have been understandable, particularly with only three domestic games of the season played. However, that wasn’t the case at all.
England started relatively slowly in the first half as Hungary sat deep and clearly had designs on stifling their more illustrious opponents. But after probing and picking for 45 minutes, the Three Lions really came alive in the second half.
Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling in particular began to show more movement and positional fluidity than they displayed in the first half, and suddenly, gaps began to appear in a tired Hungarian defense.
That was enough to create plenty of chances for England, and while four goals was an excellent return, on another night they could’ve had double that. In the end, they finished the game with eight shots on target and a 64% share of the possession.
Years ago, England would’ve stuttered through this kind of test and may well have come away with a point or worse. This match, however, offered more proof that the Three Lions are continuing to evolve under Southgate, and suggested that they’ll be one of the favorites to win next year’s World Cup.
#2 Disappointing Hungary offered very little offensively
During the build-up to this game, optimistic England fans were warned that Hungary would offer their side a very tricky test.
After all, they’d performed admirably at Euro 2020, taking points from both France and Germany in the so-called ‘Group of Death’, and what’s more, here they had their talismanic playmaker Dominik Szoboszlai back from injury.
However, despite their crowd providing an intimidating and hostile atmosphere, Marco Rossi’s side offered very little on the pitch, particularly offensively.
It was clear that Hungary would be looking to counter-attack against a side expected to dominate possession, but they didn’t really manage to do that at all.
Szoboszlai was essentially anonymous for the entire game, and even when England were cruising once they’d established a lead in the second half, Hungary never really threatened.
Sure, England’s defense looked solid and were expertly screened by midfielders Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, but it was hard not to be disappointed with this limp performance from the hosts – particularly given how they performed in the summer.
Simply put, to manage just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes was woeful.
#3 Harry Kane should’ve scored more goals
England captain Harry Kane has hardly had the most settled summer following his exploits at Euro 2020. His desired move to Manchester City eventually fell through and while he now appears firmly back in the fold with Tottenham, he has yet to find the net in the Premier League.
Tonight he scored an excellent goal – diving to head in Raheem Sterling’s deflected cross – but with some better finishing, he could easily have scored four goals.
Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish both played the Tottenham striker clean through on goal in the second half, only for Kane to surprisingly fluff his lines and fire his shots directly at Hungary keeper Peter Gulacsi.
It was surprising to see such profligate finishing from the captain, particularly when Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 goals for England is now seemingly within touching distance.
Tonight’s goal moved Kane onto 39 overall, leaving him 14 short of equalling Rooney, and it now seems highly likely that he’ll surpass the former Manchester United man.
However, Kane will need to finish his chances better than he did tonight if he wants to break the record sooner rather than later. Given that he’s likely to be rested for Sunday’s match against Andorra – which is likely to be one-sided – he’ll probably be rueing a rare bad showing in front of goal tonight.
#4 Questionable crowd behaviour mars another international game
While Gareth Southgate was quick to point out that England has its own problems when it comes to players facing abuse, it’s safe to say that the scenes in Budapest tonight would not be repeated inside many other grounds.
There’s nothing wrong with fans providing a hostile atmosphere to visiting sides – Turkish teams have done this for years, for instance – but it’s safe to say that Hungary’s fans took it too far tonight.
Not only did they boo when England took a knee prior to kick-off to raise awareness of racism in football, but they also jeered England’s black players – most notably Raheem Sterling – throughout the game.
And when Sterling opened the scoring in the second half, he was visibly pelted with debris, including various cups. Meanwhile, it was reported on UK television that monkey chants were heard from the crowd, aimed at Sterling and unused substitute Jude Bellingham.
It’s clear that the issue of racism inside football grounds – particularly in Eastern Europe – just isn’t going away right now, and it might be time for both UEFA and FIFA to crack down on this behavior with a hard-line stance.
If there’s any justice in football, then Hungary should probably be forced to play at least their next game behind closed doors after the highly questionable scenes in Budapest tonight.
#5 Can Kane and Mount co-exist against tougher opponents?
The lone negative for England after tonight’s excellent showing was the performances of Mason Mount and Harry Kane in the first half.
While the second half brought dramatic improvement, particularly as Hungary tired, England’s attack often looked labored in the early going.
Most notably, it appeared that Mount simply couldn’t affect the game from his spot as England’s primary playmaker, and this seemed to be down to Kane’s tendency to drop deep in order to receive the ball. Essentially, the two players seemed to be getting in one another’s way.
Obviously this didn’t matter in the end as Hungary were swept aside, but it’s worth noting that England had similar problems in the Euro 2020 final against Italy – a game in which Mount seemed largely anonymous.
That suggests that this problem may rear its head again for the Three Lions, particularly when they are faced with tougher opposition. It may be something Gareth Southgate needs to get his head around sooner rather than later, and it may well require a change of personnel to do so.
Perhaps moving Jack Grealish – who is more of a dribbler than a passer like Mount – into a more central role would do the trick?
