England vs Hungary LIVE: Nations League result, final score and reaction tonight

Given the experimental selections, exhausted players and empty stadiums bar excitable schoolchildren, England’s end-of-season Nations League games have felt a little like the international friendlies that they were supposed to replace. Case in point: when the final whistle sounded on Saturday’s goalless draw with Italy, not one of Gareth Southgate’s players out on the pitch looked especially disappointed with the result. That was entirely understandable at the end of a long, hard and hectic campaign.

At least this fourth and final outing against Hungary will be the first at home – or Molineux, at least – in front of a full crowd, and the first with a sense of mild peril about it too. Anything less than a win for England and progressing to the Nations League finals this time next year will look extremely difficult. Lose and, ahead of a trip to the San Siro and the visit of Germany to Wembley in September, the prospect of relegation into the competition’s second tier will suddenly feel very real.

Admittedly, that still does not sound too perilous. The Nations League introduced the concept of relegation to international football four years ago and, four years on, it is still hard to take it as seriously as its club equivalent. The whole idea was rather undermined when, a few months after the inaugural edition had finished, Uefa granted a reprieve to those nations who finished bottom of their groups so that they could revamp and expand this new, oddly successful tournament.

Hungary have scored just seven goals in their last 16 meetings with England in all competitions and have never netted more than once in a game in this run. Five of those seven goals have come in the last six clashes.

England have scored 61 goals against Hungary in all competitions – their third highest total against a nation outside of the United Kingdom/Republic of Ireland (Belgium 72, France 71).

Hungary have lost just two of their last 12 matches in the Uefa Nations League, picking up six wins in the process (D4). Indeed, the Hungarians have found the back of the net in 11 of those 12 games, only failing to net against Russia in October 2020 (0-0).

England have only failed to score in three of their 25 meetings with Hungary in all competitions, including last time out on June 4th (0-1) – they’ve never failed to score in consecutive games against Hungary.

England have never lost against Hungary when opening the scoring, going on to win 15 of the 16 matches in which they scored first (D1).

England lost their last match against Hungary earlier this month, ending a 15-match unbeaten run against them between 1965 and 2021. They last lost back-to-back games against the Hungarians between 1953 and 1962, a run of four.

Hungary have only won one of their eleven away games against England (D1 L9), a famous 6-3 win at Wembley in November 1953 with Nándor Hidegkuti scoring a hat-trick.

It was England’s first home defeat against a non-British or Irish nation, and Hidegkuti remains the last away player to score a hat-trick against England.

Hungary midfielder Adam Nagy says England have no choice but to win Tuesday’s Nations League clash following the “debacle in Budapest”.

Marco Rossi’s well-drilled Magyars stunned the Three Lions at the start of their run of four matches in 11 days, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s penalty securing a 1-0 triumph at the half-full Puskas Arena.

England’s first loss to Hungary since 1962 has been followed by draws with Germany and Italy, with Gareth Southgate admitting they need to win Tuesday’s rematch to stand any chance of winning Group A3.

England captain Harry Kane insists he does not feel overburdened as he continues his quest to become the nation’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Kane reached a half-century of senior Three Lions goals as his late penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw against Germany last week.

It is the only goal England have managed in their three Nations League fixtures this month with the visit of Hungary to Molineux on Tuesday night their last of the season.

Manager Gareth Southgate said after the goalless stalemate with Italy on Saturday that he was “concerned” by the reliance on both Kane and Raheem Sterling to score the goals for England.

Football’s lawmakers have been accused of taking a “blinkered view” towards concussion by the wife of former England captain Dave Watson.

Watson, who won 65 England caps, is living with dementia and researchers in the United States last year identified abnormalities in his brain consistent with the progressive neurodegenerative disease CTE, which is associated with repeated blows to the head.

Watson’s wife Penny signed an open letter to football’s law-making body the International Football Association Board (Ifab), along with former players, union executives and medics, stating that the existing concussion protocols which only allow for additional permanent concussion substitutes failed to provide sufficient protection to players.

The signatories called for temporary concussion subs to be trialled, which would give medics an extended period of time to carry out an assessment on the player suspected of having concussion away from the pitch.

Moving back to domestic football for the time being. Liverpool have announced that Darwin Nunez has signed from Benfica.

The 22-year-old has signed a six year contract and the move is subject to international clearance and work permit approval.

The initial fee is £64m and will rise to a potential £85m if he reaches every milestone during his time at the club – with add-ons ranging from scoring goals to winning the Champions League.

It is likely the fee will hit the £75m mark if Nunez plays regularly, with Liverpool’s club record transfer being the £75m they paid to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in 2018.

The England players are looking relaxed ahead of kick off at 7:45pm. Can they pick up all three points tonight?

Scotland end their international break with a victory over Armenia! It’s a morale boosting victory for Steve Clarke after his team missed out on a place at this year’s World Cup.