Hungary defeat joins list of embarrassing losses suffered by England

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England v Hungary – UEFA Nations League – Group 3 – Molineux Stadium
(Image credit: Nick Potts)

England slumped to a humiliating 4-0 loss at the hands of Hungary in their UEFA Nations League clash at Molineux on Tuesday, their heaviest home reverse in 94 years.

Here, the PA news agency looks at five other embarrassing England defeats.

United States 1 England 0 (Belo Horizonte, World Cup 1950)

With star names such as Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, England were firm tournament favourites when they entered the World Cup for the first time in 1950. Things did not go according to plan as Joe Gaetjens’ goal handed a team of American amateurs a shock victory.

Norway 2 England 1 (Oslo, 1982 World Cup qualifier, 1981)

England reached the 1982 World Cup despite an embarrassing loss to Norway in qualifying

England reached the 1982 World Cup despite an embarrassing loss to Norway in qualifying (PA Archive)

Norway were minnows when they stunned an England side containing the likes of Kevin Keegan and Bryan Robson, prompting some memorable commentary from Bjorge Lillelien. Robson put England ahead but Tom Lund and Hallvar Thoresen hit back. “Your boys took one hell of a beating!” Lillelien screamed after reeling off a lengthy list of seemingly every famous English person he could think of.

England 2 Croatia 3 (Wembley, Euro 2008 qualifier, 2007)

Steve McClaren's England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 on a miserable night at Wembley

Steve McClaren’s England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 on a miserable night at Wembley (Martin Rickett/PA)

England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 on a miserable night which began badly when goalkeeper Scott Carson fumbled a Nico Kranjcar shot into the net and Ivica Olic added a second. Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch replied but Mladen Petric won it, leaving England manager Steve McClaren looking a sad sight under his umbrella.

Germany 4 England 1 (Bloemfontein, World Cup 2010)

England were outplayed by Germany in South Africa

England were outplayed by Germany in South Africa (Martin Rickett/PA)

Fabio Capello’s World Cup hopes unravelled in South Africa as his side were comprehensively beaten by Germany in the last 16. Goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski set up victory before Matthew Upson pulled one back. Frank Lampard did have a legitimate equaliser ruled out with a shot that clearly crossed the line, but the Germans were far superior and Thomas Muller added two more goals.

England 1 Iceland 2 (Nice, Euro 2016)

England’s loss to Iceland at Euro 2016 was one of the worst in the country's history

England’s loss to Iceland at Euro 2016 was one of the worst in the country’s history (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Rank outsiders Iceland dumped Roy Hodgson’s underwhelming England out of Euro 2016 at the last-16 stage with a deserved victory. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring from the penalty spot but goals from Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson turned the game around.

PA Staff