England boss Gareth Southgate admits ‘our quality was really poor’ in Hungary stalemate

England boss Gareth Southgate admits ‘our quality was really poor’ in disappointing draw with Hungary as Three Lions stumble in bid to qualify for 2022 World Cup

  • England fell behind for the first time during this qualification campaign
  • John Stones levelled for England as the match ended in a lacklustre 1-1 draw
  • Gareth Southgate admitted Hungary had caused his team problems at Wembley


Gareth Southgate admitted England were ‘poor’ and didn’t do enough to win the game’ following the disappointing draw against Hungary.

The unbeaten Three Lions put in arguably their meekest performance of the year in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

England fell behind for the first time during this qualification campaign to a Roland Sallai spot-kick and failed to build on John Stones’ rapid leveller as the match ended in a lacklustre 1-1 draw.

England boss Gareth Southgate was disappointed by his team’s display on Tuesday night

‘Difficult to pinpoint exactly because I think we had one or two tactical problems that we managed to resolve as the game progressed,’ Southgate said of the performance. ‘But some of our quality was just really poor.

‘We gave unusual passes away, we got caught in possession several times, we overran the ball quite a few times, we forced things a bit too often.

‘We started the game that way and that I thought bred a little bit of anxiety in our play, which is quite unusual.

The Three Lions struggled to find the creativity needed in attack in a disappointing display

The Three Lions struggled to find the creativity needed in attack in a disappointing display

‘We still had over 60 per cent possession, I think, so we were still generally controlling the game but we didn’t really get pressure onto them as much as we have done, certainly as we did in Budapest (when England won 4-0).

‘Again, I thought that meant that they had some of their counter-attacks where we weren’t in the right positions on transition and, again, I think that bred a little bit of anxiety.

‘Having gone behind, I thought a good response to draw level but I don’t think we did quite enough to win the game even though we had more shots, more possession.

Roland Sallai gave the visitors a shock lead from the penalty spot in the first-half

Roland Sallai gave the visitors a shock lead from the penalty spot in the first-half

‘I don’t think we created the really clear chances to deserve to win the game.’ 

Southgate admitted Hungary had caused his team problems. 

He told BBC 5 Live: ‘I don’t think we played at the level we have done and Hungary defended very well. We didn’t do enough to win the game.

‘I don’t know if subconsciously we thought this was going to be an easier game because we beat them comfortably in September but they’ve been very good defensively right through the summer. 

‘In the first few minutes we were taking heavy touches and colliding into tackles. We didn’t show the composure and quality that we have done generally.’

England levelled though defender John Stones when he diverted in a free-kick from Phil Foden

England levelled though defender John Stones when he diverted in a free-kick from Phil Foden

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