Worst England defeats: Where does Hungary humiliation feature in list of heaviest losses?
- Michael Graham
- 14 June 2022
Gareth Southgate and his players were on the wrong end of a good old fashioned tonking by Hungary, but where does it stand on the list of worst England defeats?
Watching England's extraordinary collapse against Hungary at Molineux was compelling viewing for all the wrong reasons if you're a Three Lions fan.
How meaningful a dealt it was will only be revealed in the fullness of time, but it was certainly a humiliating night for England.
Just how bad was this defeat in the context of history, though, and where does it stand in the list of England's heaviest defeats?
Let's take a look.
France 5 - 2 England - 1931
England's first genuine thrashing of note on the international stage came in 1931 when the France put five past them in Paris.
The brilliantly named Alfred Strange captained the side and England actually took an early lead through Sammy Crooks.
They were 3-1 by half-time, though, and ended up being on the receiving end of a bit of a wallop. Robico Mercier scored twice for France.
Peru 4 - 1 England - 1959
In fairness, Peru were a bit more a force back in the 50s than they are today, so time likely hasn't been very kind to this result.
A Juan Seminario hat-trick ultimately did for England in Lima, who struggled in the humid conditions.
Jimmy Greaves got the England goal, with the likes of Bobby Charlton, Billy Wright and Johnny Haynes all in the side.
Denmark 4 - 1 England - 2005
The so-called 'Golden Generation' were not immune to getting stuffed either, which perhaps explains Ashley Cole being happy to excuse the England's defeat to Hungary in his role as a TV pundit.
Cole was in the side along with Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand… the lot of them really.
Former Premier League flops Dennis Rommedahl and Jon Dahl Tomasson were among the scorers for the Danes.
England 1 - 4 Germany - 2010
This one probably doesn't need any introductions, and it's impossible to even thing about without feeling angry about the Frank Lampard goal that never was.
It's Germany vs England tonight so here's a reminder of that Frank Lampard no goalpic.twitter.com/VEJ1onykwi
— Vintage Football Shirts (@VFshirts) June 7, 2022
It was England's heaviest ever defeat in a World Cup, and it was a landmark one as this was the watershed moment for football to introduce goal line technology.
Thomas Muller scored twice for Germany, but the story was - and always will be - that goal.
Brazil 5 - 1 England - 1964
While there are some defeats here that look a bit shameful, there is not a nation on the planet who haven't received a bit of tonking from Brazil at one point or another.
England's came in 1964, and at least it came against a brilliant team featuring Pele, Rinaldo, Gerson, Carlos Alberto and the rest of core of the team that wowed the world in 1970.
Just two years later England were world champions, it while the defeat was humbling it obviously wasn't terminal.
England 0-4 Hungary - 2022
While there was no shame in getting thrashed away at Brazil, you can't really say that about home to Hungary. Not in 2022 anyway.
You can make all the excuses you want here. 'Inexperienced team,' 'tired players after a long hard season,' 'unfamiliar surroundings at Molineux'… they are all as pointless as the last.
Whichever way you want to look at it, with a World Cup just months away, this result was a shocking look for England.
England 1-5 Scotland
All those other pre-Hungary defeats didn't have much going for them, but at least they were away from home. Most importantly, though, they were not against Scotland.
England has suffered their worst home defeat by at least four goals since 1928. pic.twitter.com/SbzkAdX2Hf
— Planet Sport (@PlanetSportcom) June 14, 2022
The Scottish team earned the nickname 'the Wembley Wizards' in this one, with outside right Alex Jackson bagging himself a historic hat-trick.
Inside left Alex James added the other two as English football's ego was dealt a huge blow.
Yugoslavia 5 - 0 England - 1958
Remember the England team that lost away to Peru? The one with Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton, Johnny Haynes etc? Well it wasn't just Lima where they got a good beating.
They were also put to the sword by Yugoslavia a year before that.
Aleksandar Petaković scored a second-half hat-trick for Yugoslavia, with things escalating quickly after the break.
Hungary 7 - 1 England - 1954
If you were thinking Hungary thrashing England was a new thing, then you'd be wrong. In fact, the Hungarians inflicted England's heaviest ever defeat.
For context, this was a very different Hungary. It was the Ferenc Puskas 'Mighty Magyars' Hungary, and they were beating everyone back then.
It was still bad enough that two of the England team never got picked again, namely Peter Harris and Jackie Sewell.
