England Vs Hungary LIVE Football Score 4 Jun 2022

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England continue to ramp up their preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with their first UEFA Nations League clash of this cycle against Hungary at the Puskas Arena on Saturday evening.

In contrast, the hosts will not be present on the big stage, and off-field controversy continues to bedevil the players ahead of this League A Group 3 fixture.

A successful evening for England on the pitch in Hungary was dampened by a torrent of racist abuse hurled down from the stands back in September’s World Cup qualifier, and the expectation was that Saturday’s encounter would take place behind closed doors.

However, with children and guardians permitted to attend in line with UEFA’s ruling, the Puskas Arena can reportedly expect to welcome as many as 30,000 spectators for the weekend’s Nations League opener, where Marco Rossi’s players will hope to inspire the next generation.

Hungary held their own in the Euro 2020 Group of Death without making it count for much as they bowed out in the group stage, and it will likely be a similar story in the Nations League, with Italy and Germany lying in wait either side of their England double-header.

A first appearance in the World Cup finals since 1986 still eludes the world’s 40th-ranked nation, whose most recent fixture saw Roland Sallai net the only goal in a 1-0 friendly success over Northern Ireland – a third win from five in all competitions for the Magyars.

On a more negative note, Hungary welcome England to Budapest having won just two of their last six home matches in all competitions, and even then those successes were against European minnows in San Marino and Andorra, so their upcoming Nations League campaign may not be a memorable one following their two successive promotions from the doldrums of League C.

There may be mixed feelings for England gunning for Nations League glory before they have added another Euros or World Cup trophy to the cabinet, but the Three Lions should not turn their noses up to a piece of silverware 12 months on from their Euros heartbreak.

Gareth Southgate will be sticking around until at least 2024 following the signing of his new contract back in November, which came as England eased into the 2022 World Cup unbeaten in 10 Qualifying matches – topping Group I in the process.

Five goals were scored and only one was conceded as England claimed a pair of friendly victories over Switzerland and Ivory Coast back in March, with Southgate taking the opportunity to experiment with his XI during those periods, and the Nations League provides the last-chance saloon for those seeking to become an integral part of the boss’s Qatar plans.

The less said about England’s 2020-21 bid for Nations League glory the better, as the Three Lions could only muster a third-placed finish in League A Group 2, and they will renew hostilities with Germany three days after their gruelling journey to Budapest.

Nevertheless, a 10th unbeaten game in a row beckons for England this weekend, while they have also won each of their last four in all tournaments, and their somewhat forgettable trip to the Puskas Arena back in September ended in a straightforward 4-0 success before they were held to a 1-1 draw at Wembley one month later.