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Good evening, and welcome to live coverage of Hungary versus England in World Cup Qualifying Group I. You all surely know the story of that match. One down in under a minute; that little fat chap Ferenc Puskas sending Billy Wright away like a fire truck in the wrong direction; Nandor Hidegutki helping himself to a treble; right back Alf Ramsey – all of England in fact – looking on agog at the puncturing of imperial hubris. Hungary’s seminal 6-3 scudding of England at Wembley in November 1953 is first-page-of-the-curriculum stuff for international football history. But the pain didn’t end there for Albion folks, oh no. Six months later, as a warm-up to the 1954 World Cup, England travelled to this very spot in Budapest to set the record straight, temporarily kidding themselves that Wembley had been an aberration and that the Magical Magyars could be swiftly slapped back down the pecking order of the international game. The 7-1 defeat that followed is the heaviest in England’s history, a

World Cup Qualification UEFA / Matchday 4
Puskás Aréna / 02.09.2021
Live
Live Updates
Pete Sharland
ByPete Sharland

Updated 02/09/2021 at 21:48 GMT+1

20'
Nice interplay between Mount and Grealish gives Kane a shooting chance from the edge of the D. It's fierce, but it's also two yards over the bar.
19'
Brief panic as John Stones lets a long ball bounce, and it skips over his head to Sallai. It looks like he might get away, but Stones recovers to tidy up the danger.
17'
Sterling's copped another one on the ankle from Fiola, this time accidentally. After a brief time on the deck, he's back on his feet and jogging it off.
15'
The first half-chance of the match, as Kane inswings a cross from the left corner of the area. It catches a deflection and almost breaks for Sterling at the back post, but Fiola gets across him to hack the ball clear.
13'
Walker lasers a long pass over the top to Kane, who briefly looks like he might be in. Up goes the late flag though, to confirm the England skipper was offside.
10'
No foothold yet for the home side; they're pinned back in their own half and Fiola gets a ticking off for a late challenge on Sterling over on the right touchline.
7'
Grealish mistimes a reverse ball to Shaw down the left. Anything heavier and he was in behind the defence; instead, Hungary scramble it behind for a corner. From that, Maguire nods high over the bar from ten yards out.
5'
Sterling finds Mount on the edge of the area. Mount tries to shape one into the top corner with his right foot, but it's high wide and handsome.
4'
England have settled into possession early here, marshalled by John Stones. He's winning his 50th cap tonight.
1st Half
1'
A heavy sigh then, and off we go.
19:45
There’s a political undercurrent to this game that can’t be ignored, so let’s not. Ahead of this match the England players confirmed that they would continue to take the knee in opposition to racism in society. They have just made this humble, important gesture before kick-off, to a tumult of risible booing in the Puskas Arena.
That's utterly shameful. Let's hope Fifa, Uefa and the Hungarian FA act on that, with maximum force. There is no room for racism in this life.
19:42
That's the anthems blared out; we'll kick off in around three minutes.
19:39
The teams are in the tunnel, ready to go here. Your referee tonight is Cuneyt Cakir.
19:35
Between the two, it's fair to say that England have the wood on Hungary despite the series of pastings doled out in the fifties. The last time Hungary beat England was in the group stages of the World Cup in Chile in 1962, when the great Florian Albert settled a tight game with a screamer. Since then, England have won 11 and drawn 2.
19:30
Great goals from Hungary-England World Cup Qualifiers past, part 1: this stanchion-wedger from Trevor Brooking's swinger in 1981. Pick that out; we'll fetch you a stepladder.
19:25
Want to know more about the team Puskas played in? Then bookmark this for a spare 20 with a brew. Daniel Harris has penned a superb long read on the team that shook up the world.
19:20
Back in the day, the old stadium at this site was known as the Nepstadion, or People’s Stadium. It was the stage for the 7-1 and was renamed the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in 2002; the rebuilt and modernised version goes by the name of the Puskas Arena. While the Magical Magyars were packed with brilliant players, it’s the man known as the Galloping Major whose fame carried furthest. Ferenc Puskas folks; the first post-WW2 superstar of football. It’s been said before, but my word he could play.
19:15
You might remember England’s last match. It’s been a mere 52 days since that agonising shootout defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at a wild Wembley Stadium. There’s barely been time to process that defeat yet for Southgate or the players to reflect on the magnitude of that missed opportunity.
Much of the talk since then has been that a gift horse has been stared firmly in the grill, but I’m not so sure; Southgate’s squad is young, no key players have turned it in since then and there’s a World Cup just 14 months away, with another Euros 18 beyond that. England have been on the cusp of winning an international gong for the last three years and it might suit their squad – and, more importantly, their style – to fall over the line away from home.
19:10
It’s been 35 years since Hungary were last at a World Cup, a miserable experience where they were mullered 6-0 and 3-0 by the USSR and France respectively, either side of brushing past Canada. Their recent form is reasonable though; they performed well in a group of near certain death at the recent Euro 2020, holding France 1-1 in front of a full house in the Puskas Arena and then coming within six minutes of a sensational victory over Germany in Munich before Leon Goretzka’s equaliser. It’ll be another packed house tonight, and there’s plenty on it; Hungary will leapfrog England at the head of the group if they win tonight.
19:05
And what to make of England? The big news is that Jack Grealish has broken through to the starting line-up after his impressive start at Manchester City, and will make his third start for England tonight. It's England's only change from the team that started the Euro 2020 final.
19:01
There are three changes tonight for Hungary from the team eliminated in the group phase of Euro 2020. Midfielder Adam Nagy, who recently left Bristol City for Pisa, is unavailable, but the Bundesliga duo of Adam Szalai and Roland Sallai lead the side up front.