Hungary beats England; Italy and Germany draw in Nations League

ROME (AP) — England slumped to its first loss to Hungary in six decades by 1-0 in the Nations League on Saturday.

Dominik Szoboszlai converted a second-half penalty after being fouled by Reece James.

The last time Hungary beat England came at the 1962 World Cup, with England having gone 15 matches unbeaten against Hungary since then.

Excluding penalty shootouts, it was England’s first defeat in 23 matches.

“We have to accept that we did not do enough to win the game. A draw would have been the fair outcome,” England coach Gareth Southgate said. “We did not create too many clear cut chances.

"The heat was a factor and took a lot out of the players and we tried to refresh the team earlier than normal. The balance of finding out about new things and the consistency of the regular team, I have to look at whether I got that right.”

Hungary had already showed its potential by drawing with World Cup champion France and Germany at last year’s European Championship. But Marco Rossi’s team did not qualify for the World Cup.

“We’ve developed immensely in terms of how we play in possession," Hungary captain Ádám Szalai said. "In the first half we kept possession well. In the second, we dominated until the goal, which is unbelievable. We proved at Euro 2020 what we’re capable of doing against the best, and we’ve shown this again.”

Also in the same group, Italy and Germany drew 1-1 with Lorenzo Pellegrini and Joshua Kimmich trading goals three minutes apart in the second half in Bologna.

Pellegrini redirected a cross from Italy debutant Wilfried Gnonto before Kimmich fired in a rebound.

European champion Italy, which did not qualify for a second consecutive World Cup, made wholesale changes following a 3-0 loss to Argentina in the