Southgate states where blame lays after Hungarian children boo England’s anti-racism gesture

Gareth Southgate blamed the adults in attendance for influencing thousands of Hungarian children to boo England’s anti-racism gesture in Budapest.

England began their UEFA Nations League campaign with a dismal 1-0 defeat in Hungary. The Three Lions barely got going in the first half and were lucky not to fall behind to an audacious 50-yard lob that had Jordan Pickford worried.

Jarrod Bowen looked the liveliest of England’s forwards throughout the contest, though neither he or suibstitute Bukayo Saka could make a dent in Hungary’s defence.

With the game meandering, Reece James conceded a penalty mid-way through the second half that looked soft in real time and upon reflection.

Dominik Szoboszlai kept his cool from the spot, tucking past Pickford to make it 1-0.

Any hopes of a late England fightback went by the wayside with a whimper. Conor Coady came closest of all with a glanced header, though it wasn’t to be with Southgate’s side rarely getting out of second gear all evening.

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The most newsworthy incident arising from the match was the fact the crowd – made up largely of Hungarian children of school age – booed England’s collective taking of the knee at kick-off.

The match had initially been ruled to be played behind closed doors as punishment for Hungarian fans racially abusing England’s black players during their clash at Wembley in 2021.

However, an alteration was agreed that allowed tens of thousands of children to attend while accompanied by adults.

Speaking to Channel 4 after the match, Southgate said: “The first thing, that (taking the knee) is why we do it, to try to educate people around the world.”

Putting the blame