Gareth Southgate will be without two of England’s most influential players in Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling on Saturday when the Three Lions kick off their 2022-23 Uefa Nations League campaign in Hungary.
England are seeking to improve on the previous tournament’s third-place finish in group A2 and advance to the Nations League finals next summer.
With Italy and Germany also in their group, victory over relative minnows Hungary is a must if the team is to challenge for top spot.
Missing the trip to Budapest is Foden, who grabbed four assists during the recent World Cup qualifying campaign and who also won’t be available for next week’s clash with Germany after testing positive for Covid-19, while Sterling – one of England’s best players at the European Championship last summer – is out with an illness.
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“Phil Foden has tested positive for Covid so he has had to leave. Hopefully he will be able to meet up when we come back from Germany,” said Southgate. “It depends on his symptoms and how his breathing is. It affects everyone differently.”
Young defenders Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi are also out of the Hungary clash, with Southgate adding: “Fikayo and Marc arrived with injuries but are progressing well. They won’t be involved in tomorrow’s game but might be OK for Germany. Raheem has missed a couple of sessions.”
Playing at the Puskas Arena sees England return to the setting of unsavoury scenes last autumn, where players were racially abused by Hungarian spectators. Repeated racist abuse from the stands has resulted in both Fifa and Uefa banning fans for Hungary home games, but children – with accompanying adults – are allowed to attend.
It means on Saturday around 36,000 supporters will be able to watch in the stadium, with a “loophole” being exploited that allows as many as 3,600 of those to be adults attending with kids.
When is Hungary vs England?
Hungary vs England kicks off at 5pm on Saturday 4 June. It is the first Uefa Nations League match of the campaign, with England competing in Group A3 alongside Hungary, Italy and Germany.
How to watch Hungary vs England
UK viewers can watch Hungary vs England on TV via Channel 4. Coverage begins at 4.15pm on Channel 4 and can also be watched online via the All 4 app.
Coverage will be presented by Jules Breach, alongside pundit Michael Owen, while Match of the Day’s Steve Bower will lead the match commentary.
England themselves must play behind closed doors at Molineux on 11 June, although between 2,000 and 3,000 children are expected to attend. That was the Uefa punishment for fan behaviour at Euro 2020.
Discussing the stadium bans, Southgate said: “We’re all surprised but we’re inviting children into our stadium [against Italy at Molineux on June 11], so I wasn’t really clear on the rules. I don’t know what the figure should be.
“We’re got to make sure we’re consistent in our beliefs, the stand we take as a team, that we’re united in it being unacceptable. Once we’re administering sanctions it’s gone too far anyway.”
He added: “I would imagine Hungary would feel the same way that we do about having restrictions on the home game – that they won’t want it to happen again.
“We have made our feelings clear on where we stand on inclusivity and our feelings in terms of racism and its unacceptability.
“Hopefully the young people in the stadium will realise why this opportunity has happened. We have got to keep doing the right things and setting the right example.
“I think everybody learns from every experience they’ve been through. I know our players just wanted to focus on football.”
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