England took the field on Tuesday in a UEFA Nations League clash against Hungary, and in all honesty, the team probably wishes they never took the field at all. They were humbled by Hungary in a humiliating 4-0 defeat that will leave the team scrambling ahead of its trip to Qatar later this year. While the impacts of a 4-0 UEFA Nations League defeat are ultimately minimal, it's a demoralizing blow for a team that was looking to make serious noise in the World Cup in Qatar. If Gareth Southgate's squad plays as it did on Tuesday, it's safe to say they can kiss the dream goodbye.

Quite frankly, it's difficult to identify a single England player who had a good shift against Hungary. John Stones received two yellow cards and hit the showers early, Harry Kane flopped after zero contact on a potential goalscoring chance off of a rebound. In all, it was a performance to forget, and fans were even calling for Southgate to be fired. Of course, that won't happen, but the loss to Hungary could not have come at a worse time.

 

England will have two more opportunities to turn things around when they face off with Italy and Germany in September, but other than that, this will be one of their final showcases ahead of the World Cup. The whole squad looked slow and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had a horrendous evening. The midfield lacked any semblance of potency, and the crowd sounded off in outrage when Harry Maguire was subbed on in favor of Bukayo Saka, only to be directly responsible for Hungary's fourth goal just minutes later.

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Considering England will be looking to take down the likes of giants such as Brazil, France, Belgium, and plenty other of the world's best teams, these types of losses simply cannot happen. Southgate has to be getting vastly more out of this team, regardless of the competition. Even a single showing like this in Qatar will be crippling to England's chances of finally bringing the World Cup Trophy back home, something they haven't done since 1966.

This England team is loaded with talent, but what they lack is much veteran experience. From the starting lineup they deployed on Tuesday, six of the players were 24 years old or younger, including Ramsdale (24), Reece James (22), Marc Guehi (21), Conor Gallagher (22), Jude Bellingham (18), and Bukayo Saka (20).

Clearly, England has some major questions to address ahead of the tournament, lest they risk a similar blowup to the one they experienced on Tuesday. FIFA rates England as the No. 5 overall team in its world rankings, while Hungary is farther down the list at No. 40. These types of losses are the ones that will really demoralize a team, who know they were outright the superior side, only to get embarrassed in front of their home crowd. This isn't even the first time England has lost to Hungary in UEFA Nations League Play. Southgate's side is dead last in Group 3, having failed to win a single match in four games, losing two and drawing twice as well. Both loses came to Hungry, while they tied against Italy and Germany.

Southgate knows he needs a big showing from England in the World Cup if he hopes to keep his role as manager of the English National Team going forwards. Perhaps some squad places will open up as a result of this devastating loss, with several players having put on dismal displays against Hungary.

Regardless of how you look at it, Southgate has to make some changes, and fast, lest England will be in over their heads in the World Cup. Fans are already calling for his job following England's string of disappointing showings, though it'd be a true shock if they fired the manager just months before the World Cup. Still, things aren't looking great for the Three Lions, who, at this rate, seem destined to fall well short of their lofty goals in Qatar.