England players were booed by a Hungary crowd largely made up of children when taking the knee before their Nations League clash in Budapest.
Saturday’s fixture at the Puskas Arena was originally meant to be staged behind closed doors as part of a punishment handed down following repeated misconduct from Hungary supporters.
England players suffered racist abuse during their last visit to the city with Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham targeted with monkey chants during a 4-0 win last September.
But over 30,000 spectators were in attendance for the visit of Gareth Southgate’s side with the Hungarian FA exploiting a Uefa loophole which allows a limited number of Under-14s to attend the games – with one adult given access for every 10 children.
Both national anthems were respected but audible boos and jeers emerged from the crowd as England players took a knee.
England boss Southgate said ahead of kick-off he was ‘surprised’ such a high number of supporters would be in attendance.
‘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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