England players subjected to ‘vile’ racist abuse during World Cup qualifying win

England players Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were inundated with racist abuse during their 4-0 win against Hungary in the World Cup qualifier last night.

Eyewitnesses claimed the abuse was first directed at Sterling, who scored the first goal for England and then at Bellingham when he was warming up on the touchline. The full squad were heckled by Hungarian fans as they took the knee before the match too.

As well as racist abuse, players were also pelted with cups thrown from the crowd, with one Hungarian fan even throwing a flare onto the pitch.

The FA released a statement after the game which read: “It is extremely disappointing to hear reports of discriminatory actions towards some of our England players.

“We will be asking FIFA to investigate the matter. We continue to support the players and staff in our collective determination to highlight and tackle discrimination in all its forms.”

Though this isn’t the first time Hungary has been in hot water over their behaviour during football tournaments – the team were handed a three-match stadium ban, with the third game fully suspended, and the Hungarian Football Federation were fined €100,000 earlier this summer following discriminatory behaviour by fans at Euro 2020 this summer.

At the Euros tournament, England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all fell victim to racist abuse online after they failed to score during the penalty shootouts of the final against Italy.

The Marcus Rashford mural in Withington was also defaced in the hours after the loss, though it was quickly adorned with flowers and messages of love and support from locals.