A Dominik Szoboszlai penalty ended England's record 22-game unbeaten run as Gareth Southgate's side suffered a 1-0 loss to Hungary in their Nations League opener.
The Three Lions had not lost since 2020 outside of penalty shoot-outs – their best ever sequence – but left Budapest empty-handed in their first competitive match of a World Cup year.
The decisive goal came from the spot after substitute Reece James was penalized for a trailing arm on Zsolt Nagy in the box, allowing Szoboszlai to score 24 minutes from time and earn Hungary's first win against England since 1962.
It was a result welcomed by around 35,000 fans in a behind-closed-doors match, as children were allowed to attend in line with UEFA sanctions despite a stadium ban for racist behaviour at Euro 2020.
And there were audible boos from those in attendance as England took the knee ahead of kick-off, back in Budapest where their players were the subject of abuse last year.
The act of taking the knee is a symbolic gesture against racism started by US American football player Colin Kaepernick in 2016 in protest against the lack of attention given to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality in the United States.
Since then, several athletes have been kneeling upon one knee instead of standing to attention for an anthem or other such occasion.
That was the most notable incident for a long time in a drab encounter, although Hungary came closest in the first half when Conor Coady was forced to clear Szoboszlai's low effort off the line.
England showed little improvement after half-time, despite one strong run and shot from Bukayo Saka, and they were punished as James conceded the penalty and Hungary netted from the spot.
The impetus to rescue a result belatedly fired the visitors into action, with Jude Bellingham seeing a close-range effort blocked and Coady dragging a header just wide.
But the Three Lions' pursuit of an equalizer proved to be in vain, and Hungary held on for a famous victory, even passing up a huge chance for a second through Andras Schafer.
England travel to Germany to continue their Nations League campaign on Tuesday, while Hungary are also on the road in Italy.
