England were rated the number four team in the world by FIFA, but were still existing in a climate of complacency; the Football Association (FA) saw their country as the originators of the game and assumed English players were technically and physically superior to their foreign counterparts.

Coaching and tactical advances from abroad were ignored, in the England national side and the majority of clubs persisting with the outdated WM formation.

Manager Walter Winterbottom had no prior managerial experience in professional football, and did not pick the England squad: that role remained with the FA's selection committee, who frequently displayed little or no consistency in their choice of player.

The FA on the other hand viewed the defeat as a "one-off", and retained Winterbottom and an outdated WM formation for the return game in Budapest.

The England team lined up in its usual WM formation, and included captain Billy Wright, goalkeeper Gil Merrick, winger Tom Finney and inside forward Ivor Broadis.