The 1966 World Cup

Finally in 1966 it was England's turn to host the World Cup. The FA organized the tournament in an exemplary manner and the stadiums used were probably the best overall selection of stadiums used for any World Cup celebration up to date. The attendance figures were amongst the best ever recorded. But the teams of this 1966 tournament failed to produce the excitement and skills of what some of the past great teams like the Hungarians in 1954 and Brazil of 1958 and 1962 had. England were the best team of a rather poor selection of entrants. Sadly, the game had become more defensive, and individual skills had to make way for those of the tacticians.

The months leading up to the tournament contained lots of drama. The Jules Rimet trophy was stolen at an exhibition in March and FIFA prepared themselves to stage the World Cup without the trophy! Thankfully a dog named Pickles found it wrapped up in newspaper in some bushes in South London just a week after the theft.

The tournament got underway with England and Uruguay playing a goalless draw at Wembley. England qualified from their group as winners without conceding a goal. The new top team in world football was Portugal. The won all their three first round games and even knocked out twice winner's of the cup Brazil. Pel� just as in 1962 got kicked out of the competition. Another surprise was North Korea's contribution to this World Cup. Their victory over Italy is one of the all-time greatest shocks in world football. The defeat sent Italy home as well.

England beat Argentina in a match England coach Alf Ramsey described the South Americans as "Animals". He refused to let his players swap shirts with them after the match! North Korea led 3-0 over Portugal at one stage and looked like reaching the semis, but then Eusebio knocked in four goals and Portugal eventually won 5-3.

The semifinals saw the Germans beat the Soviet Union 2-1. A young Franz Beckenbauer scored West Germany's second goal. Bobby Charlton stopped Portugal and Eusebio's run in the World Cup when he scored twice to send England to the final. Eusebio scored his ninth goal in the bronze match when Portugal beat the Soviet Union, and that was some consolation. The final showdown would be between old enemies England and West Germany.

The 1966 World Cup Final London, July 30th - Wembley Stadium

Host nation England met West Germany for this 8th World Cup Final. It was to be perhaps the most dramatic of them all. This World Cup saw the emergence of the great Franz Beckenbauer, and in this match he was given the job of marking England's greatest star Bobby Charlton. He managed it quite well because Charlton wasn't anywear near as dangerous as in the semfinal against Portugal where he scored two goals.

The Germans seem to start well in this final. A weak clearance by Ray Wilson dropped at the feet of Helmut Haller who rammed the ball home past Banks after 12 minutes. England didn't panic and only six minutes later they were level after Bobby Moore floated in a perfect pass for his West Ham teammate Geoff Hurst to head in.

No further goals in the first half and in the second England controlled the game without scoring more goals. But in the 78th minute England took the lead after Hurst's shot was blocked and the ball rolled to Martin Peters who put England ahead. Now the minutes ticked away and the English were only seconds away from their first ever World Cup triumph, when referree Dienst awarded West Germany a free kick outside the England penalty area. Emmerich took it and after mix-up in the penalty area, the ball bounced across the six yard line and Weber stretched out a long leg and tapped the ball home.

So extratime was needed and more excitement was about to come. Midway through the first half of extra time Alan Ball centered to Hurst inside the box, he turned and fired, the ball hit the crossbar then bounced down and out, but did the ball cross the line? Still today people are not sure. However the referree gave England the goal after consulting his linesman. England's victory was sealed in the dying seconds of the game when Hurst ran away from the German defence and completed his hat-trick to make the score 4-2. So England became the third team to win the World Cup on homesoil.

England 4 - 2 West Germany (2-2 AET)

Scorers:
England: Hurst 18,98,120, Peters 78
West Germany: Haller 12, Weber 90

Teams:
England: Banks, Cohen, Wilson, Stiles, J.Charlton, Moore, Ball, Hurst, R.Charlton, Hunt, Peters.
West Germany: Tilkowski, H�ttges, Weber, Schulz, Schnellinger, Beckenbauer, Haller, Overath, Seeler, Held, Emmerich.

Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)

Attendance: 96,924

For More Information, Please Visit The World Cup Archive