England national football team

The England national football team represents England (not the whole United Kingdom) in international football competitions such as the World Cup and the European Championships. It is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England.

History

Early years

England played in the first ever international football match, against Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick (now part of Glasgow), Scotland on November 30, 1872. The result was 0-0; England had to wait until the following year to record their first win, 4-2, over Scotland at the Kennington Oval.

Related Topics:
Scotland - Hamilton Crescent - Partick - Glasgow - Scotland - November 30 - 1872 - Kennington Oval

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England would only play the other Home Nations (Scotland, Wales and what was then Ireland) for nearly 40 years - partly due to the dominance of the UK in international football, as well as the problems of arranging internationals in the days before air travel was commonplace. England first played Continental opposition in a 1908 tour of Central Europe, recording easy wins over Austria and Hungary. England's first defeat to a team outside the British Isles came in 1929, when they lost 4-3 to Spain in Madrid.

Related Topics:
Wales - Ireland - Air travel - 1908 - Central Europe - Austria - Hungary - British Isles - 1929 - Spain - Madrid

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The FA had joined FIFA in 1906, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught, and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928, in a dispute over payments to amateur players. This meant that England did not enter the first three World Cups. However many in England declared the team unofficial "World Champions" after they defeated 1934 World Cup winners Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" in November 1934.

Related Topics:
FIFA - 1906 - 1928 - Amateur - World Cup - Italy - Highbury - 1934

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Post-war

After the Second World War, the FA started to modernise their approach; they rejoined FIFA in 1946, the same year they appointed the first dedicated team manager, Walter Winterbottom (before then, the team was picked by a committee). England's World Cup debut came in 1950; however, they suffered an infamous 1-0 loss to the United States and failed to get beyond the first group stage. England struggled in the 1954 and 1958 tournaments, and all the signs pointed to how far behind English football had fallen behind the rest of the world.

Related Topics:
Second World War - FIFA - 1946 - Team manager - Walter Winterbottom - 1950 - 1-0 loss - United States - 1954 - 1958

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England's tactical inferiority was highlighted on November 25, 1953, when Hungary came to visit Wembley Stadium. Hungary, one of the best sides in the world and fielding legendary players such as Sándor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskás, outclassed the English 6-3 - this was England's first ever home loss to Continental opposition. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7-1, which still stands as England's worst ever defeat.

Related Topics:
November 25 - 1953 - Hungary - Wembley Stadium - Sándor Kocsis - Ferenc Puskás - Outclassed the English 6-3 - Budapest

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By the 1960s English tactics and training had started to improve, and England turned in a respectable performance in the {{Wc|1962}}, losing in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Brazil. After Winterbottom retired in 1962, former captain Alf Ramsey was appointed; Ramsey boldly predicted that England would win the following tournament, which England were hosting.

Related Topics:
1960s - Brazil - 1962 - Alf Ramsey

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1966 World Cup

Ramsey's prediction came true, and the 1966 World Cup was England's finest moment. Captained by Bobby Moore, England's "Wingless Wonders" dispatched Argentina and then Portugal to set up a final with West Germany at Wembley. England won 4-2 after extra time, with three goals from Geoff Hurst and one from Martin Peters. The game popularized the British catchphrase "They think it's all over... it is now!", which were BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme's words as Hurst scored his third goal in the 120th minute.

Related Topics:
1966 World Cup - Bobby Moore - Argentina - Portugal - West Germany - Extra time - Geoff Hurst - Martin Peters - They think it's all over... it is now! - BBC - Commentator - Kenneth Wolstenholme

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Decline in the 1970s

England came third in the 1968 European Championships, and were one of the favourites to win the 1970 World Cup; however, they fell in the quarter-finals to West Germany 3-2, having been 2-0 up. West Germany also beat England 3-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 1972 European Championships. Worse was to come as England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup after only managing a 1-1 draw against Poland in a qualifier at Wembley, largely thanks to the heroics of Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski. In the aftermath of England's failure to reach the World Cup Finals, the FA sacked Sir Alf Ramsey. Of their 113 matches under Ramsey, England had won 69 and drawn 27. There was widespread distaste that, given his distinguished record, Ramsey had not been given the opportunity to resign.

Related Topics:
1968 European Championships - 1970 World Cup - 1972 European Championships - 1974 World Cup - Poland - Jan Tomaszewski

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Sir Alf Ramsey was replaced by Joe Mercer as caretaker-manager while a long-term successor was sought.

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Ramsey's permanent successor, Don Revie, fared even worse than Ramsey, as England failed to qualify from the group stages of the 1976 European Championships. Revie resigned halfway through England's unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1978 World Cup. At the same time the team was attracting an ever-growing hooligan element in its support, especially at its matches abroad - at the 1980 European Championships Italian police deployed tear gas during a group match with Belgium. England qualified for the 1982 World Cup but failed to progress from the second group stage in another tournament marred by violence. England did not, however, lose a game at the 1982 World Cup

Related Topics:
Don Revie - 1976 European Championships - 1978 World Cup - Hooligan - 1980 European Championships - Italian - Police - Tear gas - Belgium - 1982 World Cup

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Revival under Robson

Although at the time he was widely derided by the press, Bobby Robson is now looked upon as one of England's more successful managers. He took England to the 1986 World Cup, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Argentina in the quarter finals, thanks to two goals from Diego Maradona - the first the infamous "Hand of God" goal, where Maradona punched the ball into the net, the second after a 50-yard dribble past five England players that is widely regarded as one of the finest goals in history. As a small consolation, Gary Lineker won the tournament's Golden Boot.

Related Topics:
Bobby Robson - 1986 World Cup - Diego Maradona - Hand of God - The second - Gary Lineker - Golden Boot

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England's 1990 World Cup was their best since 1966; after a slow start in the group stage, England squeaked single-goal wins over Belgium and Cameroon in the knockout rounds, before being beaten on penalties by West Germany in the semi-finals, after drawing 1-1. The team's good performance, the relative lack of violence and the emergence of Paul Gascoigne - England's player of the tournament, who cried after being booked against West Germany (which would have ruled him out of the final had England won) - were all factors in the rehabilitation of football in British society in the 1990s.

Related Topics:
1990 World Cup - Cameroon - Penalties - Paul Gascoigne - 1990s

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Mixed 1990s

Robson's successor, Graham Taylor, was largely a failure - the team failed to win a game at {{Ec|92}} and missed out on qualifying for the {{Wc|1994}} altogether; the team infamously went down 1-0 to minnows San Marino in a qualifying match after just eight seconds, one of the fastest international goals of all time, before recovering to win 7-1. Taylor was sacked in 1993 and replaced by Terry Venables, who oversaw a much improved performance at {{Ec|96}}. With the tournament hosted in England and it being the 30th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup victory, fans' expectations were high; however, after famous victories over Scotland and the Netherlands, and a rare penalty shoot-out win over Spain, England fans were treated to déjà vu as their side lost their semi-final on penalties to Germany after drawing 1-1.

Related Topics:
Graham Taylor - San Marino - 1993 - Terry Venables - Netherlands - Spain - Déjà vu

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Venables stepped down after Euro 96; his successor Glenn Hoddle oversaw England's successful qualification for the {{Wc|1998}}, but the team were knocked on penalties again, this time to old enemies Argentina after David Beckham had been sent off. Hoddle resigned the following year after stating his controversial beliefs about the disabled in a newspaper interview. Former captain Kevin Keegan took over, only just managing to get England into {{Ec2|2000}} (after a 2-1 playoff win over Scotland), where a lacklustre England failed to get beyond the group stage. Keegan resigned in September 2000, after England lost their very last match at the old Wembley Stadium, a World Cup qualifier against Germany.

Related Topics:
Glenn Hoddle - David Beckham - Disabled - Kevin Keegan - 2000

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The Eriksson era

In 2001, the Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed as Keegan's successor, becoming the first foreign national to manage England. Eriksson turned around the team's {{Wc|2002}} campaign with a 5-1 victory over Germany; England came from behind with goals from Emile Heskey, Steven Gerrard and a Michael Owen hat-trick. England ensured qualification after a tense final game against Greece; David Beckham scored from a free kick in the last seconds of the game to make the score 2-2 and put England top of their group on goal difference. In the finals in Japan and South Korea England beat Argentina 1-0 in the group stage and reached the quarter-finals before being beaten 2-1 by the eventual winners Brazil.

Related Topics:
2001 - Swede - Sven-Göran Eriksson - Emile Heskey - Steven Gerrard - Michael Owen - Hat-trick - Greece - Japan - South Korea

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In {{Ec2|2004}}, England came top of their qualification group after drawing 0-0 away to Turkey in their final qualifier. In the finals, despite a last-minute loss to France in the group stage, England were favoured to do well, but were knocked out in yet another penalty shootout, this time to hosts Portugal after a 2-2 draw in the quarter-finals.

Related Topics:
Turkey - France - Portugal

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In 2005 Eriksson has received hefty criticism from some fans after losing a friendly match (games in which Eriksson has often been criticised for treating without respect) against Denmark 4-1, and a 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat at the hands of Northern Ireland, which leaves England (as of September 7, 2005) second in their qualifying group, England qualified for the 2006 World Cup by unconvincingly beating Austria 1-0 with Frank Lampard scoring a penalty and England's qualifcation was confirmed when Holland beat Czech Republic.

Related Topics:
2005 - Denmark - Northern Ireland - September 7 - Frank Lampard

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