England World Cup Information

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England's World Cup History

This competition, begun in 1930, has become the world's largest sporting event. It has been staged every four years since then with the exception of 1942 and 1946, when the Second World War forced its suspension.

England did not enter the first three competitions of 1930, 1934 and 1938. Although FIFA assiduously sought England's participation, the Football Association declined all invitations. Not until the fourth tournament in 1950 did England take part.

England have entered all 14 post-war competitions. They reached the final tournament 11 times. They qualified through play in the preliminary competition on nine occasions ( 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998 and 2002), as host country once (1966) and as reigning champions once (1970). They failed to qualify for the final tournaments on three occasions ( 1974, 1978 and 1994).

England have had only moderate success in the World Cup, and that is perhaps a fair indication of their standing in the world game. They won the tournament once, in 1966, when it was held on their own soil and they played all their matches at their home ground, Wembley Stadium, an advantage extended to no other team in World Cup history. Their 4-2 extra-time victory against West Germany in the only final match they have reached has remained clouded by the controversy over whether their third goal, the first of extra-time, actually crossed the goal line, and, at least in the view prevailing in Latin nations, by the furore surrounding the expulsion of Argentina captain Antonio Rattin in the quarterfinal.

England reached the semifinals on only one other occasion, at the 1990 tournament in Italy, where, following extra-time victories over Belgium and Cameroon, they went down to West Germany on penalty kicks after a 1-1 extra-time draw. They then lost the third-place match to the host nation, 2-1.

England have reached the quarterfinals on five other occasions, at the 1954, 1962, 1970, 1986 and 2002 tournaments. At the 1982 competition in Spain, where the final tournament was conducted through two group stages with the teams topping the four second-round groups proceeding directly to the semifinals, England finished the second group stage unbeaten but were eliminated anyway. Their second-place finish in the second-round group was tantamount to a quarterfinal appearance.

England have been eliminated in the round of 16 teams stage on one occasion since the final tournament was expanded to more than 16 teams in 1982--at the 1998 final tournament in France.

England have been eliminated at the first round group stage on two occasions , 1950 and 1958, when they finished level in group play with the U.S.S.R. but lost a playoff match.

The World Cup has been a frustrating odyssey for England, particularly since 1966. At several tournaments, their performances have filled their fans with justified hope, but in the end, they have just not had enough to overcome the world's most powerful teams in crucial knockout matches.

Consolation-seekers like to point out that it has been England's misfortune to meet the eventual World Cup winners in the knockout stages of four tournaments. They went out to Brazil, 3-1, in the quarterfinals of the 1962 tournament, to Argentina, 2-1 by way of Maradona's "Hand of God" goal, in the quarterfinals of the 1986 tournament, to West Germany, on penalty kicks after a 1-1 extra-time draw, in the semifinals of the 1990 tournament and to Brazil again, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the 2002 tournament after holding the lead.

Twice they have been eliminated in penalty-kick shootouts, in the 1990 semifinal against West Germany and in the 1998 round-of-16-teams match against Argentina following a 2-2 extra-time draw in which they played a man short following the expulsion early in the second-half of midfielder David Beckham. On a third occasion, they were eliminated during extra-time, in the 3-2 quarterfinal loss to West Germany at the 1970 tournament after they held a two-goal lead with 23 minutes to play in regulation time.

Perhaps most disappointing was their elimination at the 1982 tournament in Spain. Having won all three of their group matches quite handily, all they could muster in their second-round group was a pair of goalless draws against eventual finalist West Germany and hosts Spain. They went home unbeaten, having yielded only one goal in five matches.

The England Team

England are one of the more successful footballing teams, being one of only seven countries to ever win the FIFA World Cup, which they did in 1966 when they hosted the finals. They defeated West Germany 4-2 in extra time in the Final. England share with France the record of having one World Cup victory and this being achieved on home soil (the other winners have all won the trophy at least twice and at least once on foreign soil). Since then they have only reached the semi-finals once, losing to West Germany on penalties. Nevertheless, they remain a prominent team on the global stage, rarely dropping outside of the top ten rankings of both FIFA and Elo. England also reached the semi-final of the UEFA European Championship in 1968 and 1996. They were the most successful of the Home Nations in the British Home Championship with 54 wins before the competition was suspended in 1984.

Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland, who were their opponents in the first-ever international football match in 1872. Since regular fixtures against Scotland came to an end in the late 1980s, other rivalries have become more prominent. Matches with Argentina and Germany have produced particularly eventful encounters. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium in London.

The England Colours

England's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy shorts and white socks.

The traditional England away colour is red, although England did not need an away kit until they played against a non-British side. From 1945 to 1952, England wore a blue away kit. In 1996 England's away kit was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was worn against Bulgaria, Germany and Georgia but the deviation from traditional red was unpopular with supporters and since then the England away kit has remained red.