It took 16 years for England to win the world cup after joining in 1950, but it is taking more than 50 years for them to claim another world cup title. So, the lone win in 1966 will remain precious in the hearts of every football-loving English person, especially considering how hard fought that win was.
Leading up to the tournament, there was a certain level of performance that was expected of the Alf Ramsey team, and most of it stemmed from the fact that England was hosting the world cup for the first time (and currently only time).
However, the English team wasn’t particularly a favorite to win, even with a decent team that included Gordon Banks, George Cohen, Alan Ball, Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst, and their captain Bobby Moore.
Nonetheless, considering that the golden generation won nothing and this current star studded English team just got knocked out by France in the quarter-finals, it is obvious that the Three Lions need something more than a stacked team.
The Three Lions of 1966 did not only win the world cup, they actually put up a fantastic performance that led them to the final.
It started with finishing the group stage at the top of their table having defeated both Mexico and France 2-0 and drawn with Uruguay 0-0. They then went on to defeat Argentina in the quarter-finals 1-0, and Portugal in the Semis 2-1. Which means that they did not concede any goal in the tournament until their match with Portugal.
So, at this point, even those who didn’t see England winning the world cup before the start of the tournament must have started rethinking their stance.
However, England faced a huge obstacle in West Germany.
Not only did West Germany already have a world cup win to their name, they had also had a very good run during the tournament, finishing at the top of their table, and defeating two-time World Cup winners Uruguay in the quarter-finals.
West Germany had even scored more goals than England up to that point, so the Three Lions had their work cut out for them.
England won the coin toss and from the time the first whistle blew, it was obvious to the over 96,000 people in attendance and millions of people watching from home that the teams were evenly matched.
However, just 12 minutes into the match, West Germany’s Sigfried Held scored the first goal of the final. But Geoff Hurst quickly leveled the playing field for England in the 18th minute, scoring an equalizer.
Both teams continued to do battle with no goals to show for it until the 77th minute when Martin Peters scored an impressive goal from eight yards, to put England ahead of West Germany.
Unfortunately for the Three Lions, just as they had started to convince themselves that the world cup was theirs for the taking, West Germany’s Wolfgang Weber scored an equalizer in the 89th minute and the match went into extra time.
And then something that remains controversial till this day happened.
Hurst, who had scored one goal in the match already, shot the ball into the goal, but the ball appeared to bounce down and either bounce over or on the line. What exactly happened kind of depends on who you ask.
The referee, Gottfried Dienst, wasn’t even sure whether or not Hurst had scored a goal. So, he consulted with his linesman, Tofiq Bahramov.
For context, Bahramov was from the USSR and the USSR had just been defeated by West Germany in the semi-finals. So, whether or not that had anything to do with anything, he said that it was a goal and the goal was given to England.
So, that goal has remained one of the most controversial and argued about goals ever awarded in the world cup.
But it was also Hurst’s second goal in the final and England’s 3rd vs West Germany’s 2. So, at this point, the Three Lions were just trying to preserve their lead while West Germany tried to score an equalizer.
However, in the final minute of extra-time, Hurst, according to him, tried to clear the ball out of play to waste time as fans started invading the pitch in celebration. But as luck would have it, the ball made it into the top corner of West Germany’s net, solidifying England’s win.
That last goal, accident or not, also etched Geoff Hurst’s name into World Cup history. It was the first ever hattrick to be scored in a world cup final.
BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme’s closing comments for that match remain iconic as well. Just as the fans started invading the pitch in celebration, he said “Some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over.” And as he says that, as if written by some scriptwriter, Hurst’s ball enters the goal. Without missing a beat, the commentator says “It is now!”
That was a beautiful day for the English team, indeed.
Unfortunately for England, 1966 was not only the last and only time that England made it to the finals, it is also one of the three times that they have made it to the semis. The second time was in 1990 and the third was nearly 30 years later at the 2018 Russia world cup. Quarter-finals looks to be a popular finish point for them, which they just proved at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Anyone who isn’t all that familiar with the world cup might be shocked by these stats, especially considering the fact that English players seem to dominate club football, especially in the EPL.
However, while their stacked teams usually means that they are basically a shoo-in for the group stage, it has not been enough to push them any further. Maybe what they need is to host the World Cup again.
