They might not be the best team in the world according to the official ranking system, but there is no doubt that when it comes to fan following and media coverage, the English national football team is second to none.
Let us take a look at how the Three Lions have performed at world football’s biggest event- the FIFA World Cup.
1950 Brazil: – England chose not to play the first three editions of the World Cup (1930, 1934 and 1938), and made their first World Cup appearance five years after WWII. They started well with a 2-0 win over Chile, but subsequent 1-0 defeats to the USA and Spain saw them make an early exit.
1954 Switzerland: – England improved upon their 1950 performance by reaching the last eight in 1954. They topped Group 4, which also consisted of Switzerland, two time world champions Italy and Belgium. Defending champions Uruguay beat them 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
1958 Sweden: – This squad was weakened due to the absence of several players who perished in the September 1957 Munich disaster, but still did well enough to draw all of its league games. England lost their playoff game to the USSR 1-0, with Anatoli Ilyin scoring the winner for the Soviet Union
1962 Chile: – England recovered from an opening loss to Hungary to beat Argentina 3-1 in the next game. Despite only drawing the next game against Bulgaria, England’s superior goal average took them to the quarterfinals, where Garrincha scored twice in Brazil’s 3-1 win.
1966 England: – Sir Alf Ramsay, Walter Winterbottom’s successor orchestrated a famous title triumph that still remains one of England’s greatest sporting achievements. An opening draw against Uruguay was followed by wins over Mexico and France. A bitter quarterfinal against Argentina was won 1-0, with Geoff Hurst, playing instead of the injured Jimmy Greaves, scoring the winner from Martin Peters’ cross. Eusebio and Portugal were beaten 2-1 in the semifinals, and West Germany awaited them in the final. Despite Greaves returning to fitness, Ramsay chose to stick with Hurst, a gamble which paid off as the young West Ham forward netted a hat trick in England’s 4-2 extra time win. Ramsay showed great flexibility and adaptability, using a 4-3-3 for the group games, and then switching to the 4-4-2 for the knockout ones.
1970 Mexico: – Pre tournament favourites England finished second in their group behind Brazil. Despite leading 2-0 in the quarterfinal against West Germany with a little over twenty minutes to go, England lost the game 3-2, and the Germans gained revenge for their loss at Wembley four years ago.
1982 Spain: – England failed to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, depriving the world of the opportunity to see stars like Emelyn Hughes and Kevin Keegan on the big stage. England qualified for the second round with a 100% win record from the group stages, but failed to advance after drawing with both West Germany and Portugal.
1986 Mexico: – A loss to Portugal followed by a goalless draw against Morocco saw England come dangerously close to elimination, but Lineker’s hat trick saved the day against Poland. Paraguay were beaten 2-0 in the round of 16, but Diego Maradona knocked England out in the quarterfinals. The legendary playmaker opened the scoring with his «Hand of God» goal, and then dribbled past five English outfield players to score the «Goal of the Century». Lineker’s sixth of the tournament was to be nothing more than a consolation goal as Argentina won 2-1.
1990 Italy: – England’s best performance since 1966 saw them finish fourth in the tournament. They beat Belgium and Cameroon en route to a semifinal clash against West Germany, where Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle both missed their spot kicks in the shootout. England lost the third place match to the hosts 2-1.
1998 France: – Wins over Tunisia and Colombia saw England qualify for the next round behind group winners Romania. They faced Argentina in the second round. A young David Beckham got sent off for a kick on Diego Simeone, and despite Michael Owen scoring one of the goals of the tournament, England were eliminated on penalties.
2002 Korea and Japan: – David Beckham recovered from a broken metatarsal and exorcised the ghosts of St.Etienne as England beat Argentina in the Group of Death. However a piece of magic from Ronaldinho left David Seaman completely flummoxed, and Brazil showed England the door in the last eight.
2006 Germany: – England’s poor record in penalty shoot outs continued as they were beaten by Portugal in the last eight. They qualified for the knockout stages by topping Group B, and beat Ecuador in the round of 16. Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping Ricardo Carvalho, and the match became more controversial when Cristiano Ronaldo was seen winking by the cameras as Rooney stormed off. Portuguese keeper Ricardo was the hero in the shootout as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all missed their penalties.
With 15 different managers taking the reins since their participation in the FIFA World Cup, England have only hosted the event once and it’s no coincidence that the only time they have won the competition, was in 1966, the year they hosted it.