Hello and welcome to International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day 2010. With it also being Saint George's Day, here is a bit of English patriotism, ahead of the World Cup finals.
So Near and Yet So Far: England and the World Cup
English football is looking forward to the 2010 World Cup finals, eighty years on from the establishment of the competition, making this a good time to put England’s record in perspective. England are one of only seven countries to have won the World Cup, the others being Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany / West Germany, Italy, and Uruguay. Forty four years have passed since England’s famous triumph, as host nation, in 1966. The best achievement by an England team in a World Cup held on foreign soil saw a run to the 1990 Semi Finals, in Italy. There has been progress to the latter stages of the competition on several other occasions, but England have too often under-performed. In fact, England did not perform at all in the first three World Cups.
England gave football to the world in the nineteenth century, but subsequently developed an insular attitude to the formal organisation of the international game by the Federation Internationale de Football Association, formed on the initiative of France in 1904. England joined FIFA the following year, but withdrew in 1920, to avoid association with nations that Britain had fought against in the First World War. The English returned to FIFA in 1924, only to leave again four years later, in a dispute over the nature of amateurism. The first World Cup was played in Uruguay in 1930, and won by the host nation, but England were not among the participants, being ineligible as they were not current members of FIFA. England remained outside the fold as the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, hosted by Italy and France respectively, were both won by Italy. England even declined a special invitation from FIFA to compete in the 1938 finals, as a replacement for Austria, following the annexation of that country by Germany.
The Second World War led to the abandonment of plans to hold World Cups that would have culminated in 1942 and 1946. England rejoined FIFA in 1946, and entered the 1950 World Cup. The British Championship for 1949-50 doubled as a World Cup qualifying group, and England began with a 4-1 win against Wales, with Jackie Milburn scoring a hat trick. England subsequently beat Northern Ireland 9-2 – Jack Rowley providing four of the goals – and Scotland 1-0. England were led at the finals, staged in Brazil, by Walter Winterbottom, but the manager, who held the post from 1946 to 1962, was not in sole command of the team line-up, as he had to work with a selection committee, appointed by the Football Association. The team was captained by Billy Wright, who would also perform this role in the 1954 and 1958 finals. England began with a 2-0 win against Chile, with goals from Stan Mortensen and Wilf Mannion. In their next match England suffered a humiliating 1-0 defeat against the USA, who were rank outsiders, despite dominating the play. The goal was scored by Larry Gaetjens, a man who was originally from Haiti. A subsequent defeat against Spain eliminated England at the end of the first group stage. The four group winners progressed to a further group, which determined the winners of the competition, instead of the usual knock-out process. In the decisive match, Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1 to regain the world title.
For the 1954 World Cup, the British Championship was again utilised as a qualifying group, and England won all three of their matches. At the finals, staged in Switzerland, England drew 4-4 with Belgium and beat Switzerland 2-0 to emerge from the group stage, with Ivor Broadis and Nat Lofthouse each scoring twice in the first match. The star of the England attack in this tournament was Stanley Matthews, the legendary winger, who was now aged 39, and had only been included in the squad at the last minute by the selection committee, something which had also happened in 1950. England lost 4-2 against Uruguay in the Quarter Finals, with Gil Merrick, the goalkeeper, at fault for Uruguay’s first and last goals. The Uruguayans’ third goal was scored by Juan Schiaffino, after a team-mate had started a move with a drop kick, being allowed to do so by Erich Steiner, the Austrian referee. West Germany were to be the surprise winners of the World Cup this year, beating Hungary’s “Magic Magyars” 3-2 in the Final.
England sailed through the qualifiers for the 1958 World Cup, with Tommy Taylor scoring hat tricks as Denmark were beaten 5-2 and the Republic of Ireland 5-1. Taylor also scored twice in a 4-1 win against the Danes. Taylor was tragically killed in the Munich air disaster which decimated the Manchester United team in February 1958. Duncan Edwards, another star of the England team, died as a result of his injuries in the plane crash. Bobby Charlton, a survivor of the Munich crash, was in the England squad for the 1958 World Cup finals, staged in Sweden, but did not play in any of the matches. England drew all three of their group games, against the Soviet Union, Brazil, and Austria. Bobby Robson, a future England manager, was unlucky to have goals disallowed due to refereeing errors in the first and third matches. England met the Soviet Union for a second time, in a play-off to decide which team advanced with Brazil, who eventually went on to win the trophy, to the Quarter Finals. The Soviet Union won by a single goal, which meant that England returned home from the World Cup finals without a win – the only time this has happened.
England saw off Portugal and Luxembourg to qualify for the 1962 finals. A 9-0 win against Luxembourg, England’s largest ever in the World Cup, featured hat tricks by Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves. England struggled through the group stage in Chile, losing to Hungary and drawing 0-0 with Bulgaria, either side of a 3-1 victory against Argentina, in the first World Cup meeting between the two countries. Ron Flowers, Charlton, and Greaves were the English scorers against Argentina. In the Quarter Finals, England were beaten 3-1 by Brazil, as Garrincha scored twice. With Pele, their young star in 1958, missing most of the 1962 tournament through injury, Garrincha emerged as the inspiration for Brazil, who retained the trophy.
Four years later England was the host nation for the 1966 finals, which meant that the team qualified automatically. England were now managed by Alf Ramsey, who had played in the 1950 finals. Ramsey modernised the organisation of the team, expertly captained by Bobby Moore, and also developed the 4-4-2 formation. England began with a goalless draw against Uruguay, before beating Mexico and France. Argentina were defeated by a single goal, from Geoff Hurst, in a bruising Quarter Final, in which Antonio Rattin, the visitors’ captain, was sent off amidst a lengthy dispute. In the Semi Finals, England defeated Portugal 2-1, with a brace of goals from Bobby Charlton. In a brilliant and dramatic Final, England beat West Germany 4-2, after extra time, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat trick, while Martin Peters got England’s other goal. In a game of twists and turns, the Germans drew level at 2-2 in the last minute of normal time, with Wolfgang Weber scoring a dubious goal. In the break before extra time Ramsey exhorted his team to renewed efforts, telling them “You won it once, now you must win it again”. Ramsey also pointed to the tired Germans, and said they were finished. England regained the lead in extra time with a shot from Geoff Hurst, which apparently did not fully cross the goal-line. The match ended with Hurst scoring from a glorious shot into the roof of the net. England had finally won the trophy that matched its claims of leadership in world football.
In 1970 England were again given direct passage to the finals, this time as holders of the trophy. The tournament was held in Mexico, with heat and altitude being a major issue for visiting teams. England’s attempt to defend their world title is mostly recalled for a couple of defeats. In the group stage Brazil beat England 1-0, with a goal from Jairzinho, after Gordon Banks had made a famous save to deny Pele, who seemed set to score with a powerful header. Bobby Moore remained as captain, and played with great assurance, especially in the match against Brazil, despite having been arrested in Colombia, when falsely accused of theft, shortly before the tournament began. Single goal victories against Romania and Czechoslovakia, either side of the Brazil game, took England to the Quarter Finals, where they met West Germany. England built up a two goal lead, with goals from Alan Mullery and Martin Peters, but the Germans drew level, before winning 3-2 after extra time, getting the better of a tiring England team. Banks missed the game due to illness, having drunk some defective beer, and his replacement, Peter Bonetti, made errors. Alf Ramsey was blamed by many for his decision to substitute Bobby Charlton, making what proved to be his last international appearance, when England were leading 2-1, apparently resting the veteran player ahead of a hoped-for Semi Final. The tournament ended with Brazil beating Italy 4-1, to take the trophy for the third time.
The 1974 World Cup saw England eliminated in the qualifiers for the first time, as they lost 2-0 away to Poland – with Alan Ball, a member of the team that won the 1966 Final, being sent off – and were held to a 1-1 draw at Wembley. England dominated the latter game, but were denied by brilliant goalkeeping from Jan Tomaszewski. Failure to qualify led to the dismissal of Alf Ramsey, which occurred shortly before the 1974 finals. Alf Ramsey was eventually replaced by Don Revie – after Joe Mercer had a spell as caretaker manager. Revie resigned from the post during the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, at which point Ron Greenwood took on the role as manager, initially in a caretaker capacity. England lost 2-0 away to Italy, but won the return by the same score, with goals from Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking. Italy won the group on goal difference, with the combined margin of their victories against Finland and Luxembourg being greater than those of England, who would again be absent from the finals. West Germany and Argentina respectively won the World Cups of 1974 and 1978, with both of them being the host nation, and beating the Netherlands in their Final. Perhaps a relatively good England team could claim to be unlucky, given the strength of the opponents they faced in the qualifiers, as Poland went on to take third place in 1974, and four years later Italy gained fourth place in the World Cup. In between, England were eliminated from the qualifiers for the 1976 European Championship by Czechoslovakia, who were to win that trophy, just as West Germany had in 1972 after defeating England in the Quarter Finals.
England returned to the World Cup finals in 1982, but only just, losing three out of eight matches in their qualifying group, and scraping through to the expanded, 24 team, tournament, held in Spain, as runners-up to Hungary. Once in the finals England got off to a great start, with Bryan Robson scoring after just 27 seconds in the 3-1 victory against France. The goal was celebrated by the English media as the fastest ever scored in the World Cup finals, despite two quicker goals having been recorded in past tournaments. Vaclav Masek scored for Czechoslovakia against Mexico after 15 seconds in 1962, and Ernst Lehner found the net on 25 seconds for Germany against Austria in 1934. England followed the win against France with victories against Czechoslovakia and Kuwait. In the second group stage, England were held to goalless draws by West Germany and Spain, and eliminated, despite being unbeaten in the tournament. Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking, who missed most of the tournament due to injuries, appeared as substitutes against Spain. Brooking had a good shot saved by Luis Arconada, and clever work by Bryan Robson set up a chance from which Kevin Keegan sadly headed wide of an inviting goal. The Germans were to reach the Final, but lost against Italy.
Ron Greenwood retired at the end of the 1982 finals, following which Bobby Robson led England through the next two World Cups. Throughout an eight year tenure as manager, Robson dealt calmly with a barrage of unfair criticism from the British press, and showed great enthusiasm for his role. England impressed in winning their group in the 1986 qualifiers, being unbeaten in eight matches. Bryan Robson notched a hat trick as Turkey were beaten 8-0 at Istanbul, and Gary Lineker likewise scored three times in the 5-0 win against the same opponents at Wembley. There was a bad start to the finals, in Mexico, with a defeat against Portugal, and goalless draw with Morocco. Ray Wilkins was sent off in the latter match, and Bryan Robson suffered a recurrence of a dislocated shoulder, which ruled him out of the remainder of the finals. England improved to beat Poland 3-0, with a hat trick from Gary Lineker, in the first meeting between the two teams since the qualifying match at Wembley in 1973. Paraguay were defeated by the same score in the Second Round, with Lineker netting twice. The other goal came from Peter Beardsley, this being the only England goal in the 1986 finals which was not scored by Lineker, who was off the pitch at the time, receiving treatment after being elbowed in the throat by a Paraguayan. In the Quarter Finals England met Argentina, a repeat of their match at the same stage in 1966. Diego Maradona scored twice for Argentina, within a few minutes, early in the second half. The first goal saw Maradona go unpunished for punching the ball into the net – immediately after the match he said the goal was scored by “a little bit of the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona”. In the diary that he wrote of the tournament, Robson lamented that England had been “cheated” by the way in which Maradona got his first goal, following which “he scored a second of staggering brilliance”. The latter goal was an amazing solo effort, as Maradona received the ball just inside the Argentinian half, and set off on an irresistible run, beating four English players at great pace, before taking the ball around the advancing Peter Shilton, and slotting it into the net. There was a late onslaught from England, in which Lineker scored, and was inches away from adding an equaliser, but Argentina prevailed 2-1. Lineker’s six goal haul won him the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading scorer. The England players returned home on the day after the defeat against Argentina, but Bobby Robson remained in Mexico, and attended the Final, in which Argentina beat West Germany 3-2. In the book So Near and Yet So Far: Bobby Robson’s World Cup Diary 1982-86, Robson reflected: “Walking away from the Aztec Stadium I felt I could hold my head up high. Although we had finished in joint fifth place only, it was hugely encouraging for the country and for me. We were so close to being the best – only one disputed goal away from the World Champions”.
Robson’s faith was largely vindicated four years later. England were unbeaten in their qualifying matches for the 1990 World Cup, but only just reached the finals. England were twice held to goalless draws by Sweden, who finished at the top of the table. England qualified as runners-up, by drawing 0-0 away to Poland in their last match. Poland hit the crossbar in the final minute, when a defeat would have eliminated England. At the finals, staged in Italy, England’s first match opened with Gary Lineker scoring a typical opportunist goal against the Republic of Ireland after eight minutes, but the game ended as a 1-1 draw. England drew 0-0 with the Netherlands, but deserved to win, as they gave a skilful display in which Paul Gascoigne excelled. Gascoigne, who had only recently become a regular member of the England team, was about to establish himself as one of the best players in the world, at the age of 23. Gascoigne’s wayward talent had been nurtured by Bobby Robson, who said that the player was “daft as a brush”. A 1-0 win against Egypt saw England emerge at the top of their group, with a free kick from Gascoigne being headed in by Mark Wright. England’s knock-out match against Belgium was goalless until the final minute of extra time. Gascoigne made a powerful run through midfield, which led to his being brought down by a Belgian. Gascoigne lofted the resulting free kick into the penalty area, and David Platt scored with a volley on the turn, to give England a dramatic victory. England struggled to beat Cameroon 3-2, after extra time, in the Quarter Finals. Platt gave England the lead before the interval, but Cameroon scored twice in the second half. Lineker coolly equalised from a penalty late in normal time, before scoring a further goal from the spot in extra time. There was another late equaliser from Lineker in the Semi Finals, as England drew 1-1 with West Germany, after extra time, in a brilliant match, before losing 4-3 on penalties – Stuart Pearce’s penalty was saved, and Chris Waddle shot over the crossbar. During extra time Gascoigne was unlucky to pick up his second booking of the tournament. The realisation that, if England reached the Final, he would miss the match due to suspension, reduced Gascoigne to tears. With half of the nation watching the match on television, footage of Gascoigne’s tears, and pride, won the hearts of the English people. The Germans went on to beat Argentina 1-0 in the Final. Despite a 2-1 defeat against Italy in the Third Place Match, this England team left the tournament with a great reputation. Fourth place was England’s best placing in the World Cup since the trophy was won in 1966. On a personal level, Lineker’s four goals in the tournament, added to those scored in Mexico, enabled him to join the select band of players who have scored ten or more goals in the World Cup finals. Meanwhile Peter Shilton retired from a remarkable international career, having served England in 125 matches over a period of twenty years. The England team returned home as heroes, with Gascoigne the greatest hero of them all. “Gazzamania” was born, and the next few months saw the player engulfed in a whirlwind of publicity.
Bobby Robson departed as England manager at the end of the 1990 finals, becoming coach of PSV Eindhoven, and Graham Taylor oversaw the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. The latter campaign was captured in the television documentary Do I Not Like That, the title being a rather ungrammatical phrase used by Taylor, symbolic of his muddled leadership. England were held to draws at home to both Norway and Netherlands, and lost the away matches against both teams. England finished third in group, three points behind Norway, and two points behind the Dutch. The decisive game for England proved to be the 2-0 defeat against the Netherlands in Rotterdam, in which the first goal was scored by Ronald Koeman, who should have been sent off prior to this, for a foul on David Platt which prevented a goalscoring opportunity. In their last match England conceded a goal to San Marino after just eight seconds, before eventually winning 7-1, as Ian Wright scored four goals. England had previously beaten San Marino 6-0 at Wembley, with David Platt scoring four goals and also missing a penalty. When the 1994 finals were held in the USA, Norway were eliminated in the group stage by the Republic of Ireland, who were in turn beaten by the Netherlands in the Second Round. The Dutch lost 3-2 to Brazil in the Quarter Finals, and Brazil went on to win the World Cup, beating Italy in the Final, following a match that was a goalless draw, after extra time.
Glenn Hoddle replaced Terry Venables as England coach immediately after the Euro 96 finals, in which England reached the Semi Finals, and lost to eventual champions Germany on penalties. Hoddle had been a gifted midfielder, who played for England in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals. In the 1998 competition, England were beaten 1-0 by Italy at Wembley, this being England’s first defeat in a home World Cup qualifier. England subsequently drew 0-0 against Italy in Rome, with a solid performance, and won the group. England went into the 1998 finals without Paul Gascoigne, who was surprisingly excluded from the squad by Hoddle, with the manager concerned about Gascoigne’s level of fitness. England began with a 2-0 win against Tunisia, but some sloppy defending in their next match led to a 2-1 defeat against Romania. England bounced back to beat Colombia 2-0, with goals from Darren Anderton and David Beckham, the latter scoring with a brilliant free kick. The victory against Colombia meant England advanced to the knock-out stage, and much tougher South American opponents, in the form of Argentina. A tremendous contest was drawn 2-2, after extra time, with Michael Owen scoring a brilliant solo goal, and Beckham being sent off for retaliating when fouled by Diego Simeone. Argentina then won the match 4-3 on penalties, with Paul Ince and David Batty being the unlucky England players who did not score. Beckham’s silly act, which forced England to play almost all of the second half, plus extra time, a man short, severely limited the team’s attacking options, and was widely regarded as the cause of the team’s elimination. Hoddle chronicled England’s campaign in his infamous book My 1998 World Cup Story, which was published a few months after the finals. Hoddle wrote that his biggest mistake was not having Eileen Drewery, a faith healer, in France with the England squad. Most English football followers thought that Hoddle’s decision that the team should not seriously practice for a penalty shoot-out was a more glaring omission. Hoddle did not even select penalty takers in advance, merely asking for volunteers when the moment arrived against Argentina. He stated in his book: “David Batty was up for it. He was very, very confident. He told me he’d never taken a penalty, but it didn’t matter. I’d rather have someone who’s up for it than someone who’s not any day. Incey was up for it too. He’d had a fantastic game. He’d had to battle through and had put in a magnificent performance. They all had. Every single one of them”.
Hoddle, who was struggling as coach, made some callous remarks about disabled people at the start of 1999, and the Football Association dismissed him. Howard Wilkinson acted as caretaker manager, before being replaced by Kevin Keegan, who took England to the Euro 2000 finals. Keegan’s subsequent managerial role in the World Cup lasted a single match. England’s qualifying campaign for the 2002 competition opened in October 2000 with a 1-0 defeat against Germany, in the last match to be played at Wembley before it was demolished and rebuilt. The defeat prompted Keegan to immediately resign as England manager, admitting that he lacked the tactical understanding required to bring success at international level. Keegan departed saying: “I have no complaints. I have not been quite good enough. I blame no one but myself”. Keegan’s honesty was refreshing, but the timing was not good, with England’s next World Cup qualifier following just four days later. Howard Wilkinson returned as caretaker manager when England drew 0-0 with Finland in that match. Sven-Goran Eriksson took over as coach during the early part of 2001, with the Swede being the first foreigner to manage England. The Autumn saw England thrash Germany 5-1 in Munich, with a brilliant performance, in which Michael Owen scored a hat trick. The qualifying campaign ended with a 2-2 draw against Greece at Old Trafford, by which England secured a place in the finals. Having led a fight-back with a determined personal display, Beckham gained the vital point for England by scoring a spectacular goal, from a thirty yard free kick in stoppage time.
During the Spring of 2002 Beckham suffered a broken metatarsal playing for Manchester United against Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League. Beckham managed to recover sufficiently to join the England squad for the World Cup finals, held in Japan and South Korea. England began with a 1-1 draw against Sweden. The next match saw England beat Argentina, with Beckham scoring the only goal from a penalty, thereby exorcising demons from the 1998 match. England completed the group stage with a goalless draw against Nigeria. In the Second Round, Denmark were impressively beaten 3-0, with goals from Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, and Emile Heskey. England exited with a tame performance against Brazil, who won the Quarter Final meeting 2-1, despite Owen having put England ahead. Ronaldinho, who scored what proved to be the winning goal early in the second half, was sent off a few minutes later, but England failed to take advantage of having an extra man. Brazil subsequently won the trophy, beating Germany 2-0 in what is surprisingly the only World Cup meeting to date between these two giants of the competition. Many blamed Eriksson for England’s failure to effectively challenge for the trophy, with the coach adopting defensive tactics. Despite some lacklustre performances on the pitch, due to the continuing effects of his injury, the impression was that Beckham was one of the stars of the World Cup, as he received great adulation from the local public. He was already an established celebrity in the region due to advertising work.
England performed well in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, apart from a surprise 1-0 defeat away to Northern Ireland, which was the only one of England’s ten games that was lost. A place in the finals was ultimately secured with a 1-0 win against Austria at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the campaign, but David Beckham departed half an hour from time, being sent off as he received two yellow cards a minute apart. Each booking was unlucky, but Beckham’s petulant behaviour contributed to the dismissal. He now set the unenviable record of becoming the first player to be sent off twice for England. Four days later England beat Poland 2-1, in the eleventh World Cup meeting with a country that has been England’s most frequent opponent in the competition. Since losing to the Poles in 1973, England have been unbeaten in this sequence. The England team’s performances in the 2006 finals, staged in Germany, were generally disappointing. Beckham, as captain, failed to provide the spark of leadership, although he made some significant contributions. England beat Paraguay 1-0 in their first match, with a free kick from Beckham after three minutes leading to an own goal by Carlos Gammara. England made heavy weather of a 2-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago, and completed the group stage with a 2-2 draw against Sweden. In the Second Round, England beat Ecuador 1-0, with Beckham scoring from a free kick, but he struggled with the effects of dehydration, and vomited during the match. England’s campaign ended in the Quarter Finals, with a defeat against Portugal on penalties, following a match that was drawn 0-0, after extra time. Portugal won the penalty contest 3-1, as efforts by Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher were saved. England had now lost all three of the penalty contests they had been involved in during World Cups. England played half of the one hundred and twenty minutes a man short, as Wayne Rooney was sent off for a foul on Ricardo Carvalho. Rooney’s stupid reaction to provocation was reminiscent of Beckham’s failure against Argentina eight years earlier. Against Portugal, a clearly distraught Beckham was substituted shortly after half time, due to an injury. England’s most impressive play in the tournament was provided by the ten men in the second hour against Portugal. It appeared that these players raised their game once the team was left without Beckham and Rooney, who were the supposed stars. Rooney had been a doubtful participant a few weeks earlier, as he suffered a broken metatarsal – just as Beckham had in 2002. On the day following elimination, Beckham announced that he was resigning as England captain. This tournament also brought the end of Eriksson’s tenure as coach. The trophy was won by Italy, who beat France on penalties in the Final, which had been drawn 1-1, after extra time. The Italian squad succeeded despite the developing effects of the Calciopoli domestic match-fixing scandal, which had begun to surface a few weeks earlier. Italy’s players combined technical ability as footballers with mental toughness, believing that they were good enough to win the World Cup. These are qualities that England teams have generally lacked in their World Cup campaigns over the years.
Eriksson was replaced by Steve McClaren, the latter of whom was dismissed as England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals. The next England coach was Fabio Capello, an Italian who had played for his country in the 1974 World Cup finals. Given a new impetus by Capello, England played excellent football in the 2010 qualifiers, winning nine of their ten matches, and scoring 34 goals. Croatia were beaten 4-1 away, with Theo Walcott scoring a hat trick, and 5-1 at home. The campaign began with eight successive victories, this being England’s longest ever winning sequence in the World Cup. David Beckham featured in nine of the qualifying matches – with all but one of these appearances seeing him arrive from the substitutes’ bench – but an Achilles injury, sustained when playing for Milan in March 2010, prevented Beckham from becoming the first English player to participate in the finals of four World Cups. When they get to South Africa, England will meet the USA, Algeria, and Slovenia in the group stage, with this appearing to be a good draw. England lost against the USA in the only previous World Cup meeting between the teams, sixty years ago, but have won most of the encounters since then. England’s sole previous meeting with Slovenia was a 2-1 win in a friendly at Wembley, as recently as September 2009. Algeria will be new opponents for England, as the team from the home of football continue their World Cup odyssey.
1950
Qualifiers
15.10.1949 Cardiff Wales 4-1
16.11.1949 Manchester Northern Ireland 9-2
15.04.1950 Glasgow Scotland 1-0
Finals
25.06.1950 Rio de Janeiro Chile 2-0
29.06.1950 Belo Horizonte USA 0-1
02.07.1950 Rio de Janeiro Spain 0-1
1954
Qualifiers
10.10.1953 Cardiff Wales 4-1
11.11.1953 Liverpool Northern Ireland 3-1
03.04.1954 Glasgow Scotland 4-2
Finals
17.06.1954 Basle Belgium 4-4
20.06.1954 Berne Switzerland 2-0
26.06.1954 Basle Uruguay 2-4
1958
Qualifiers
05.12.1956 Wolverhampton Denmark 5-2
08.05.1957 Wembley Republic of Ireland 5-1
15.05.1957 Copenhagen Denmark 4-1
19.05.1957 Dublin Republic of Ireland 1-1
Finals
08.06.1958 Gothenburg Soviet Union 2-2
11.06.1958 Gothenburg Brazil 0-0
15.06.1958 Boras Austria 2-2
17.06.1958 Gothenburg Soviet Union 0-1
1962
Qualifiers
19.10.1960 Luxembourg Luxembourg 9-0
21.05.1961 Lisbon Portugal 1-1
28.09.1961 London Luxembourg 4-1
25.10.1961 Wembley Portugal 2-0
Finals
31.05.1962 Rancagua Hungary 1-2
02.06.1962 Rancagua Argentina 3-1
07.06.1962 Rancagua Bulgaria 0-0
10.06.1962 Vina del Mar Brazil 1-3
1966
Finals
11.07.1966 Wembley Uruguay 0-0
16.07.1966 Wembley Mexico 2-0
20.07.1966 Wembley France 2-0
23.07.1966 Wembley Argentina 1-0
26.07.1966 Wembley Portugal 2-1
30.07.1966 Wembley West Germany 4-2
1970
Finals
02.06.1970 Guadalajara Romania 1-0
07.06.1970 Guadalajara Brazil 0-1
11.06.1970 Guadalajara Czechoslovakia 1-0
14.06.1970 Leon West Germany 2-3
1974
Qualifiers
15.11.1972 Cardiff Wales 1-0
24.01.1973 Wembley Wales 1-1
06.06.1973 Katowice Poland 0-2
17.10.1973 Wembley Poland 1-1
1978
Qualifiers
13.06.1976 Helsinki Finland 4-1
13.10.1976 Wembley Finland 2-1
17.11.1976 Rome Italy 0-2
30.03.1977 Wembley Luxembourg 5-0
12.10.1977 Luxembourg Luxembourg 2-0
16.11.1977 Wembley Italy 2-0
1982
Qualifiers
10.09.1980 Wembley Norway 4-0
15.10.1980 Bucharest Romania 1-2
19.11.1980 Wembley Switzerland 2-1
29.04.1981 Wembley Romania 0-0
30.05.1981 Basle Switzerland 1-2
06.06.1981 Budapest Hungary 3-1
09.09.1981 Oslo Norway 1-2
18.11.1981 Wembley Hungary 1-0
Finals
16.06.1982 Bilbao France 3-1
20.06.1982 Bilbao Czechoslovakia 2-0
25.06.1982 Bilbao Kuwait 1-0
29.06.1982 Madrid West Germany 0-0
05.07.1982 Madrid Spain 0-0
1986
Qualifiers
17.10.1984 Wembley Finland 5-0
14.11.1984 Istanbul Turkey 8-0
27.02.1985 Belfast Northern Ireland 1-0
01.05.1985 Bucharest Romania 0-0
22.05.1985 Helsinki Finland 1-1
11.09.1985 Wembley Romania 1-1
16.10.1985 Wembley Turkey 5-0
13.11.1985 Wembley Northern Ireland 0-0
Finals
03.06.1986 Monterrey Portugal 0-1
06.06.1986 Monterrey Morocco 0-0
11.06.1986 Monterrey Poland 3-0
18.06.1986 Mexico City Paraguay 3-0
22.06.1986 Mexico City Argentina 1-2
1990
Qualifiers
19.10.1988 Wembley Sweden 0-0
08.03.1989 Tirana Albania 2-0
26.04.1989 Wembley Albania 5-0
03.06.1989 Wembley Poland 3-0
06.09.1989 Stockholm Sweden 0-0
11.10.1989 Katowice Poland 0-0
Finals
11.06.1990 Cagliari Republic of Ireland 1-1
16.06.1990 Cagliari Netherlands 0-0
21.06.1990 Cagliari Egypt 1-0
27.06.1990 Bologna Belgium 1-0
01.07.1990 Naples Cameroon 3-2
04.07.1990 Turin West Germany 1-1
West Germany won 4-3 on penalties
07.07.1990 Bari Italy 1-2
1994
Qualifiers
14.10.1992 Wembley Norway 1-1
18.11.1992 Wembley Turkey 4-0
31.03.1993 Izmir Turkey 2-0
28.04.1993 Wembley Netherlands 2-2
29.05.1993 Katowice Poland 1-1
02.06.1993 Oslo Norway 0-2
08.09.1993 Wembley Poland 3-0
13.10.1993 Rotterdam Netherlands 0-2
17.11.1993 Bologna San Marino 7-1
1998
Qualifiers
01.09.1996 Kishinev Moldova 3-0
09.10.1996 Wembley Poland 2-1
09.11.1996 Tbilisi Georgia 2-0
12.02.1997 Wembley Italy 0-1
30.04.1997 Wembley Georgia 2-0
31.05.1997 Katowice Poland 2-0
10.09.1997 Wembley Moldova 4-0
11.11.1997 Rome Italy 0-0
Finals
15.06.1998 Marseille Tunisia 2-0
22.06.1998 Toulouse Romania 1-2
26.06.1998 Lens Colombia 2-0
30.06.1998 St. Etienne Argentina 2-2
Argentina won 4-3 on penalties
2002
Qualifiers
07.10.2000 Wembley Germany 0-1
11.10.2000 Helsinki Finland 0-0
24.03.2001 Liverpool Finland 2-1
28.03.2001 Tirana Albania 3-1
06.06.2001 Athens Greece 2-0
01.09.2001 Munich Germany 5-1
05.09.2001 Newcastle Albania 2-0
06.10.2001 Manchester Greece 2-2
Finals
02.06.2002 Saitama Sweden 1-1
07.06.2002 Sapporo Argentina 1-0
12.06.2002 Osaka Nigeria 0-0
15.06.2002 Niigata Denmark 3-0
21.06.2002 Shizuoka Brazil 1-2
2006
Qualifiers
04.09.2004 Vienna Austria 2-2
08.09.2004 Katowice Poland 2-1
09.10.2004 Manchester Wales 2-0
13.10.2004 Baku Azerbaijan 1-0
26.03.2005 Manchester Northern Ireland 4-0
30.03.2005 Newcastle Azerbaijan 2-0
03.09.2005 Cardiff Wales 1-0
07.09.2005 Belfast Northern Ireland 0-1
08.10.2005 Manchester Austria 1-0
12.10.2005 Manchester Poland 2-1
Finals
10.06.2006 Frankfurt Paraguay 1-0
15.06.2006 Nuremberg Trinidad and Tobago 2-0
20.06.2006 Cologne Sweden 2-2
25.06.2006 Stuttgart Ecuador 1-0
01.07.2006 Gelsenkirchen Portugal 0-0
Portugal won 3-1 on penalties
2010
Qualifiers
06.09.2008 Barcelona Andorra 2-0
10.09.2008 Zagreb Croatia 4-1
11.10.2008 Wembley Kazakhstan 5-1
15.10.2008 Minsk Belarus 3-1
01.04.2009 Wembley Ukraine 2-1
06.06.2009 Almaty Kazakhstan 4-0
10.06.2009 Wembley Andorra 6-0
09.09.2009 Wembley Croatia 5-1
10.10.2009 Dnepropetrovsk Ukraine 0-1
14.10.2009 Wembley Belarus 3-0
