England national football team
The
England national football team represents
England in international
football competitions such as the
World Cup - which it won in 1966 - and the
European Championships. Controlled by
The Football Association, the governing body for football in England, they are one of the highest-ranking national teams in Europe.
England is the most successful of the four
Home Nations, having won the
British Home Championship thirty-four times, as often as the other three nations put together.
Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been
Scotland[A history of fierce football rivalry]. In recent years, other rivalries have developed.
England-Argentina and
England-Germany are two of the most heated in the world today.
Early years
England, captained by
Cuthbert Ottaway, played in the first ever international football match, against
Scotland at
Hamilton Crescent in
Partick,
Scotland on
30 November 1872.(See Match Report
here) 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.
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,
Hungary and
Bohemia. England's first defeat to a team outside the
British Isles came in
1929, when they lost 4-3 to
Spain in
Madrid.
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 they did defeat
1934 World Cup winners
Italy in the "
Battle of Highbury" in November 1934.
Post-war
The FA rejoined FIFA in 1946, the same year they appointed the first dedicated
team manager,
Walter Winterbottom (although the team was picked by a committee). England lost their first match at home to non-British opposition when they were defeated 0-2 by the
Republic of Ireland in 1949 at
Goodison Park,
Liverpool. England's World Cup debut came in
1950; however, they suffered an infamous
1-0 defeat to the
United States and failed to get beyond the first group stage.
England's tactical inferiorities were highlighted on
25 November 1953, when
Hungary came to visit
Wembley Stadium. One of the best sides in the world at the time and fielding legendary players such as
Sándor Kocsis and
Ferenc Puskás, Hungary
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.
England struggled in the
1954 World Cup, losing to
Uruguay in the quarter finals, and their hopes of success at the
1958 finals were almost completely shattered by the
Munich air disaster in February that year, which claimed the lives of key internationals
Roger Byrne,
David Pegg,
Tommy Taylor and, England's greatest single talent of the era,
Duncan Edwards.
Bobby Charlton, who was injured in the crash, recovered sufficiently to make his England debut in April that year and begin one of the great England international careers. He was named in the squad which travelled to
Sweden for the finals but didn't kick a ball as England exited in the group stages after a play-off defeat against the
USSR, a game deemed necessary after the two finished entirely equal in second spot of their group.
All the signs pointed to how far English football had fallen behind the rest of the world, although by the end of the 1950s, emerging talents such as prolific goalscorer
Jimmy Greaves suggested that sufficiently talented players were available, provided the tactical and coaching side of the game could bring the best out of them.
By the
1960s English tactics and training started to improve, and England turned in a respectable performance in the
1962 World Cup, losing in the quarter-finals to eventual winners
Brazil. By now, more young players were making their mark, including elegant young defender
Bobby Moore. After Winterbottom retired in 1962, former captain
Alf Ramsey was appointed and crucially won the right to choose the squad and team himself, taking that role away from the selection committee. Ramsey boldly predicted that England would win the following tournament, which England were hosting.
1966 World Cup
Ramsey's prediction came true, and the
1966 World Cup was England's finest moment. An unremarkable group phase saw England win two and draw one of their games, with a 30 yard strike by
Bobby Charlton at
Wembley against
Mexico proving a highlight. An injury to centre forward
Jimmy Greaves in the final group match against
France prompted Ramsey into a re-think for the quarter final against
Argentina, and inexperienced replacement
Geoff Hurst responded by scoring the only goal of the game. Charlton then hit both goals in a 2-1 semi-final win over
Portugal and England had reached the final, where they would meet
West Germany. By now, Greaves was fit again, but Ramsey kept faith with Hurst, despite calls from the media for the main goalscorer to return.
England's "Wingless Wonders" (a phrase coined by the press after Ramsey devised a new 4-3-3 system which relied on stamina-based midfield players rather than natural wingers) won the final 4-2 after
extra time, with three goals from Hurst and one from
Martin Peters. Hurst's second goal became the most talked-about and controversial in England football history, with West Germany's players protesting - to this day - that the ball from Hurst's shot did not fully cross the goal-line after bouncing down from the crossbar. Numerous attempts to decide the matter once and for all have not been fully conclusive, although the sporting consensus suggests that England were fortunate to be awarded a goal. In 1995, researchers from
Oxford University announced the results of computer video analysis of the television footage, which gave new angles of view: they concluded that the shot had not crossed the line [
1]
Bobby Moore became the first and, to date, only England captain to lift the World Cup, and no other player has yet equalled Hurst's feat of a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
The game prompted an unwitting piece of flawless and immortal broadcasting from the
BBC's
Kenneth Wolstenholme when describing the last-ditch run and shot from Hurst which led to his third goal - "And here comes Hurst, he's got ...
(notices spectators on the field) ... some people are on the pitch,
they think it's all over! (Hurst shoots and scores) It is now!" Wolstenholme's words became as much part of the folklore from the 1966 World Cup as England's victory.
Decline in the 1970s
At the
1968 European Championships, England lost to
Yugoslavia in the semi-final -
Alf Ramsey's first competitive defeat for five years - and
Alan Mullery became the first player to be sent off while playing for England.
In Mexico, for the
1970 World Cup, despite the
altitude conditions, England progressed with some ease to the quarter finals, despite a 1-0 defeat to
Brazil in their group, which was most notable for a stunning save from
Pele by goalkeeper
Gordon Banks. In the quarter final match against
West Germany England coasted into a 2-0 lead but the Germans fought back to 2-2, then in extra time
Gerd Müller scored the winner. Some blame was attached to
Peter Bonetti, Banks' replacement for this match, as well as some ill-advised tacital moves by Ramsey (such as the substitution of Bobby Charlton) and the oppresive heat and altitude in Mexico but ultimately the culpability for defeat was shared by the whole team.
England failed to reach the final stages of the
1972 European Championships thanks to West Germany again. The crucial two-legged qualifier resulted in a 3-1 win for the Germans at Wembley and a goalless draw in
Berlin. In the first of these games, 1966 hat-trick hero
Geoff Hurst made his final England appearance. Attention then turned to qualification for the
1974 World Cup but England failed to reach the finals after an infamous 1-1 draw against
Poland, who went to the finals instead as a consequence. England's inability to win was largely down to the eccentricities and heroics of Polish goalkeeper
Jan Tomaszewski. In the aftermath of this failure, however, the FA sacked Ramsey.
After a brief period where
Joe Mercer was
caretaker manager of the side (during which time 1966 hero Peters played his final England game), the FA appointed
Don Revie as Ramsey's permanent successor. But Revie fared worse than Ramsey, as England failed to qualify from the group stages of the
1976 European Championships, despite a memorable 5-0 group win over
Cyprus in which
Malcolm Macdonald scored all five of England's goals, a post-war record which remains. Revie also fell out with
Alan Ball, the last of the 1966 winners, in the summer of 1975, removing him from both captaincy and team and bringing a sudden end to his international career. Revie himself resigned controversially in
1977, halfway through England's ultimately unsuccessful bid to qualify for the
1978 World Cup in order to take a lucrative offer in the
United Arab Emirates. He was punished by the
FA and banned from working in English football for a decade, and although he overturned the ban on appeal, he would never work in English football again.
The Greenwood era
After the departure of Revie,
Brian Clough applied for the post but the FA gave the role to
Ron Greenwood, who had been brought out of retirement to act as caretaker after Revie's exit. He was unable to rescue England's campaign to reach the 1978 World Cup - the damage had been done by a defeat to
Italy during Revie's era and England missed out on qualification on goal difference - but he did take England to its first tournament in a decade when qualification for the
1980 European Championships in
Italy was secured. During the qualification campaign, England played a friendly match against
Czechoslovakia, in which
Viv Anderson became the first black player to win an England cap. England were unspectacular at the finals and did not progress beyond their group. At the same time, the team were attracting an ever-growing
hooligan element in their support, especially at matches abroad, and against Belgium, Italian police were forced to deploy
tear gas.
Greenwood had begun to plan England's future upon taking the job, and the likes of
Bryan Robson,
Kenny Sansom,
Terry Butcher and
Glenn Hoddle were already fully-fledged internationals as England turned attentions to qualifying for the
1982 World Cup in
Spain. The campaign was long and topsy-turvy, with England unable to put a reasonable run of victories together but eventually England benfitted from other results and qualified in the final game with a 1-0 win over
Hungary at
Wembley.
At the finals, England won all three of their group games and Robson scored one of the fastest goals at a World Cup finals when he netted 27 seconds into the opening match against
France. England went into the second round pool but were eliminated despite ultimately not losing a game. Greenwood announced his immediate retirement. This was also another tournament marred by violence, a problem which would continue through the rest of the decade when England went overseas.
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 started badly on a PR front by not telling captain
Kevin Keegan that he would not be calling him into his first squad, and Keegan heard the news via the media, aired his disgust and retired from the international game.
On the pitch, Robson's England failed to make the final stages of the
1984 European Championships by losing out to
Denmark, but a fresher, younger squad took England to the
1986 World Cup in Mexico. England had a poor start, losing to
Portugal and then drawing with
Morocco in a game which saw
Ray Wilkins become the first England player to be sent off at a World Cup and captain
Bryan Robson helped from the field in agony, not to return again in the competition, after dislocating his shoulder (a reoccurance of an injury sustained after colliding with a sprinkler on the side of the pitch during a Manchester United game). Pressure mounted on England to rescue themselves with a win over
Poland and
Gary Lineker's first-half hat-trick did just that. In the second round, England defeated
Paraguay 3-0 thanks largely to two more goals from Lineker, but were to fall short in controversial circumstances against the eventual winners Argentina in the quarter finals, thanks to two very different but equally memorable goals from
Diego Maradona - the infamous "
Hand of God" goal, where Maradona punched the ball into the net, and then
the second after a 50-yard dribble past five England players that is widely regarded as one of the finest goals in history and is often called the
Goal of the Century. Lineker scored England's late consolation, his sixth of the tournament, and duly won the
Golden Boot. His star increased so profoundly as a consequence of the World Cup that he was purchased by
Barcelona immediately afterwards.
England's impetus and progress was lost when, at the
1988 European Championships in Germany, a lethargic and misfiring group of players lost all three of their group games, including a shock 1-0 reversal against the
Republic of Ireland, managed by 1966 England hero
Jack Charlton. The tournament also marked the final England appearances of stalwarts
Glenn Hoddle and
Kenny Sansom, the latter of whom attained a total of 86 caps, which remains the record for a full back. Robson offered his resignation, which was declined, and England recovered to go through their qualifying campaign for the
1990 World Cup without conceding a goal.
The 1990 World Cup in Italy was to be Robson's last tournament in charge, having decided against extending his contract in order to return to club football with
PSV Eindhoven. The competition turned out to be England's best since 1966; after a slow start in the group stage, England managed narrow 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, with
Stuart Pearce and
Chris Waddle failing from the spot. The team's good performance, the relative lack of violence, winning the
Fair Play Award and the emergence of
Paul Gascoigne - England's player of the tournament, who famously 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 into British society in the 1990s as well as the reinstatement of English clubs into European club competition in the 1990/91 season after a 5 year ban following the Heysel disaster. After the World Cup, Shilton retired from international football with 125 caps, a record remains to this day.
Mixed 1990s
Robson's successor,
Graham Taylor, did not build on the team that fared well in 1990. He discarded senior players like
Bryan Robson and
Chris Waddle (in the form of his life at
Olympique de Marseille) and, although qualification was relatively smooth, Taylor's team ultimately failed to win a single game at the
1992 European Championships in
Sweden. Taylor was also widely castigated for taking off
Gary Lineker in what turned out to be his final England appearance, when England needed a goal, and Lineker himself needed to score just one more goal to equal Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for the national team.
England missed out on qualifying for the
1994 FIFA World Cup altogether; defeats in
Norway and then
the Netherlands ultimately ruined England's hopes, and the team infamously went 1-0 down to tiny
San Marino in their final qualifying match after just eight seconds, one of the fastest international goals of all time, before recovering to win 7-1. Taylor was sacked soon after the San Marino game and took some years to re-establish his reputation as a coach and manager.
Terry Venables was the next appointment to the post. Venables oversaw a much improved performance at the
1996 European Championships - although he was helped from the start as the tournament was to take place in England and therefore he did not have to go through a qualifying campaign. It was also the 30th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup victory, so fans' expectations were high as the tournament began with Venables deploying emerging younger stars such as
Steve McManaman,
Darren Anderton and
Gary Neville alongside established mainstays of previous campaigns, including
Paul Gascoigne,
Stuart Pearce,
David Platt and
Tony Adams, a player featuring in his first tournament since the debacle of the
1988 European Championships. After famous victories over Scotland - a 2-0 win featuring a crucial
David Seaman penalty save and a brilliant Gascoigne goal - and the Netherlands by 4-1, and a rare penalty shoot-out win over
Spain, England fans were subjected to
déjà vu as their side lost a semi-final on penalties to Germany again after drawing 1-1.
Gareth Southgate missed the vital penalty this time.
Alan Shearer, who had taken over from Lineker as England's core centre forward, emerged from the tournament as its top scorer with five goals.
Due to tension between himself and the FA over the extension of his contract after the tournament, Venables announced in advance of the 1996 European Championships that he would step down after its completion [
2], although it became widely and inaccurately reported that Venables was told by the FA he would not be employed further because of ongoing worries about his business interests.
Venables' successor was
Glenn Hoddle, merely eight years after he finished his international playing career. Hoddle immediately courted controversy by giving
Alan Shearer the captaincy ahead of
Tony Adams, but he also gave real hope to England fans by exploiting the talents of numerous young stars emerging in the English game, including the
Manchester United midfield trio of of
Paul Scholes,
Nicky Butt and
David Beckham and central defenders
Rio Ferdinand and
Sol Campbell. Hoddle oversaw England's successful qualification for the
1998 World Cup with a 0-0 draw at the
Stadio Olimpico in
Rome and drew out a winning perfomance in the
Tournoi de France, a friendly tournament held before the World Cup against competition hosts
France,
Brazil and
Italy. However after this promising build-up they were knocked of the World Cup on penalties, this time in the last 16 to
Argentina, although the game itself had been galvanised by a wonder goal from 18 year old striker
Michael Owen, upon whom Hoddle had taken a chance and put into the starting XI.
Hoddle's reign itself was riddled with ridicule over his religious convictions and insistence on employing a
faith healer as part of the set-up, and he resigned after expressing his controversial beliefs about the
disabled in a newspaper interview; he said that he thought disabled people were paying for sins committed in former lives.
Under considerable media and public pressure, the
FA appointed former captain
Kevin Keegan, who only just managed to get England into the
2000 European Championships after a 2-1 aggregate playoff win over Scotland. At the finals in
Belgium and
Holland, a lacklustre England failed to get beyond the group stage, losing to both
Portugal and
Romania after leading in each game. After England's exit, Alan Shearer retired from international football - he had announced his intentions prior to the tournament and numerous efforts subsequently to change his mind failed. In September 2000 Keegan himself resigned, citing that he was "a little bit short" [
3] tactically at international level, after England lost their very last match at the old
Wembley Stadium, a World Cup qualifier against Germany. That defeat also prompted the retirement from international football of Adams after a 13 year England career. The FA's chief executive of the time,
Adam Crozier, reluctantly accepted Keegan's resignation in the Wembley tunnel's lavatory and before leaving the stadium, had telephoned the agent of
Sven-Göran Eriksson to talk about the vacancy.
The Eriksson era and World Cup 2002 Korea/Japan
In 2001, Eriksson was duly appointed as Keegan's successor, and as a
Swedish national, he became the first foreign national to manage England. Eriksson immediately turned around the team's campaign to qualify for the
2002 World Cup with a
5-1 victory over Germany in
Munich, where 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 - with Beckham scoring the only goal as he exorcised his ghosts of the red card four years earlier - and reached the quarter-finals before being beaten 2-1 by the eventual winners
Brazil.
Euro 2004 in Portugal
For the
2004 European Championships, England came top of their qualification group after drawing 0-0 away to
Turkey. During the campaign, teenage striker
Wayne Rooney was installed as a new star in England's attack, with much expected of him for the finals. His emergence was tempered by the loss of defender
Rio Ferdinand, who was given an eight month ban from all football at the beginning of 2004 after missing a drugs test, meaning he was unable to go to Portugal for the finals. Despite a last-minute loss to
France in the group stage, England progressed with Rooney scoring in games against
Switzerland and
Croatia. Although favoured to do well in the quarter-finals, England's challenge was greatly affected early in the game when Rooney suffered a broken
metatarsal in his foot. England eventually lost in yet another penalty shootout, this time to hosts
Portugal, after a 2-2 draw. Beckham and
Darius Vassell missed the crucial kicks.
Michael Owen's goal during the game enabled him to become the first England player to score in four consecutive tournaments.
Qualification to Germany
The year 2005 saw Eriksson receive heavy criticism from fans for his defensive strategies and alleged lack of passion, his lack of communication with the players from the bench, and a perceived inability to change tactics when necessary in a game, as witnessed against
Brazil in 2002. A 4-1 loss to
Denmark in a friendly was followed by a humiliating 1-0 defeat to
Northern Ireland in a
2006 World Cup qualifier,
David Healy scoring the goal in the 73rd minute, which despite a previously excellent qualifying record led to further criticism. An unconvincing 1-0 victory over
Austria did nothing to relieve the pressure. However, despite these criticisms England qualified for the World Cup finals with one match to spare, and travelled to Germany as group winners following a 2-1 victory and a much improved performance against
Poland.
In their first friendly match following qualification for the World Cup,
England beat Argentina 3-2 in
Geneva,
Switzerland, in a game many have described as England's best performance in a very long time. Michael Owen scored twice in the last four minutes and emerged as a clear candidate to eventually beat
Bobby Charlton's long-standing goals record for England as he surpassed the numerous players on 30 goals or below to go a clear fourth in the scoring chart.
New manager after World Cup
Despite this, following revelations made in the
News of the World newspaper during January 2006, the
Football Association decided to come to an agreement with Eriksson over his future and on
23 January 2006, it was announced that Eriksson was to stand down after the summer's World Cup Finals. A number of possible successors were linked with the job; after a series of interviews that were widely criticized for their length,
Portuguese national team manager
Luiz Felipe Scolari was allegedly offered the job, but declined due to the belief that accepting the offer before a World Cup would conflict with his managerial duties at Portugal
[[4], BBC Sport, 2006-06-22]. On
4 May 2006, it was announced that
Steve McClaren would succeed Eriksson after the World Cup. His first game in charge will be against Greece at
Old Trafford on
16 August.
Rooney's injury
Another issue which was set to affect England's preparations for the 2006 World Cup came on
29 April 2006 when Rooney broke another metatarsal while playing for
Manchester United. Despite reservations and protests from medical staff, journalists and Manchester United officials that Rooney would not be fit for the World Cup, Eriksson stood firm and selected him in his squad(it later turned out that the injury was not as serious as the public had been led to believe, and Rooney was passed as match fit near the end of the group stages). Eriksson also took along untried 17 year old
Theo Walcott despite never seeing him play. Walcott made his debut in a friendly against
Hungary in May 2006, becoming the youngest ever England international and surpassing the record previously held by Rooney. In addition to the injured Rooney and the untried Walcott, Eriksson selected just two more strikers to take to Germany -
Michael Owen (who had only just returned from a 6 month injury lay off) and the 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Peter Crouch.
World Cup 2006
England's
2006 World Cup campaign saw them drawn into Group B alongside
Paraguay,
Trinidad and Tobago and
Sweden. Their opening match of the tournament was against
Paraguay in the
Waldstadion in
Frankfurt on
10 June 2006. The only goal of the game came after 2 minutes and 44 seconds, when a
David Beckham free kick was headed in by Paraguayan defender
Carlos Gamarra.
The 1-0 win over Paraguay was followed by a 2-0 victory over
Trinidad and Tobago on
15 June 2006 in the
Nuremburg. The deadlock was only broken in the 84th minute when England took the lead with a
Peter Crouch header, and this was followed by a
Steven Gerrard strike in injury time. The win secured England's place in the last 16. It also saw the return as a substitute of
Wayne Rooney just six weeks after breaking a
metatarsal bone in his foot.
England's final group match saw them play
Sweden in
Cologne. Rooney started the game, but his strike partner
Michael Owen was stretchered off with a
cruciate ligament injury after less than two minutes, but England still took a first half lead through a wonder strike from
Joe Cole. Sweden equalised through
Marcus Allback before Steven Gerrard gave England the lead again in the 86th minute. England, however, were denied a first win over Sweden since 1968 when
Henrik Larsson levelled again in the 90th minute.
Sol Campbell's introduction as a substitute made him the first England player to feature in the final stages of six consecutive tournaments, beginning with the
1996 European Championships.
England beat
Ecuador in the last 16 on
25 June in
Stuttgart courtesy of a
David Beckham free-kick. Beckham duly became the first England player to score in three World Cup tournaments, having also found the net at the 1998 and 2002 competitions. The game also saw Rooney's full rehabilitation as he managed to play for the whole 90 minutes.
The quarter-final against
Portugal on 1 July, ended 0-0 after extra time. David Beckham was substititued early in the second half with an
ankle injury, and then
Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on
Ricardo Carvalho's groin[
5] in a rough tackle, though Rooney later denied it was intentional.
The draw led to a penalty shoot-out that England lost 3-1, thus being eliminated from the tournament.
Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and
Jamie Carragher (who had to re-take his initially scored irregular penalty for not waiting for the referee's whistle) all had their attempts saved by keeper
Ricardo, with
Owen Hargreaves, later to be named
man of the match [
6], the only England player to score his penalty kick. It continued England's woes in
penalty shootouts at major championships as well as
Sven-Göran Eriksson's poor head-to-head record against
Luiz Felipe Scolari.
The morning after England's exit, a tearful Beckham announced that he was stepping down as captain, although he stressed that he was keen to continue playing for England. In his last press conference prior to the flight home, Eriksson said he only wished to be remembered for being "honest", and a coach who "tried my best". The end of the
2006 World Cup was very much the end of an era for the national side.
The New Era
With
Steve McClaren in place as the new head coach and a new captain in John Terry, England are now looking at an interesting future under new leadership and a revised management team with
Terry Venables, himself a former England manager, agreeing a deal to become McClaren's assistant.
Sammy Lee has left his post as a coach with the England set up to concentrate on a similar role he does for
Bolton Wanderers. He was offered the role to become the England Under 21 head coach but turned it down.
For the first 50 years of its existence, the England team played its home matches at different venues all around the country; for the first few years it used
cricket grounds, before later moving on to football clubs' stadiums. England played their first match at
Wembley Stadium in 1924, the year after it was completed, against
Scotland, but for the next 27 years would only use Wembley as a venue for Scotland matches; other opposition were still entertained at club grounds around the country.
In May 1951,
Argentina became the first team other than Scotland to be entertained at Wembley, and by 1960 nearly all of England's home matches were being played there. Between 1966 and 1995, England did not play a single home match anywhere else.
England's last match at Wembley before its demolition and reconstruction was against
Germany on
7 October 2000, a game which England lost 1-0. Since then the team has played at 14 different venues around the country, with
Old Trafford having been the most often used. The FA have ruled that when the new Wembley is completed in late-2006 or early-2007, England's travels will end, and the team will play all of their home matches there until at least 2036. The main reason for this is financial. The FA did not own the old Wembley stadium, but it does own the new one, and has taken on debts of hundreds of millions of pounds to pay for it. Thus it needs to maximise the revenue from England matches, and does not wish to share it with the owners of other grounds.
*Friendly: England v
Greece,
16 August at
Old Trafford,
Manchester*
Euro 2008 Qualifying Group E:
**England v
Andorra,
2 September at
Old Trafford,
Manchester**
Republic of Macedonia v England,
6 September**England v
Republic of Macedonia,
7 October at
Old Trafford,
Manchester**
Croatia v England,
11 October *Friendly:
Netherlands v England,
15 November at the
Amsterdam ArenA*
Euro 2008 Qualifying Group E (continued):
**
Israel v England,
24 March 2007 at
Ramat Gan Stadium,
Tel Aviv**
Andorra v England, at the
Estadio Comunal de Aixovall 28 March 2007**
Estonia v England,
6 June 2007**England v
Israel,
8 September 2007 at
Wembley Stadium**England v
Russia,
12 September 2007 at
Wembley Stadium**England v
Estonia,
13 October 2007 at
Wembley Stadium**
Russia v England,
17 October 2007**England v
Croatia,
21 November 2007 at
Wembley StadiumRecent results
Goal scorers in brackets.
*
2006 World Cup Quarter-finals
**England 0 - 0 (1-3 in Penalties)
Portugal,
1 July, at
Veltins Arena,
Gelsenkirchen*
2006 World Cup Round of last 16
**England 1 - 0
Ecuador,
25 June, at
Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion,
Stuttgart (England:
D. Beckham) 60
*
2006 World Cup Group B:
**
Sweden 2-2 England,
20 June at
Müngersdorfer Stadion,
Cologne (England:
J. Cole 34,
Gerrard 86; Sweden:
Allback 51,
Larsson 90)
**England 2-0
Trinidad & Tobago,
15 June at
Frankenstadion,
Nuremberg (England:
Crouch 83,
Gerrard 91)
**England 1-0
Paraguay,
10 June at
Waldstadion,
Frankfurt (England: Gamarra og 3mins)
*Friendly: England 6-0
Jamaica,
3 June 2006 at
Old Trafford,
Manchester (England:
Lampard 11, Taylor 17 og,
Crouch 29,
Owen 32,
Crouch 67, 89)
*Friendly: England 3-1
Hungary,
30 May 2006 at
Old Trafford,
Manchester (England:
Gerrard 45,
Terry 51,
Crouch 84; Hungary: Dardai 55)
*Friendly: England 2-1
Uruguay,
1 March 2006 at
Anfield,
Liverpool (England:
Crouch 74,
J Cole 90; Uruguay: Pouso 25)
*Friendly: England 3-2
Argentina,
12 November 2005 at
Stade de Geneve,
Geneva (England:
Rooney 39,
Owen 87, 92; Argentina:
Crespo 35,
Samuel 54)
*
2006 World Cup Qualification Group 6:
**England 2-1
Poland,
12 October 2005 at
Old Trafford,
Manchester (England:
Owen 43,
Lampard 79; Poland: Frankowski 45)
**England 1-0
Austria,
8 October 2005 at
Old Trafford,
Manchester (England:
Lampard 24)
**
Northern Ireland 1-0 England,
7 September 2005 at
Windsor Park,
Belfast (
Northern Ireland: Healy 74
**
Wales 0-1 England,
3 September 2005 at
Millennium Stadium,
Cardiff (England:
J Cole 54)
*Friendly:
Denmark 4-1 England,
17 August 2005 at
Parken Stadion,
CopenhagenThe following players have all recently been called up to the England squad under
Steve McClaren this season.
Ages correct as of
August 72006.
Goalkeepers;Defenders;Midfielders;Strikers*Manager: Steve McClaren
*Assistant Manager: Terry Venables
*Coach: Steve Round
*Coach: Vacant
*Goalkeeping Coach: Ray Clemence
*Fitness Coach: Vacant
*Team Doctor: Dr Leif Sward
*Physiotherapist: Gary Lewin
*Masseur: Chris Neville
*Masseur: Steve Slattery
*Masseur: Rod Thornley
*Kit Manager: Martin Grogan
*Kit Manager: Tom McKechnieWorld Cup record
| Year | Round | Position | Matches | Wins | Draws* | Losses | Goals Scored | Goals Against | Scorers |
|---|
| 1930 | did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1934 | did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1938 | did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1950 | Round 1 | 11th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Mortensen, Mannion |
| 1954 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | Lofthouse (3), Broadis (2), Mullen, Wishaw, Finney |
| 1958 | Round 1 | 11th | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | Kevan (2), Haynes, Finney |
| 1962 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | Flowers (2), Charlton, Greaves, Hitchens |
| 1966 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | Hurst (4), Hunt (3), Charlton (3), Peters |
| 1970 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | Hurst, Clarke, Mullery, Peters |
| 1974 | did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1978 | did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1982 | Round 2 | 6th | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | Robson (2), Francis (2), Mariner, Barmos (og) |
| 1986 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | Lineker (6), Beardsley |
| 1990 | Fourth place | 4th | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | Lineker (4), Platt (2), Wright |
| 1994 | did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1998 | Round 2 | 9th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | Shearer (2), Owen (2), Scholes, Anderton, Beckham |
| 2002 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | Owen (2), Campbell, Beckham, Ferdinand, Heskey |
| 2006 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | Gerrard (2), J. Cole, Crouch, Beckham, Gamarra (og) |
| Total | 12/18 | 5th | 55 | 25 | 17 | 13 | 74 | 47 | Top scorer; Lineker (10) |
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.European Championship record
*1960 - Did not enter
*1964 - Did not qualify
*1968 - Third place
*1972 - Did not qualify - Quarter-Finals
*1976 - Did not qualify
*1980 - Round 1
*1984 - Did not qualify
*1988 - Round 1
*1992 - Round 1
*1996 - Semi-Finals
*2000 - Round 1
*2004 - Quarter-FinalsWorld Ranking
| Date | FIFA Ranking |
|---|
| January 1994 | 11th officially. 16th according to FFIL at the time. |
| January 1995 | 18th |
| January 1996 | 24th |
| January 1997 | 12th |
| January 1998 | 4th |
| January 1999 | 11th |
| January 2000 | 12th |
| January 2001 | 17th |
| January 2002 | 10th |
| January 2003 | 8th |
| January 2004 | 8th |
| January 2005 | 8th |
| January 2006 | 9th |
| July 2006 | 5th |
Famous past players
Members of the 1966 World Cup-winning team are in bold.Player records
Most capped England players
As of July 1, 2006, the players with the most caps for England are:Members of the 1966 World Cup-winning team are in bold.
For a longer list of players with 25 caps or more, see List of England international footballers.Top England goalscorers
Members of the 1966 World Cup-winning team are in bold.
The higher goals-per-game ratio for strikers active before 1950 is a by-product of the fact that games in that period of history involved a much higher number of goals than they do nowadays.England captains
Members of the 1966 World Cup-winning team are in bold.England managers
In 2002, England featured five times in UK broadcaster Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments:
* The 5-1 win over Germany in the 2001 World Cup Qualifer was ranked 2nd.
* The 4-2 World Cup Final win over West Germany in 1966 was ranked 3rd.
* Michael Owen's goal for England against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup was ranked 14th.
* The 4-1 win over Holland in Euro '96 was ranked 25th.
* John Barnes' goal for England against Brazil in 1984 was ranked 75th.* England's 50 Greatest Goals
* England women's national football team
* England national under-21 football team
* Argentina and England football rivalry
* England and Germany football rivalry
* United Kingdom national football team
* Three Lions
* Football in England*Official website at the FA's website
*The England Fanzine
*England AFC
*England Football Online
*englandstats.com - England statistics since 1872
*England-Football
