England national football team
2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Sports teams
England | |
Nickname(s) | The Three Lions |
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Association | The Football Association |
Head coach | Fabio Capello |
Asst coach | Italo Galbiati Stuart Pearce Franco Baldini Massimo Neri Franco Tancredi |
Captain | John Terry |
Most caps | Peter Shilton (125) |
Top scorer | Bobby Charlton (49) |
Home stadium | Wembley Stadium |
FIFA code | ENG |
First international | |
{{{First game}}} | |
Biggest win | |
{{{Largest win}}} | |
Biggest defeat | |
{{{Largest loss}}} |
The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England. Although most national teams worldwide represent a sovereign state, the four " Home Nations" making up the United Kingdom are each represented separately in most international tournaments.
England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, when they hosted the event, and reached the semi-final in 1990. However, they are the least successful past World Champions, having only been in 2 top-four finishes - a wide margin from the other 6 champions (Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay and France have been to at least 4). England also reached the semi-final of the UEFA European Championship in 1968 and 1996 and they were the most successful of the "home nations", in the British Home Championship with 54 wins (including 20 shared wins) before the competition was discontinued in 1984.
Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland, who were their opponents in the first-ever international football match back 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.
History
The England national football team is the oldest in the world, alongside Scotland. England played their first international match against Scotland, and at Scotland's invitation, at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland on 30 November 1872. Over the next forty years, England played exclusively with the other three "Home Nations" - Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The games were made competitive with the British Home Championship from 1883 to 1984.
Before Wembley was opened, England had had no permanent home ground. England joined FIFA in 1906, playing its first ever game outside the British Isles in 1908. However, the relationship between the two were strained, resulting in the British nations' departure from FIFA in 1928, before rejoining in 1946. As a result, England did not compete in a World Cup until 1950, in which they were beaten in a 1-0 defeat against the United States, failing to get past the first round. A 6-3 loss in 1953 to Hungary was England's first ever defeat to a non-British team at Wembley.
Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as the first ever full time manager in 1946, the team was still picked by a committee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. Under Ramsey, England experienced its greatest ever success, winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final against West Germany 4-2 after extra time. Geoff Hurst famously scored a hat-trick in the final. The 1966 World Cup was also held in England. Though England lost again to the Auld Enemy Scotland only a year later with a famous 3-2 for the Scots at Wembley. England qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico as reigning cup holders. They reached the Quarter-finals but were knocked out by West Germany. England had been 2 - 0 up but were eventually beaten 17-0 after extra time. For the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, England failed to qualify. In 1982, England under Ron Greenwood qualified for 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain after a 12-year absence and were eliminated from the second round without losing a match. The team under Bobby Robson fared better as England reached the quarter finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup and finished fourth in the tournament four years later, which was the best performance in the World Cup since 1966.
Graham Taylor's short reign as Robson's successor ended after his England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, but then the 1996 European Championships were held in England, and under new coach Terry Venables the team had its best performance at a European Championship, reaching the semi-final. The England team of the 1990s and 2000s has been consistently in football's top twenty countries, but hasn't progressed beyond the quarter finals of any international tournament apart from Italia 90 and Euro 96. Sven-Göran Eriksson took charge of the team between 2001 and 2006 and was the first non-English manager of England.
Steve McClaren was appointed as the head coach following the 2006 World Cup. The reign was marked with failure to qualify for the 2008 European Championships. McClaren was sacked on 22 November 2007, after only 16 months in charge and making him the shortest tenured full time England manager ever since the inauguration of the post in 1946. He has now been replaced by the former Real Madrid and AC Milan manager Fabio Capello. The Italian is the second foreign manager to coach England, after Eriksson, and is set to take charge of his first game on 6 February 2008, when England take on Switzerland in a friendly.
Home stadium
For the first 50 years of its existence, England played its home matches 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 against Scotland, but for the next 27 years only used Wembley as a venue for Scotland matches.
In May 1951, Argentina became the first team other than Scotland to be played 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 the old Wembley was against Germany on 7 October 2000, a game which England lost 1-0. Since then the team has played at 14 venues around the country, with Old Trafford having been the most used. The FA have ruled that England will play all of their home matches at the new Wembley 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.
The new Wembley held its first international game in March 2007, when England U21s played Italy U21s in front of 55,700 people. The match was drawn 3-3, with David Bentley scoring the first goal in an England shirt at the new stadium. Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini scored the first goal, after just 29 seconds, as well completing the first Wembley hat-trick in the 68th minute.
England on tour
In the seven years between the last game prior to demolition against Germany and the first in the new stadium against Brazil, England played a total of 34 home games at 14 different stadiums. Of those, the record was 22 victories, 7 draws and 5 defeats. In competitive games (World Cup and European Championship qualifiers), the record stands at 11 victories and 3 draws from 14 games. The stadia utilised were as follows:
- Old Trafford - 14
- St James' Park - 3
- Anfield - 3
- Villa Park - 3
- City of Manchester Stadium - 2
- Stadium of Light - 2 (1 vs Belgium prior to the demolition of "old" Wembley)
- Riverside Stadium - 1
- Portman Road - 1
- Pride Park - 1
- Walkers Stadium - 1
- St Mary's - 1
- Elland Road - 1
- Upton Park - 1
- White Hart Lane - 1
Kits
England have traditionally worn white shirts with navy shorts and white socks. Their away kit is red shirts, white shorts and red socks. Other away kits worn by England have included blue shirts during the 1930s, '40s and '50s and pale blue (first used during the 1970 World Cup and again from 1986 - 1992 as a rarely-used third choice kit). In 1973. England wore a change kit of yellow shirts and socks with blue shorts, and at UEFA Euro 96 an all-grey kit was used as a second choice strip. This deviation from tradition was so unpopular amongst supporters that since then, England's away kit has remained red.
In modern times England's kit has been supplied by Umbro, with the exception of the years 1974 - 1984 when it was manufactured by Admiral.
England rotates its kits every two years, with a new home kit released at the beginning of every odd numbered year and a new away kit released at the beginning of every even numbered year. The previous home kit (used during the 2006 FIFA World Cup) made its final appearance on 15 November 2006 against the Netherlands. A new kit was released on 5 February 2007 and was first used on 7 February 2007 against Spain. The jersey has a single red stripe partially across the front of the shoulders. The crest and gold star appear on the left of the chest, with the Umbro logo, now gold, and the front shirt number appearing on the right. This symmetry also applies to the away jersey. There are now Umbro diamonds on the top of the right shoulder. A navy and white stripe depicting the three lions appears on the sides. The numbering and lettering font and colour is the same as the previous two home jerseys, and continues with silver Umbro diamonds, first seen in 2005. The new red away kit will be unveiled on the 6th of February 2008 when England play Switzerland in a friendly match, and available to buy on 13th March 2008.
Player names and numbers
For the first 65 years of competition, England footballers' shirts contained no identifying names or numbers. Numbers were first worn in 1922 in a match against Scotland in Birmingham. They quickly became associated with a certain position, so to describe someone as 'England's number 9' would be to describe a player as the best choice for centre forward. This terminology continues today, and the team has kept to the tradition of numbering players from 1 to 11 (12 upwards for substitutes), outside of major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Football Championship, where permanent squad numbers are required.
Numbers are traditionally associated with a certain position, but there are no set rules. Furthermore, established players will tend to use the same number whenever they play.
The first time that England wore names on their jerseys was at EURO 99 in Sweden. They have since worn player names on their jerseys at every major tournament. However, it was nine more years before names were worn outside major tournaments. This was due to the fact that England would issue new numbers (and therefore new jerseys) for every game. Outside the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship, England first wore player names for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on 6 October 2007 against Greece at Old Trafford, london. With new technology, player names can now be affixed to the jerseys as late as the day of the match, although occasionally with the odd error, such as when Peter Crouch wore 21 (his squad number) on the front of his shirt and shorts, and 12 (erroneously) on his back for a game against Uruguay in early 2006.
Results and fixtures
see England national football team results
Forthcoming fixtures
- Friendly: England v Switzerland, 6 February 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London, England (Live on bbc 3 & BBCi)
- Friendly: France v England, 26 March 2008 at Stade de France, Paris, France (Live on Sky Sports 1 & Sky Sports HD1)
WCQ: Andorra v England (Live on Setanta Sports)
Recent results
This is a list of match results from the past year. Goal scorers in brackets.
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- England 2-3 Croatia, 21 November 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London, England (England: Lampard 56 pen, Crouch 65; Croatia: Kranjčar 8, Olić 14, Petrić 77)
- Friendly: Austria 0-1 England, 16 November 2007 at Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna (England: Crouch 44)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Russia 2-1 England, 17 October 2007 at Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia (Russia: Pavlyuchenko 69 pen, 73; England: Rooney 31)
- England 3-0 Estonia, 13 October 2007 at Wembley Stadium (England: Wright-Phillips 11, Rooney 32, Rähn o.g 33)
- England 3-0 Russia, 12 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium (England: Owen 7, 31, Ferdinand 84)
- England 3-0 Israel, 8 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium (England: Wright-Phillips 20, Owen 49, Richards 66)
- Friendly: England 1-2 Germany, 22 August at Wembley Stadium (England: Lampard 9; Germany: Kurányi 26, Pander 40)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Estonia 0-3 England, 6 June 2007 at A. Le Coq Arena (England: J. Cole 37, Crouch 54, Owen 62)
- Friendly: England 1-1 Brazil, 1 June at Wembley Stadium (England: Terry 68; Brazil: Diego 92)
- Friendly: England (B team) 3-1 Albania, 25 May at Turf Moor (England: Smith 34, Downing 37, 58; Albania: Berisha 44)
- UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E:
- Andorra 0-3 England, 28 March at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (England: Gerrard 54, 76, Nugent 90)
- Israel 0-0 England, 24 March at Ramat Gan Stadium
- Friendly: England 0-1 Spain, 7 February at Old Trafford (Spain: Iniesta 63)
England squad
The English national squad
Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut | |
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Goalkeepers | |||||
David James | August 31, 1970 (age 37) | Portsmouth | 35 (0) | v Mexico, 29 March 1997 | |
Chris Kirkland | May 2, 1981 (age 26) | Wigan Athletic | 1 (0) | v Greece, 16 August 2006 |
v Spain, February 2007 |
Scott Carson | September 3, 1985 (age 22) | Aston Villa (on loan from Liverpool) | 2 (0) | v Austria, 16 November 2007 | |
Defenders | |||||
Ashley Cole | December 20, 1980 (age 27) | Chelsea | 61 (0) | v Albania, 28 March 2001 | |
Wayne Bridge | August 5, 1980 (age 27) | Chelsea | 27 (1) | v Netherlands, 13 February 2002 | |
Micah Richards | June 24, 1988 (age 19) | Manchester City | 11 (1) | v Netherlands, 15 November 2006 | |
Joleon Lescott | August 16, 1982 (age 25) | Everton | 4 (0) | v Estonia, 13 October 2007 | |
Midfielders | |||||
Steven Gerrard (c) | May 30, 1980 (age 27) | Liverpool | 63 (12) | v Ukraine, 31 May 2000 | |
Joe Cole | November 8, 1981 (age 26) | Chelsea | 47 (7) | v Mexico, 25 May 2001 | |
Owen Hargreaves | January 20, 1981 (age 26) | Manchester United | 39 (0) | v Netherlands, 15 August 2001 | |
Shaun Wright-Phillips | October 25, 1981 (age 26) | Chelsea | 18 (3) | v Ukraine, 18 August 2004 | |
Stewart Downing | July 22, 1984 (age 23) | Middlesbrough | 16 (0) | v Netherlands, 9 February 2005 | |
Gareth Barry | February 23, 1981 (age 26) | Aston Villa | 16 (0) | v Ukraine, 31 May 2000 | |
David Bentley | August 27, 1984 (age 23) | Blackburn Rovers | 2 (0) | v Israel, 8 September 2007 | |
Ashley Young | July 9, 1985 (age 22) | Aston Villa | 1 (0) | v Austria, 16 November 2007 | |
Strikers | |||||
Jermain Defoe | October 7, 1982 (age 25) | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 (3) | v Sweden, 31 March 2004 | |
Peter Crouch | January 30, 1981 (age 26) | Liverpool | 24 (14) | v Colombia, 31 May 2005 | |
Alan Smith | October 28, 1980 (age 27) | Newcastle United | 19 (1) | v Mexico, 25 May 2001 | |
Darren Bent | February 6, 1984 (age 23) | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 (0) | v Uruguay, 1 March 2006 | |
Wayne Rooney | October 24, 1985 (age 22) | Manchester United | 40 (14) | v Australia, 12 February 2003 |
Recent callups
The following players have also been called up to the England squad within the last twelve months:
Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Debut | Most recent callup | |||||
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Goalkeepers | ||||||||||
Ben Foster | April 3, 1983 (age 24) | Manchester United | 1 (0) | v Spain, 7 February 2007 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
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Paul Robinson | October 15, 1979 (age 28) | Tottenham Hotspur | 41 (0) | v Australia, 12 February 2003 | Defenders | |||||
Gary Neville | February 18, 1975 (age 32) | Manchester United | 85 (0) | v Japan 3 June 1995 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
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Rio Ferdinand | November 7, 1978 (age 29) | Manchester United | 64 (2) | v Cameroon, November 15, 1997 |
v Israel / Russia October 2007 |
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John Terry (c) | December 7, 1980 (age 26) | Chelsea | 42 (3) | v Serbia & Montenegro, 3 June 2003 |
v Israel / Russia September 2007 |
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Luke Young | July 19, 1979 (age 28) | Middlesbrough | 7 (0) | v USA, 28 May 2005 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
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Jonathan Woodgate | January 22, 1980 (age 27) | Middlesbrough | 6 (0) | v Bulgaria, 9 June 1999 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
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Michael Dawson | November 19, 1983 (age 23) | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 (0) | N/A | v Brazil / Estonia May 2007 |
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Steven Taylor | January 23, 1986 (age 21) | Newcastle United | 0 (0) | N/A | v Germany August 2007 |
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Midfielders | ||||||||||
Michael Carrick | July 28, 1981 (age 26) | Manchester United | 14 (0) | v Mexico 25 May 2001 |
v Israel / Russia September 2007 |
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Aaron Lennon | April 16, 1987 (age 20) | Tottenham Hotspur | 9 (0) | v Jamaica 3 June 2006 |
v Brazil / Estonia May 2007 |
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Scott Parker | October 13, 1980 (age 27) | West Ham United | 3 (0) | v Denmark 16 November 2003 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
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Strikers | ||||||||||
Emile Heskey | January 11, 1978 (age 29) | Wigan Athletic | 45 (5) | v Hungary 28 April 1999 |
v Switzerland February 2008 |
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Andrew Johnson | February 10, 1981 (age 26) | Everton | 8 (0) | v Netherlands, 9 February 2005 |
v Israel / Russia September 2007 |
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David Nugent | May 2, 1985 (age 22) | Portsmouth | 1 (1) | v Andorra, March 28, 2007 |
v Israel / Andorra March 2007 |
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Gabriel Agbonlahor | October 13, 1986 (age 21) | Aston Villa | 0 (0) | N/A , | v Switzerland February 2008 |
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Michael Owen | December 14, 1979 (age 28) | Newcastle United | 88 (40) | v Chile, February 11, 1998 |
v Israel / Russia October 2007 |
Coaching staff
Previous squads
- 2006 FIFA World Cup - Germany
- 2004 UEFA European Football Championship - Portugal
- 2002 FIFA World Cup - Korea/Japan
- 2000 UEFA European Football Championship - Belgium/Netherlands
- 1998 FIFA World Cup - France
- 1996 UEFA European Football Championship - England
- 1992 UEFA European Football Championship - Sweden
- 1990 FIFA World Cup - Italy
- 1988 UEFA European Football Championship - West Germany
- 1986 FIFA World Cup - Mexico
- 1982 FIFA World Cup - Spain
- 1980 UEFA European Football Championship - Italy
- 1970 FIFA World Cup - Mexico
- 1968 UEFA European Football Championship - Italy
- 1966 FIFA World Cup - England
- 1962 FIFA World Cup - Chile
- 1958 FIFA World Cup - Sweden
- 1954 FIFA World Cup - Switzerland
- 1950 FIFA World Cup - Brazil
Competition history
FIFA World Cup record
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
European Championship record
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Minor tournaments
- *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
Player history
Notable past players
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Most capped England players
As of 21 November 2007, the players with the most caps for England are:
# | Name | Career | Caps | Goals | Goals per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Shilton | 1970 - 1990 | 125 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Bobby Moore | 1962 - 1973 | 108 | 2 | 0.0185 |
3 | Bobby Charlton | 1958 - 1970 | 106 | 49 | 0.4623 |
4 | Billy Wright | 1946 - 1959 | 105 | 3 | 0.0286 |
5 | David Beckham | 1996 - | 99 | 17 | 0.1734 |
6 | Bryan Robson | 1980 - 1991 | 90 | 26 | 0.2889 |
7 | Michael Owen | 1998 - | 88 | 40 | 0.4545 |
8 | Kenny Sansom | 1979 - 1988 | 86 | 1 | 0.0116 |
9 | Gary Neville | 1995 - | 85 | 0 | 0 |
10 | Ray Wilkins | 1976 - 1986 | 84 | 3 | 0.0357 |
Top England goalscorers
# | Player | Career | Goals per game | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bobby Charlton | 1958 - 1970 | 49 (106) | 0.4623 |
2 | Gary Lineker | 1984 - 1992 | 48 (80) | 0.6000 |
3 | Jimmy Greaves | 1959 - 1967 | 44 (57) | 0.7719 |
4 | Michael Owen | 1998 - | 40 (88) | 0.4545 |
5 | Tom Finney | 1946 - 1958 | 30 (76) | 0.3947 |
= | Nat Lofthouse | 1950 - 1958 | 30 (33) | 0.9091 |
= | Alan Shearer | 1992 - 2000 | 30 (63) | 0.4762 |
8 | Viv Woodward | 1903 - 1911 | 29 (23) | 1.2609 |
9 | Steve Bloomer | 1895 - 1907 | 28 (23) | 1.2174 |
10 | David Platt | 1989 - 1996 | 27 (62) | 0.4355 |
England captains
# | Player | England career | Captain (Total caps) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Billy Wright | 1946 - 1959 | 90 (105) |
Bobby Moore | 1962 - 1973 | 90 (108) | |
3 | Bryan Robson | 1980 - 1991 | 65 (90) |
4 | David Beckham | 1996 - 2007 | 58 (99) |
5 | Alan Shearer | 1992 - 2000 | 34 (63) |
6 | Kevin Keegan | 1972 - 1982 | 31 (63) |
7 | Emlyn Hughes | 1969 - 1980 | 23 (62) |
8 | Bob Crompton | 1902 - 1914 | 22 (41) |
Johnny Haynes | 1954 - 1962 | 22 (56) | |
10 | Eddie Hapgood | 1933 - 1939 | 21 (30) |
England managers
Manager | England career | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Walter Winterbottom | 1946 - 1962 | 139 | 78 | 33 | 28 | 56.12 |
Alf Ramsey | 1963 - 1974 | 113 | 69 | 27 | 17 | 61.06 |
Joe Mercer (caretaker) | 1974 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 42.86 |
Don Revie | 1974 - 1977 | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 48.28 |
Ron Greenwood | 1977 - 1982 | 55 | 33 | 12 | 10 | 60.00 |
Bobby Robson | 1982 - 1990 | 95 | 47 | 30 | 18 | 49.47 |
Graham Taylor | 1990 - 1993 | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 47.37 |
Terry Venables | 1994 - 1996 | 23 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 47.83 |
Glenn Hoddle | 1996 - 1999 | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 60.71 |
Kevin Keegan | 1999 - 2000 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 38.89 |
Sven-Göran Eriksson | 2001 - 2006 | 67 | 40 | 17 | 10 | 59.70 |
Steve McClaren | 2006 - 2007 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 50.00 |
Fabio Capello | 2008 - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
England fans' Player of the Year
- 2003 - David Beckham
- 2004 - Frank Lampard
- 2005 - Frank Lampard
- 2006 - Owen Hargreaves
Titles
Preceded by 1962 - Brazil |
World Champions 1966 (First title) |
Succeeded by 1970 - Brazil |
Football in England
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Football in the United Kingdom
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International football
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2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
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FIFA World Cup Winners
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