England National Football Team

This year has been tremendous in English football. This year lies in the hearts of every English football fan. On July 30th, England had not only won the World Cup for the first time in their history, but they destroyed their arch rivals - Germany (West Germany back then) by 4 goals to 2.

The 1966 World Cup caused some bitter disagreements before a ball had been kicked competitively. Sixteen African nations boycotted the tournament in protest against a 1964 FIFA ruling that required the champion team from the African zone to play off against the winners of either the Asian or the Oceania zone in order to win a place at the finals. The Africans felt that winning their zone should have been enough in itself to merit qualification for the finals.

Despite the Africans' absence, there was another new record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with 70 nations taking part. After all the arguments, FIFA finally ruled that ten teams from Europe would qualify, along with four from South America, one from Asia and one from North and Central America.

London's Wembley Stadium provided the venue for the final, and 98,000 people crammed inside to watch. After 12 minutes 32 seconds Helmut Haller had put West Germany ahead, but the score was levelled by Geoff Hurst four minutes later. Martin Peters put England in the lead in the 78th minute; England looked set to claim the title when the referee awarded a free kick to West Germany with one minute left. The ball was launched goalward and Wolfgang Weber managed to poke it across the line, with England appealing in vain for handball as the ball came through the crowded penalty area.

With the score level at 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes, the game went to extra time. In the 98th minute Hurst found himself on the score sheet again; his shot hit the crossbar, bounced down into the goalmouth just. It has been debated ever since whether it did cross the line, which would have made a crucial difference, since the score towards the end of extra time would have remained at 2-2, and West Germany would not have allowed Hurst the space to score what would have been the third goal. Whether the ball crossed the goal line or not has been a matter of discussion for decades, and the controversial call has become part of World Cup history. Recent digitally-enhanced footage is said to clearly illustrate that Geoff Hurst's second goal did not cross the line. In the last minute it was Hurst again, who dribbled easily through the German half to net his third goal, just as the gathered crowd invaded the pitch to celebrate with the team, thus cementing the victory for England with another controversial goal. This made Geoff Hurst the only player ever to have scored three times in a World Cup final.

BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme's description of the match's closing moments has gone down in history: "Some people are on the pitch. They think it's all over." (Hurst scores) "It is now!".

England received the recovered Jules Rimet trophy from the Queen and were crowned World Cup winners for the first time.

World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. World Cup Willie is a lion, a typical symbol of the United Kingdom, wearing a Union Flag jersey with the words "WORLD CUP".

Despite injuries to several influential players, France were the more assured side and won the game 1-0 without too much trouble. The goal came courtesy of a Ribery penalty after Anelka had been felled by James in the box. England created little, and lost possession too easily. Still, at least sometimes you could enjoy the lads playing after mr. McLaren.

Of course, I’m just quoting what I read last night and this morning, since they only showed Portugal-Greece on TV here (the idiots). Beckham got his 100th cap, Terry got injured, Owen got his cap, Downing got a chance as well. Other than that, hopefully Capello learned something from this tie that will help him improve England. I was depressed when I first heard the result, but without seeing England perform you can’t honestly give up on them, can you?

Better luck against the US (May) and the Czech (August), both to be played at Wembley.

These were the starting line-ups :

James, Brown, Ferdinand (capt), Terry, A Cole, Beckham, Hargreaves, Barry, J Cole, Gerrard, Rooney.

Here's France :

Coupet Clerc, Gallas, Thuram, Abidal, Ribéry, Makelele, Toulalan, Malouda, Trezeguet, Anelka.

England suffered their first defeat under coach Fabio Capello with a disappointing performance in France. Franck Ribery scored the only goal from the penalty spot with 32 minutes gone after David James had spectacularly brought down Nicolas Anelka.

Florent Malouda, Anelka and Ribery all went close to a second, while Steven Gerrard twice headed wide on a night when England created very little. David Beckham lasted 63 minutes on the night he won his 100th cap.

It was not the result the LA Galaxy midfielder would have wanted to mark such a significant occasion, while there was little to suggest Rio Ferdinand had staked a strong case to be made captain on a permanent basis. In fact, on the evidence on display France can look forward to their opening Euro 2008 fixture in 75 days with growing confidence after a mature, composed display.

In contrast, Capello must realise that he has a lot of work to do if he is to translate his success at club level to the international stage. The Italian's reign as coach started with a victory over Switzerland at Wembley in February but this was always going to be a much sterner examination.

He opted to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation and may have to revise his thinking after a performance in which his team lacked width and penetration. Once again several of his key players failed to reproduce their club form for their country - with Gerrard, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney and the injured John Terry all withdrawn at the break while Frank Lampard missed the match entirely through illness.

Capello's team started at a high tempo but it was France who created the early openings - Anelka heading wide from a Ribery free-kick and shooting weakly at goal after he was gifted far too much time to turn on the edge of the area. England - with Gareth Barry and Owen Hargreaves shielding the back four - gradually asserted themselves on the contest and enjoyed a decent period of play. A low teasing cross from the left was diverted clear of Beckham's path by keeper Gregory Coupet while Gerrard twice missed the target with headers.

However, the first time France managed to thread a pass through the England defence they won the penalty from which they scored. Anelka collected Francois Clerc's defence-splitting ball and closed in on goal before he was dramatically sent flying by James, who had rushed off his line but was undone by a clever touch from the Chelsea striker. Ribery then completely outwitted James from 12 yards, sending the 37-year-old the wrong way.

England's riposte was to increase the tempo but they all too often surrendered possession and France eased to the interval with their lead intact. Capello opted to make four substitutions at the break - with Peter Crouch, Michael Owen, Stewart Downing and Joleon Lescott introduced. Only Terry's substitution for Lescott was injury related, with the Chelsea skipper complaining of a tight hamstring.

The changes hinted at Capello's recognition that his decision to play Rooney as the lone striker did not work, with the Manchester United player often forced to come deep in search of the ball. But it was France who continued to play the incisive football, breaking viciously with James saving from Anelka while Malouda shot narrowly wide.

In contrast, England were frequently betrayed by a poor first touch while a speculative - and wide - effort from Crouch was emblematic of their growing frustration. Anelka had illuminated the contest with several audacious back-flicks and he also laid the ball off to Ribery but the goalscorer somewhat scuffed his shot. France substitute Djibril Cisse went close towards the end, while England rarely looked like equalising.

Well, let's just say, that Fabio Capello just needs time. At least we all want it to be that way...

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 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.

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 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 3-2 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 was 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 took charge of his first game on 6 February 2008, when England beat Switzerland in a friendly.

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

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 92 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 2001 against Greece at Old Trafford, Manchester. 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.