FIFA World Cup: Have England been Perennially unfortunate in the competition's history?

#4 World Cup 2006

Rooney gets a red card for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho

The English team looked really strong on paper this time and once again expectations were sky high. England topped their group unbeaten, but unfortunately lost star striker Michael Owen to injury in the final group game against Sweden. They advanced to the Quarter finals with a win over Ecuador courtesy of a David Beckham free kick to set up a clash with Portugal.

In a dramatic incident, Rooney received a straight red card after the infamous stamp on Ricardo Carvalho, the protests for which were led by then-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, who was later seen winking towards the bench after the incident. England still managed to hold on and took the game to penalties.

However, as in many previous tournaments, the penalty shootout turned out to be England's nemesis once again as Portugal triumphed to book a semi-final berth at their expense.