The finest FIFA World Cup Finals

#2 England vs West Germany, 1966

The controversial third goal that never was

Having declared themselves as the best in the world in football, and having flattered to deceive when it came to prove their superiority on the world stage, England were gradually sliding down from the high perch they had placed themselves on.

1966 represented the best chance for the English to finally break the World Cup voodoo and emerge victorious. The tournament was to be hosted by England for the first time. The Three Lions certainly took advantage of their vociferous home support which swept them all the way to Wembley for the final, against the old enemy, West Germany. Both teams had seen off tricky opposition in the semifinals, with England dispatching Eusebio’s Portugal, while West Germany saw off Soviet Union.

An end to end encounter saw Germany take the lead after just 12 minutes when Ray Wilson’s misdirected header fell at the feet of Helmut Haller, who drove home beyond Jack Charlton and Gordon Banks in goal.

England weren’t trailing for long, however: Geoff Hurst’s glancing header from a Bobby Moore free-kick cancelled out the German lead within seven minutes of the opener.

After the opening strikes, neither side was willing to throw caution to the wind and dominate the game, making it increasingly cagey.

The second half saw a few chances being wasted by both teams, before Martin Peters struck from close range after an England corner, to hand England the lead for the first time in the final, with a quarter of an hour left to play. West Germany pressed forward looking for their equalizer but Banks was relatively untroubled, till the last minute, when a melee in the England penalty box saw the ball bounce off one German to another before falling for Wolfgand Weber, who smashed it in to make it 2-2. England’s protests about an alleged handball in the buildup to the goal fell on deaf ears; the winner was to be decided after extra time.

England came racing out of the blocks in extra time, with Bobby Charlton hitting the post and then sending his shot just wide. Geoff Hurst then got in the act when he swivelled and shot from close range. The ball struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced on the goal line, before being hastily cleared by the Germans.

English forward Roger Hunt, however, wheeled away in celebration of what he believed was a goal. The English players ran towards him in joy, while the Germans were left stunned – they were convinced it wasn’t a goal. In this confusion, Swiss referee Gottfried Diense referred to his linesman, Tofiq Bahramov, who sided with the English. Diense was thus left with no choice but to award the English their third goal, and Geoff Hurst’s second. Studies later found out that the ball never crossed the line, and that the linesman was mistaken. The Germans alleged that the Soviet linesman was nursing a grudge against the Germans for the horrors they had inflicted in the war, and he took his revenge by denying the Germans justice in the World Cup final.

Outraged at the decision to award England their goal, Germany poured forward searching for an equalizer. In their desperate attempts to score their third goal, they committed everyone forward, leaving acres of space at the back. England duly exploited this lack of defensive cover when a Bobby Moore hoof found Hurst, who sprinted with glee, bearing down on the German keeper, before blazing it past him into the net, to score England’s fourth and to secure their maiden, and so far only, World Cup triumph. The West Ham forward also remains the only player to score thrice in a World Cup final.

At long last, England could finally claim that they were indeed the best when it came to football.