4. FIFA World Cup 1966 – England win their only trophy in the game they made
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7 World Cups had been held up until then, with England never going past the quarter-final stage despite being the famed ‘home of the game’. Why? Nobody knew; especially not them. However, when they won the right to host the 1966 edition, it seemed that the curse might end there. That is, of course, until the Jules Rimet (World Cup trophy) was stolen while on tour in London, just before the tournament was set to begin.
Thankfully, an unlikely hero in the form of David Corbett’s dog, “Pickles” came to the fore as it sniffed the prize out from under a garden hedge in Norwood (South London). Ready? Not quite – 7 of England’s players forgot their identity cards at their hotels, delaying their opener against the prestigious Uruguayans. \
Finally, England got underway – and promptly drew 0-0 in the opener. In their next fixture, Alf Ramsey’s team beat Mexico with Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton netting the opener, followed by Roger Hunt. He would score a brace against the French at Wembley in the next match, in front of 98,000 people. With only 4 goals, they had topped their group in 3 games. What had seemed an unremarkable affair up until then was about to get seriously heated in the quarter-final as England were drawn against old rivals Argentina.
Just 35 minutes into a ferocious fixture, German referee Kreitlin sent off Argentinian captain Antonio Rattin for a second yellow after a foul on Geoff Hurst. However, he was already in their bad books for a number of decisions that had gone England’s way, and the midfielder refused to get off the pitch. He seemed to be trying to discuss this with the referee and calling for a translator, but the German sent him off, causing a real ruckus which policemen ended by escorting him off the pitch.
Rattin then crushed the corner flag (bearing English insignia on it) and sat down on the pitch. With 12 minutes to go, Hurst hit a winner which was arguably offside, causing even more fury for the Argentinians – who later dubbed it the “Robbery of the Century”. Alf Ramsey insulted the Argentinias after the match and did not le his players swap shirts. Bobby Charlton’s brace against Mozambican-born Eusebio’s Portugal (who finished as the top scorer with 9 goals) sent them through to the final against West Germany.
In a final for the ages, 98,000 packed Wembley as Haller edged West Germany ahead before Geoff Hurst equalized. 12 minutes were left when Peters put England ahead, and only minute left when Germany got the free kick from which Weber scored and England cried out for a handball – they felt cheated at such a crucial moment!
8 minutes later, it was the Germans who would feel cheated as Geoff Hurst's famously controversial shot hit the crossbar and bounced onto the goal line, making it 3-2. In the 120th minute, Hurst scored again to make it 4-2 and cause a giant pitch invasion for England’s only successful national team ever.
