1966 World Cup Statistics

The eighth World Cup Finals returned to the self-proclaimed 'home of football' with all eyes on England. Many of the South American sides had traveled over to England for what would be a miserable tournament for world champions Brazil and co. Pele was simply kicked out of the tournament and was withdrawn against Portugal. His third World Cup ended again with injury and the heights of 1958 seemed some time ago.

England on the other hand got off to a slow start with a 0-0 draw with Uruguay, which followed with wins over France and Mexico. Italy qualified for the next round, however then experienced the biggest upset in World Cup history when they lost to lowly North Korea. The 1934 and 1938 World Cup Champions were eliminated after North Korea beat the Italians 1-0. North Korea were eventually eliminated by Portugal, who had shown the World that Portuguese football had a place at International level - which was aided by the sublime Eusebio.

Eusebio, better known as the black pearl, finished top scorer in the tournament with six goals. Eusebio had made a name for himself in the European Cup when Benfica won two of the early tournaments. Portugal were eventually eliminated by England, who went on to play West Germany in the final at Wembley.

England had beaten Argentina, Portugal and were one game away from winning the ultimate prize in football in front of their own fans - the World Cup. West Germany possessed a number of top class footballers but none stood out more than Bayern Munich's Franz Beckenbauer. The German libero had an excellent tournament and would play an important part in the 1966 final - which involved marking Bobby Charlton.

England won the game 4-2 after extra time, with a goal from Martin Peters and a hat trick from Geoff Hurst - the first and only hat trick in World Cup final history. England went a goal down after some poor defending from Wilson let in Haller to open the scoring for West Germany. Bobby Moore, England's legendary captain, then won a freekick just inside the West German half to setup the equalizer for Weber to nod home. England then went 2-1 up to be pegged back in the last minute of the game to make the score 2-2. England went into extra-time distraught knowing how close they were to victory, however Geoff Hurst helped to lift spirits with one of the most controversial goals in history. Hurst spun around and struck the ball high towards to top of the goal. The ball smacked the crossbar and bounced down and over the line according to the Russian linesman. West Germany were furious, however went into the extra time break a goal behind. Hurst then finished the West Germans off with a left footed strike into the top left hand corner from outside the area. The famous commentary (from Kenneth Walthamstow) were the etched into football folklore 'Some people are on the pitch they think its all over, it is now!' as the ball struck the back of the net. England were World Champions for the first time in their history.

1966 World Cup Results


DateStageHome TeamScoreAway TeamAttendance
11-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundEngland0–0Uruguay87,000
12-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundBrazil2–0Bulgaria48,000
12-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundGermany5–0Switzerland36,000
12-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundUSSR3–0Korea DPR (North Korea)23,000
13-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundPortugal3–1Hungary37,000
13-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundFrance1–1Mexico69,000
13-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundArgentina2–1Spain47,000
13-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundItaly2–0Chile33,000
15-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundChile1–1Korea DPR (North Korea)15,000
15-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundSpain2–1Switzerland32,000
15-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundHungary3–1Brazil57,000
15-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundFrance2–1Uruguay45,000
16-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundArgentina0–0Germany51,000
16-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundPortugal3–0Bulgaria30,000
16-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundEngland2–0Mexico92,000
16-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundUSSR1–0Italy35,000
19-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundKorea DPR (North Korea)1–0Italy20,000
19-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundPortugal3–1Brazil62,000
19-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundUruguay0–0Mexico61,000
19-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundArgentina2–0Switzerland32,000
20-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundHungary3–1Bulgaria33,000
20-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundUSSR2–1Chile22,000
20-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundGermany2–1Spain51,000
20-07-1966Group Stage/1st RoundEngland2–0France98,000
23-07-1966Quarter FinalEngland1–0Argentina90,000
23-07-1966Quarter FinalGermany4–0Uruguay35,000
23-07-1966Quarter FinalPortugal5–3Korea DPR (North Korea)51,000
23-07-1966Quarter FinalUSSR2–1Hungary26,000
25-07-1966Semi FinalGermany2–1USSR43,000
26-07-1966Semi FinalEngland2–1Portugal94,000
28-07-19663rd Place PlayoffPeru2–1USSR87,000
30-07-1966FinalEngland4–2Germany93,000