The England national team is one of only eight to have won the prestigious FIFA World Cup, and it was in 1966 that they achieved the feat.
Formed at the same time as Scotland, they played the first international match against each other on 5 March 1870. A dispute with FIFA, however, meant that England did not compete in the World Cup until 1950, in which they were humiliated by a 1-0 defeat to footballing minnows the USA.
Hosting the tournament in 1966, England began with a draw against Uruguay, and followed up with wins over Mexico and France. An infamously bad-tempered quarter-final victory over Argentina was followed by a semi-final win against Portugal to set up a final against arch rivals West Germany.
Alf Ramsey controversially dropped England's most natural goalscorer Jimmy Greaves for the World Cup final, but his selection of the more team-oriented Geoff Hurst was to pay off in style. His hat-trick in a 4-2 victory – which included the controversial goal that bounced down off the crossbar and was adjudged to have crossed the line by the Russian linesman – remains to date the only one in a World Cup final. Martin Peters notched the other one, to seal a memorable victory.
England came closest to a second trophy in 1990, when Bobby Robson and Gazza led them to the semi-finals. But it was to end in tears, literally in the case of Gazza, when they lost in a penalty shootout after a thrilling one-one draw.
England lost another penalty shootout to Germany in the semi-finals of the European Championships. The tournament will long be remembered for their 4-1 demolition of Holland at the hands of Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham.
The World Cups in 2010 and 2014 were bitter disappointments, and England's long wait for a second major trophy continues.
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