1966 FIFA World Cup

The 1966 FIFA World Cup was held in England from July 11 to July 30. England was chosen as hosts by FIFA in August 1960 to celebrate the centenary of the codification of football in England. England won the final, beating West Germany 4-2, giving them their first (and only to this date) World Cup win, and becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934 .

Qualification

Sixteen African nations boycotted the tournament in protest against a 1964 FIFA ruling that required the champion team from the African zone to play off against the winners of either the Asian or the Oceania zone in order to win a place at the finals. The Africans felt that winning their zone should have been enough in itself to merit qualification for the finals.

Despite the Africans’ absence, there was another new record number of entries for the qualifying tournament, with 70 nations taking part. After all the arguments.

Summary

First Round

The format of the 1966 competition remained the same as 1962: 16 qualified teams were divided into four groups of four. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The draw for the final tournament, taking place on January 6, 1966 at the Royal Garden Hotel in London was the first ever to be televised, with England, West Germany, Brazil and Italy as seeds.

England finished at the top of Group 1 with only four goals to their credit, but having none scored against them. Uruguay were the other team to qualify from that group at the expense of both Mexico and France .

In Group 2, West Germany and Argentina qualified with ease as they both finished the group with 5 points, Spain managed 2, while Switzerland left the competition after losing all three group matches.

Old Trafford and Goodison Park played host to Group 3 which saw the World Champions Brazil finish in third place behind Portugal and Hungary and controversially eliminated along with Bulgaria. Portugal appeared in the finals for the first time, and made quite an impact. They won all three of their games in the group stage, with a lot of help from their outstanding striker Eusébio , whose nine goals made him the tournament’s top scorer.

Group 4, however, provided the biggest upset when North Korea beat Italy 1-0, and finished above them, earning themselves qualification along with the USSR . Chile finished bottom of the group.

Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and third-place match

The quarter-finals provided a controversial victory for West Germany as they cruised past Uruguay 4-0.

Argentina’s Antonio Rattín became the first player to be sent off in a senior international football match at Wembley. This game, even today, is called by Argentina as el robo del siglo (the robbery of the century).

The first semifinal between England and Portugal was controversial as well. Liverpool was the original venue for the first semifinal. However, due to intervention of the English officials, the venue changed to Wembley. Bobby Charlton scored both goals in England’s triumph against Portugal. Portugal’s goal came from a penalty kick in the 82nd minute after an intentional handball by Jack Charlton on the goal line. The other semi-finals finished 2-1: Franz Beckenbauer provided the winning goal for West Germany as they beat the USSR. Portugal went on to beat the USSR 2-1 to take third place.

Final

London’s Wembley Stadium provided the venue for the final, and 98,000 people crammed inside to watch. After 12 minutes 32 seconds Helmut Haller had put West Germany ahead, but the score was levelled by Geoff Hurst four minutes later. Martin Peters put England in the lead in the 78th minute; England looked set to claim the title when the referee awarded a free kick to West Germany with one minute left. The ball was launched goalward and Wolfgang Weber managed to poke it across the line, with England appealing in vain for handball as the ball came through the crowded penalty area.

England received the recovered Jules Rimet trophy from the Queen and were crowned World Cup winners for the first time.

Mascot

World Cup Willie , the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. World Cup Willie is a lion , a typical symbol of the United Kingdom , wearing a Union Flag jersey with the words “WORLD CUP”.

Venues

• Wembley Stadium
• Goodison Park
• Hillsborough Stadium
• Roker Park
• White City Stadium
• Villa Park
• Old Trafford
• Ayresome Park