1966 World Cup Soccer / Football
England manager Alf Ramsey said confidently that this 1966 World Cup was Englands year to win the Jules Rimet Cup. After it was all played and done, Ramsey would not be wrong.
After disappointing 4 previous World Cup appearances, England would finally show up to play and take the trophy after starting out slowly and reaching top form as the tournament went on.
Geoff Hurst was the hero during the final match against Germany as he scored a hat-trick during this match to help England take this years trophy.
His hat-trick included scoring twice in the extra time with the third goal being very doubtful and talked about up to this day due to the ball hitting the crossbar and coming down inside the goal judging by the assistant referee Tofik Bakhramov.
It is still discussed up to this day weather the ball crossed the goal line or not.
Brazil was considered top contender once again as well as the Trophy Defender during this tournament but they were be eliminated in the group stages of 1966 Soccer World Cup held in England.
Brazil only won their first match against Bulgaria 2-0 but than lost the following two matches by 3-1 against Hungary and Portugal.
It is important to mention that Brazilians Pele and Garrincha scored in their opening match against Bulgaria and therefore became the first players to consecutively score goals in 3 World Cups.
This was the only thing that Brazil achieved during 1966 World Cup as they were eliminated during the group stages.
Also important to mention about this 1966 Football World Cup is the surprise elimination of Italy by none other than North Korea during the group stages.
North Korea surprised everyone with their performance and advancing to the Quarter Final where they managed to take 3-0 lead in the opening 25 minutes against Portugal. Eusebio brought Portugal back by scoring 4 goals in this match and helping Portugal come back to win 5-3.
During the 1966 Soccer World Cup, Jules Rimet Cup was stolen from the exhibit and later found by a dog named Pickles in a garden in South-East London :)
First World Cup mascot was also introduced in England, named World Cup Willie.
Portugal's Eusebio won the Golden Shoe after scoring 9 goals.
The final match featured England vs Germany with the great Franz Beckenbauer in the German side.
England would be ready to celebrate their win in the normal time when Wolfgang Weber silenced the Wembley stadium with 89th minute equalizer, just when the hosts thought they had won.
Although the game would go into extra time due to the late goal by the Germans, England scored twice in the extra time to take their first World Cup Trophy.
Teams that would participated during 1966 FIFA World Cup tournament were:
Korea, Bulgaria, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay.
1966 Soccer World Cup in England - CHAMPIONS
1966 Champion: England
1966 Runner Up: Germany
1966 Soccer World Cup in England - TOP GOALSCORERS
| Eusebio (POR) | 9 goals |
| Helmut Haller (GER) | 6 goals |
| Valeriy PORKUYAN (URS) | 4 goals |
| Geoff HURST (ENG) | 4 goals |
| Ferenc BENE (HUN) | 4 goals |
1966 Football World Cup in England - STATISTICS
| Number of games | 32 |
| Total Goals scored | 89 |
| Average per game | 2,78 |
| Total attendance | 1,700,000 |
| Average attendance | 50,250 |
| Final attendance | 67,000 |
1966 World Cup in England - Group 1
| England vs Uruguay | 0-0 |
| France vs Mexico | 1-1 |
| Uruguay vs France | 2-1 |
| England vs Mexico | 2-0 |
| Uruguay vs Mexico | 0-0 |
| England vs France | 2-0 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Uruguay | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Mexico | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| France | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
1966 World Cup in England - Group 2
| Germany vs Switzerland | 5-0 |
| Argentina vs Spain | 2-1 |
| Spain vs Switzerland | 2-1 |
| Germany vs Argentina | 0-0 |
| Argentina vs Switzerland | 2-0 |
| Germany vs Spain | 2-1 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| Argentina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
1966 World Cup in England - Group 3
| Brazil vs Bulgaria | 2-0 |
| Portugal vs Hungary | 3-1 |
| Hungary vs Brazil | 3-1 |
| Portugal vs Bulgaria | 3-0 |
| Portugal vs Brazil | 3-1 |
| Hungary vs Bulgaria | 3-1 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Portugal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 6 |
| Hungary | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| Brazil | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
1966 World Cup in England - Group 4
| Soviet Union vs Korea | 3-0 |
| Italy vs Chile | 2-0 |
| Korea vs Chile | 1-1 |
| Soviet Union vs Italy | 1-0 |
| Korea vs Italy | 1-0 |
| Soviet Union vs Chile | 2-1 |
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Italy | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Chile | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
1966 World Cup in England - Quarter Finals
| England vs Argentina | 1-0 |
| Germany vs Uruguay | 4-0 |
| Soviet Union vs Hungary | 2-1 |
| Portugal vs Korea | 5-3 |
1966 FIFA World Cup in England - Semi Finals
| Germany vs Soviet Union | 2-1 |
| England vs Portugal | 2-1 |
1966 World Cup in England - Third Place
| Portugal vs Soviet Union | 2-1 |
1966 World Cup in England - Final
| England vs Germany | 4-2 after extra time |
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