30 July 1966, Wembley Stadium – for many fans of football, football historians and anyone with an interest in football history, the date will ring a bell. It marks the date of England’s triumph in the World Cup Final against West Germany. It is a game that for years, if not decades, has overshadowed English football on the international stage. No English team has ever managed to get out of its long shadow, even though recent successes suggest that England might be capable of winning a major tournament.
The story of the game
Germany took the lead after 12 minutes, England equalised and made it 2-1 but Germany scored to make it 2-2 in the last seconds of normal time, thus forcing extra time. It is here where the drama unfolded and where the controversy began.
At first, a shot by Geoff Hurst hit the underside of the cross bar from where the ball bounced down. England celebrated, the Germans protested, the Swiss referee had to confer with his assistant, a man from Azerbaijan who confirmed that the ball had crossed the line. The commentator for German television, Rudi Michel, put it succinctly: „There will be discussions about this.“ His observation was spot on as the third goal provided discussions for years: had the ball crossed the line or not? Ironically, the answer to this question was provided by two British computer scientists who calculated that the ball had not crossed the line. They did so in 1995, a year before the European Championship were to be held in England. The goal stood and play resumed.
With only seconds left to play, England countered. Geoff Hurst connected with a long pass and ran towards goal where he shot hard into the triangle, the German keeper did not move. However, it was a great as it was a controversial goal nonetheless. Thinking the game was already over, people climbed over the advertise hoardings and ran onto to the pitch. The BBC commentator, Kenneth Wolstenholme stated that „some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over. It is now. It’s four!“ Nowadays, the match would have been interrupted until the pitch was cleared of any intruders. Wolstenholme’s words though became the title of a BBC panel television show titled „They Think It’s All Over“ while a documentary „They think it’s all Rovers“ tells the story of the relegation of Doncaster Rovers Football Club in 1998 from the football league after seventy-five years.
A painful history
The history of English football since 1966 has been a painful one: the 1970s were a lost decade. In 1970 Alf Ramsey got his substitutions wrong, which allowed West Germany to come back into the game. After 120 minutes, the Germans walked off the pitch having beaten England 3-2 after being 2-0 down with thirty minutrs left to play. The following tournaments in West Germany and Argentina in 1974 and 1978, respectively, England failed to qualify for. The period of Thatcherism was a dark time for football as hooliganism blighted the game and damaged ist reputation. On the pitch, England always failed to overcome superior opposition: in 1986 it was Argentina, 1990 Germany again, 1998 Argentina, 2002 Brazil, 2006 Portugal, 2010 Germany and the group stage in 2014. Yet, something has changed since 2016 as England have reached the semifinal of every World Cup played since and have also reached the finals of the European Championships in 2020(1) and 2024. Interestingly, their old for, Germany have been relegated to the „have beens“ of world football.
Out of Europe – Twice
It is not without some irony that England performed better in tournaments once the United Kingdom hat voted to leave the European Union after the Brexit Referendum in June 2016. Within days, England were „out of Europe“, twice: They were beaten by the surprise team of Iceland and had voted „Leave“ in the referendum: A glaring case of national self harm. It served them right as the majority of the English population voted for Brexit, while the other constituting parts of the UK voted to remain within the EU.
Shadows Long and Haunting?
While the World Cup win in 1966 remains the pinnacle of English football to this day, it is somewhat difficult, if not impossible, to use this game as the overarching structure for any following generation of players and every tournament since. This is simply impossible: the game has evolved significantly since then. Watching some footage underlines this: the movements, the passing were a lot slower than they are today. Gordon Bank’s reaction at Germany’s first goal can only be described as slow and awkward looking.
The field of participants has increased over the last 40 years. In 1966 there were 16 teams – 60 years later there were 48. Therefore it is almost impossible to use 1966 as the gauge to measure English success in world football. Winning the World Cup in 1966 and 2026 required a good squad, a manager who can read a game well to use the substitutions wisely, a bit of game luck and momentum.
As the self-proclaimed „inventors“ of the game, England have been outplayed by other teams. One could take that as a negative point but that would be missing the point. Because had the game not developped from the way England were playing it from the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th, we would perhaps not be talking about football as the most popular sport in the world right now. Therefore, England should take pride in having given something so outrageously good to the world and seeing it flourishing that the World Cup victory of 1966 is all but a more footnote in the history of the game.
Of course, many would love England to win it once again and maybe a third time. Though for now, the epicentre of football lies in Europe, in France, England and Spain, where the majority of the world’s best players still play their trade and where the game is constantly evolving.
Almost everything has been said and written about the World Cup Final of 1966 and its significance or its uniqueness has been used as a bar against which every England team were measured. This has been going on for too long particularly during the 1970s and up until 2006. This neglects, however, that football is constantly evolving, rendering one game as a blueprint obsolete.