History of the England national football team

The history of the England national football team dates back to the first ever international football match in 1872. They have won one World Cup, in 1966 and they have been amongst the top teams of the world.

Early years

England, captained by Cuthbert Ottaway, played in the first international football match, against Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland on 30 November 1872 [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1872-73/M0001Sco1872.html] . The result was 0-0; England had to wait until the following year to record their first win, 4-2, over Scotland at the Kennington Oval.

England only played Scotland, Wales and (what was then) Ireland for nearly 40 years - partly due to the dominance of the UK in international football, as well as the problems of arranging internationals in the days before air travel was commonplace. England first played continental opposition in a 1908 tour of Central Europe, recording wins over Austria, Hungary and Bohemia. England's first defeat to a team outside the British Isles came in 1929, when they lost 4-3 to Spain in Madrid.

The FA had joined FIFA in 1906, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught, and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928, in a dispute over payments to amateur players. This meant that England did not enter the first three World Cups. However they did defeat 1934 World Cup winners Italy in the "Battle of Highbury" in November 1934.

Post-war

The FA rejoined FIFA in 1946, the same year they appointed the first dedicated team manager, Walter Winterbottom (although the team was picked by a committee). England lost their first match at home to non-British opposition when they were defeated 0-2 by the Republic of Ireland in 1949 at Goodison Park, Liverpool. England's World Cup debut came in 1950; however, they suffered an infamous 1-0 defeat by the United States and failed to get beyond the first group stage. Billy Wright was selected to be the first scape goat of England being eliminated from the World Cup finals. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html]

England's tactical inferiorities were highlighted on 25 November 1953, when Hungary came to visit Wembley Stadium. One of the best sides in the world at the time and fielding legendary players such as Ferenc Puskás, József Bozsik, Sándor Kocsis, Zoltán Czibor and Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungary outclassed the English 6-3 - this was England's first ever home loss to continental opposition. In the return match in Budapest, Hungary won 7-1, which still stands as England's worst ever defeat. Ivor Broadis scored the England goal. After the game bewildered England centre half Syd Owen said, “It was like playing people from outer space”.

In the 1954 World Cup two goals by Broadis saw him become the first England player to score two goals in a game at the World Cup finals. Broadis beat Nat Lofthouse by 30 minutes when both scored 2 each in the thrilling 4-4 draw against Belgium. In reaching the quarter finals for the first time England lost 4-2 being eliminated by Uruguay. Only once have England progressed beyond the World Cup quarter finals away from home.

Hopes of success at the 1958 finals were hit by the Munich air disaster in February that year, which claimed the lives of key internationals Roger Byrne, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and, England's greatest single talent of the era, Duncan Edwards. Bobby Charlton, who was injured in the crash, recovered sufficiently to make his England debut in April that year and begin one of the great England international careers. He was named in the squad which travelled to Sweden for the finals but didn't kick a ball as England exited in the group stages after a play-off defeat against the USSR, a game deemed necessary after the two finished entirely equal in second spot of their group. England’s inside forward Johnny Haynes remarked after elimination in 1958: “Everyone in England thinks we have a God-given right to win the World Cup.” Joe Mears as chief selector became the scape goat. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html]

All the signs pointed to how far English football had fallen behind the rest of the world, including a devastating 1-0 loss to the Americans in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Although by the end of the 1950s, emerging talents such as prolific goalscorer Jimmy Greaves suggested that sufficiently talented players were available, provided the tactical and coaching side of the game could bring the best out of them.

By the 1960s English tactics and training started to improve, and England turned in a respectable performance in the 1962 World Cup, losing in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Brazil. By now, more young players were making their mark, including elegant young defender Bobby Moore. After Winterbottom retired in 1962, former captain Alf Ramsey was appointed and crucially won the right to choose the squad and team himself, taking that role away from the selection committee. Ramsey boldly predicted that England would win the following tournament, which England were hosting.

1966 World Cup champions

Ramsey's prediction came true (however, his prescience becomes less impressive when you realise that almost every England manager thinks he will win the trophy, including Ramsey in the two campaigns he didn’t), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html] and the 1966 World Cup was England's finest moment. An unremarkable group phase saw England win two and draw one of their games, with a 30 yard strike by Bobby Charlton at Wembley against Mexico proving a highlight. An injury to centre forward Jimmy Greaves in the final group match against France prompted Ramsey into a re-think for the quarter final against Argentina, and inexperienced replacement Geoff Hurst responded by scoring the only goal of the game. Charlton then hit both goals in a 2-1 semi-final win over Portugal and England had reached the final, where they would meet West Germany. By now, Greaves was fit again, but Ramsey kept faith with Hurst, despite calls from the media for the main goalscorer to return.

England's "Wingless Wonders" (a phrase coined by the press after Ramsey devised a new 4-3-3 system which relied on stamina-based midfield players rather than natural wingers) won the final 4-2 after extra time, with three goals from Hurst (The only hat-trick to be scored in a single World Cup Final) and one from Martin Peters. Hurst's second goal became the most talked-about and controversial in England football history, with West Germany's players protesting - to this day - that the ball from Hurst's shot did not fully cross the goal-line after bouncing down from the crossbar. Numerous attempts to decide the matter once and for all have not been fully conclusive, although the sporting consensus suggests that England were fortunate to be awarded a goal. In 1995, researchers from Oxford University announced the results of computer video analysis of the television footage, which gave new angles of view: they concluded that the shot had not crossed the line Bobby Moore became the first and, to date, only England captain to lift the World Cup, and no other player has yet equalled Hurst's feat of a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

The game prompted an unwitting piece of flawless and immortal broadcasting from the BBC's Kenneth Wolstenholme when describing the last-ditch run and shot from Hurst which led to his third goal - "And here comes Hurst, he's got ... "(notices spectators on the field)" ... some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over! "(Hurst shoots and scores)" It is now!" Wolstenholme's words became as much part of the folklore from the 1966 World Cup as England's victory. Hurst has stated that, being the last minute of extra time with England 3-2 up, he was merely trying to put the ball into the stand to kill the last few seconds, however his shot ended up in the back of the German netFact|date=February 2007.

Joao Havelange (FIFA President from 1974 to 1998) claimed that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed so that England and West Germany respectively would win the competition. [ [http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=753029 Goal.com 1966 & 1974 World Cups Were Fixed - Former FIFA President] ]

1970 World Cup

At EURO 1968, England lost to Yugoslavia in the semi-final. Alan Mullery became the first player to be sent off while playing for England.

In Mexico, for the 1970 World Cup,many observers considered that England had a stronger squad and team than in 1966.The world-class nucleus of Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and Gordon Banks was still intact; Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Alan Ball in the interim had further enhanced their reputations and they had been supplemented with the likes of Terry Cooper, Alan Mullery and emerging talents such as Colin Bell and Allan Clarke. Despite the altitude conditions, England progressed with some ease to the quarter finals, despite a 1-0 defeat to the favourites Brazil in their group, which was most notable for a stunning save from Pelé by goalkeeper Gordon Banks and arguably captain Bobby Moore's finest performance in an England shirt. Many neutral judges though, expected them to meet again in the Final some two weeks hence.

In the quarter-final match, at Nou Camp stadium in León, Guanajuato, they would come up against their foes from the 1966 final, West Germany. However, before the match, disaster struck the team when goalkeeper Gordon Banks, was stricken with food-poisoning. His late replacement was the talented but internationally-inexperienced Peter Bonetti, who had not played a competitive match for over a month. England coasted into a 2-0 lead just after half-time with goals from Mullery and Peters but the Germans fought back to 2-2 through Franz Beckenbauer and Uwe Seeler - both goals having a touch of fortune about them - and with eleven minutes remaining in extra time, Gerd Müller scored the winner. Some blame was attached to Bonetti, as well as some ill-advised tactical moves by Ramsey (such as the substitution of Bobby Charlton instead of the tiring Cooper) and the oppressive heat and altitude in Mexico but ultimately the culpability for defeat was shared by the whole team. Charlton broke Billy Wright's record for England caps in this game but told Ramsey on the flight home from Mexico that he no longer wished to be considered.

When his team were knocked out in 1970 Ramsay was stunned, and said: "We must now look ahead to the next World Cup in Munich where our chances of winning I would say are very good indeed." [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html] Bonetti became this tournament's scape goat and spent the rest of his career enduring chants of “You lost the World Cup.”

End of the Ramsey era

England failed to reach the final stages of EURO 1972 thanks to West Germany again. The crucial two-legged qualifier resulted in a 3-1 win for the Germans at Wembley and a goalless draw in Berlin. In the first of these games, 1966 hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst made his final England appearance. Attention then turned to qualification for the 1974 World Cup. This was a new experience for Ramsey as England had not needed to qualify since the 1962 competition due to the automatic qualification given to them as hosts in 1966 and holders in 1970.

On paper they were given a comfortable draw, in a three-team group with Wales and Olympic champions Poland.

After a victory and a draw with Wales, England went to Poland next, the Poles having lost their first match in Cardiff. The match was a disaster for England, who went a goal down from a free kick seven minutes into the game to a sloppy defensive error by Bobby Moore and goalkeeper Peter Shilton. This was compounded two minutes into the second half when Moore allowed Włodzimierz Lubański to dispossess him, and make it 2-0. To make matters worse, with less than a quarter of an hour to go, Alan Ball became the second player to be sent off while playing for England which would rule him out of the return in four months time.

Three months later Poland easily disposed of the Welsh, 3-0 in Chorzow, so this meant that only a victory at Wembley against the Poles would be good enough for England to qualify. The match has passed into folklore as England, from beginning to end, created chance after chance but failed to score. England's inability to find the net was largely down to Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski. Twelve minutes into the second half, Norman Hunter - in the team for Bobby Moore, who was about to see his international career end with a record 108 caps - made a costly mistake. Running towards a ball by the touch-line near halfway, he made to control the ball, but Grzegorz Lato intercepted, raced away and squared the ball for Jan Domarski whose shot squirmed under Peter Shilton's body. Although Allan Clarke equalised from the penalty spot six minutes later and chances continued to rain down on the Polish goal, the score remained 1-1. Although at the time the result was seen as a poor one, the Poles went on to prove themselves to be a very good team, finishing third in the following summer's World Cup. In the aftermath of this failure however, the FA sacked Ramsey in the spring of 1974 after eleven years at the helm.

Revie years

After a brief period where Joe Mercer was caretaker manager of the side, the FA appointed Don Revie as Ramsey's permanent successor. But Revie fared worse than Ramsey, as England failed to qualify from the group stages of the 1976 European Football Championship, despite an opening 3-0 win at home over eventual champions Czechoslovakia and also a 5-0 win over Cyprus in which Malcolm Macdonald scored all five of England's goals - a post-war record. Ultimately it was a defeat in the return in Czechoslovakia and a 0-0 draw at home against Portugal that cost England as they fell a point short of qualification. Revie's methods and habits were criticised - insisting on increasing players' appearance fees when no player had expressed dissatisfaction, calling up oversized squads, dropping or ignoring in-form players, and trying to cultivate a 'club' atmosphere with the players which had worked among his squads as a domestic manager - and Revie also fell out with Alan Ball, the last of the 1966 winners, in the summer of 1975, removing him without warning or reason from both captaincy and team and bringing a sudden end to his international career.

Revie selected a squad to take part in a mini-tournament in South America in the summer of 1977 but initially did not accompany the players, saying he was going to scout the opposition England were still due to face in the ultimately unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1978 World Cup. In fact, he was putting the final seal on a lucrative deal to take charge of the national side of the United Arab Emirates. After his resignation, he was punished by the FA and banned from working in English football for a decade, and although he overturned the ban on appeal, his reputation was ruined and he never worked in English football again.

Greenwood era

After the departure of Revie, Brian Clough applied for the post but the FA rejected him and instead gave the role to Ron Greenwood, who had been brought out of retirement to act as caretaker after Revie's exit. He was unable to rescue England's campaign to reach the 1978 World Cup - the damage had been done by a 2-0 defeat to Italy in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in November 1976 during Revie's era. Though level with Italy on points, England missed out on qualification on goal difference (had they scored 3 goals more, they would have made the finals). Failure to beat relatively weak teams more comprehensively had again cost England dearly. Italy though were a very good team and would finish fourth at the 1978 World Cup.

Greenwood did, however, take England to its first major tournament in a decade when qualification for EURO 1980 in Italy was secured reasonably comfortably. During the qualification campaign, England also played a friendly match against Czechoslovakia, in which Viv Anderson became the first black player to win an England cap. England were unspectacular at the finals and did not progress beyond their group. At the same time, the team were attracting an ever-growing hooligan element in their support, especially at matches abroad, and against Belgium, Italian police were forced to deploy tear gas.

Greenwood had begun to plan England's future upon taking the job, and the likes of Bryan Robson, Kenny Sansom, Terry Butcher and Glenn Hoddle were already fully fledged internationals as England turned attentions to qualifying for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. The campaign was long with England unable to put a reasonable run of victories together - at one point, Greenwood was all set to resign after one disappointing qualifying result but was persuaded to stay on by his players during the flight home - but eventually England benfitted from other results and qualified in the final game with a 1-0 win over Hungary at Wembley.

At the finals, England won all three of their group games and Robson scored the fastest goals at a World Cup finals when he netted 27 seconds into the opening match against France (this record has since been broken). England went into the second round pool but were eliminated despite ultimately not losing a game. Greenwood announced his immediate retirement. This was also another tournament marred by violence, a problem which would continue through the rest of the decade when England went overseas.

Revival under Robson

Although at the time he was widely derided by the press, Bobby Robson is now looked upon as one of England's more successful managers. He started badly on a public relations front by not telling captain Kevin Keegan that he would not be calling him into his first squad. Keegan heard the news via the media, aired his disgust and retired from the international game.

On the pitch, Robson's England failed to make the final stages of EURO 1984 by losing out to Denmark, but a fresher, younger squad - featuring new recruits like Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle, John Barnes, Trevor Steven and Steve Hodge - took England to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. England had a poor start, losing to Portugal and then drawing with Morocco in a game which saw Ray Wilkins become the first England player to be sent off at a World Cup and captain Bryan Robson helped from the field in agony, not to return again in the competition, after dislocating his shoulder (a reoccurrence of an injury sustained after colliding with a sprinkler on the side of the pitch during a Manchester United game). Pressure mounted on England to rescue themselves with a win over Poland and Gary Lineker's first-half hat-trick did just that.

In the second round, England defeated Paraguay 3-0 thanks largely to two more goals from Lineker, but were to fall short in controversial circumstances against the eventual winners Argentina in the quarter finals, thanks to two very different but equally memorable goals from Diego Maradona - the infamous "Hand of God" goal, where Maradona punched the ball into the net, and then the second after a 50-yard dribble past five England players that is widely regarded as one of the finest goals in history and is often called the Goal of the Century. Lineker scored England's late consolation, his sixth of the tournament, and duly won the Golden Boot. His star increased so profoundly as a consequence of the World Cup that he was purchased by Barcelona immediately afterwards.

England's progress was lost when, having qualified with some ease and panache for EURO 1988 in West Germany, they played sluggishly and ineptly and lost all of their group games at the finals, including a shock 1-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland, managed by 1966 England hero Jack Charlton. The tournament also marked the final England appearances of Glenn Hoddle and Kenny Sansom. Robson offered his resignation, which was declined, and England recovered to go through their qualifying campaign for the 1990 World Cup without conceding a goal.

The 1990 World Cup in Italy was to be Robson's last tournament in charge, having decided against extending his contract in order to return to club football with PSV Eindhoven. The competition turned out to be England's best since 1966; after a slow start in the group stage, England managed narrow wins after extra-time over Belgium and Cameroon in the knockout rounds, before being beaten on penalties by West Germany in the semi-finals after drawing 1-1, with Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle failing from the spot. So, England played the final for the third place where it was defeated by Italy (1-2) and did finish fourth. However, the team's good performance (ie the only time England have progressed beyond the World Cup quarter finals away from home), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html] the relative lack of violence, winning the Fair Play Award and the emergence of Paul Gascoigne - England's player of the tournament, who famously cried after being booked against West Germany (which would have ruled him out of the final had England won) - were all factors in the rehabilitation of football into British society in the 1990s as well as the reinstatement of English clubs into European club competition in the 1990/91 season after a 5 year ban following the Heysel disaster. Another star who emerged was David Platt, a midfielder who went as back-up to Bryan Robson and came back with three goals and an international reputation which eventually earned him a number of big-money moves around Italian clubs. After this World Cup, Shilton retired from international football with 125 caps, a record that remains to this day.

1990s: four managers and mixed fortunes

Robson's successor, Graham Taylor, did not build on the team that fared well in 1990. He discarded older players like Bryan Robson and Chris Waddle (in the form of his life at Olympique de Marseille) and although England successfully qualified for EURO 1992 in Sweden, they ultimately failed to win a single game at the finals and scored only one goal. Taylor was also widely criticised for taking off Gary Lineker in what turned out to be his final England appearance, when England needed a goal, and Lineker himself needed to score just one more goal to equal Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for the national team. Taylor was vilified by the press, leading The Sun to begin their infamous 'turnip' campaign.

England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup; defeats in Norway and then the Netherlands ultimately ruined England's hopes, and the team infamously went 1-0 down to tiny San Marino in their final qualifying match after just eight seconds, the fastest World Cup goal of all time, before recovering to win 7-1. This was of little use, though, as Holland also won their final qualifying game, and joined Norway in the World Cup.

Taylor resigned the following week, with a huge list of candidates being touted for the job. These included Steve Coppell, Dave Bassett, Gerry Francis and John Lyall.

Venables oversaw a much improved performance at EURO 1996 - although he was helped by the fact that the tournament was held in England, which meant the team did not have to go through a qualifying campaign. It was also the 30th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup victory, so fans' expectations were high as the tournament began with Venables deploying emerging younger stars such as Steve McManaman, Darren Anderton and Gary Neville alongside established mainstays of previous campaigns, including Paul Gascoigne, Stuart Pearce, David Platt and Tony Adams, a player featuring in his first tournament since the debacle of EURO 1988. After famous victories over Scotland - a 2-0 win featuring a crucial David Seaman penalty save and a brilliant Gascoigne goal - and the Netherlands by 4-1, and a rare penalty shoot-out win over Spain, England fans were subjected to "déjà vu" as their side lost a semi-final on penalties to Germany again after drawing 1-1. Gareth Southgate missed the vital penalty this time. Alan Shearer, who had taken over from Lineker as England's core centre forward, emerged from the tournament as its top scorer with five goals.

Due to tension between himself and the FA over the extension of his contract after the tournament, Venables announced in January 1996 that he would step down after the European Championships [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28810-2194517,00.html] , although it became widely and inaccurately reported that Venables was told by the FA he would not be employed further because of ongoing worries about his business interests.

On 2 May 1996, Glenn Hoddle was named as the new England manager, a mere eight years after his final international appearance and one year after his last game at club level. Hoddle selected Alan Shearer as captain in favour of Tony Adams, but he also gave real hope to England fans by exploiting the talents of numerous young stars emerging in the English game, including the Manchester United midfield trio of Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham and central defenders Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell. Hoddle oversaw England's successful qualification for the 1998 World Cup with a 0-0 draw against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and drew out a winning performance in the Tournoi de France, a friendly tournament held before the World Cup against competition hosts France, Brazil and Italy. However after this promising build-up, Hoddle came under criticism again, for omitting fans' favourite and arguably England's most talented player of the era Paul Gascoigne, from the squad for the finals, ultimately bringing his international playing career to an end. England were eventually knocked out of the World Cup on penalties, this time in the last 16 to Argentina although the game itself had been galvanised by a wonder goal from 18-year-old striker Michael Owen, who had first been capped just four months earlier. Glenn Hoddle revealed only after his team had been knocked out “my innermost thought, which was that England would win the World Cup”. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html] Beckham was scapegoated for the defeat of 1998 only because he got himself sent off after 46 minutes. He took so much abuse, he recalled later, that “I’ve got a little book in which I’ve written down the names of those people who upset me the most. I don’t want to name them because I want it to be a surprise when I get them back.” [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html]

Hoddle's reign itself was riddled with ridicule over his religious convictions and insistence on employing a faith healer as part of the set-up. He was dismissed on 2 February 1999, two days after an interview with the Sunday Times in which he claimed that disabled people were paying for sins in a previous life.

Under considerable media and public pressure, the FA appointed former captain Kevin Keegan, who only just managed to get England into the 2000 European Championships after a 2-1 aggregate playoff win over Scotland. At the finals in Belgium and Holland, a lacklustre England failed to get beyond the group stage, losing to both Portugal and Romania after leading in each game. After England's exit, Alan Shearer retired from international football - he had announced his intentions before the tournament and no-one could persuade him to change his mind. On 7 October 2000, shortly after losing the opening World Cup qualifier to Germany in the last-ever game at Wembley Stadium before its redevelopment, Keegan himself resigned, citing that he was "a little bit short" [http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2000/10/1020.htm] tactically at international level. The FA's chief executive of the time, Adam Crozier, reluctantly accepted Keegan's resignation in the Wembley tunnel's lavatory and before leaving the stadium, had telephoned the agent of Sven-Göran Eriksson to talk about the vacancy.

The fateful defeat against Germany was also the last game that Tony Adams played for England after a career stretching back to 1987. He confirmed his retirement from international football in February 2001, deciding to concentrate on his remaining time as a player with Arsenal.

Eriksson era and World Cup 2002 Korea/Japan

In January 2001, Eriksson was duly appointed as Keegan's successor, and as a Swedish national, he became the first foreign national to manage England. This decision attracted huge controversy, but the critics were quickly silenced as Eriksson immediately turned around the team's campaign to qualify for the 2002 World Cup with a 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich, where England came from behind with goals from Emile Heskey, Steven Gerrard and a Michael Owen hat-trick. England ensured qualification after a tense final game against Greece; David Beckham scored from a free kick in the last seconds of the game to make the score 2-2 and put England top of their group on goal difference.

“I think we will win it,” said manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in the month before the finals. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/71d78840-f256-11da-b78e-0000779e2340.html] In the finals in Japan and South Korea, England beat Argentina 1-0 in the group stage - with Beckham scoring the only goal with a penalty as he exorcised his ghosts of the red card four years earlier - and reached the quarter-finals where they met the tournament's eventual winners Brazil. England went in front when Owen took advantage of a Brazilian defensive mistake, but an equaliser from Rivaldo and a 35 metre free kick by Ronaldinho saw Brazil turn the game round to win 2-1. England could not create any more good chances, despite being a man up, and were eliminated.

However, they had reached the last 8 of the World Cup for the first time since 1990, and even in defeat they had lost to the team who went on to win the competition for the fifth time in 44 years.

Euro 2004 in Portugal

For EURO 2004, England came top of their qualification group. During the campaign, teenage striker Wayne Rooney was installed as a new star in England's attack, with much expected of him for the finals. His emergence was tempered by the loss of defender Rio Ferdinand, who was given an eight month ban from football at the beginning of 2004 after missing a drugs test, meaning he was unable to play in Portugal. In England's match against France, Frank Lampard scored a first half goal and England looked as if they would win the match, however France scored twice within the last three minutes of the game. Had David Beckham not missed a penalty, England would have entered the knock-out stages undefeated. England progressed with Rooney scoring in games against Switzerland and Croatia. Although favoured to do well in the quarter-finals, England's challenge was greatly affected early in the game when Rooney suffered a broken metatarsal in his foot. Sol Campbell scored a goal which was disallowed and England eventually lost in another penalty shootout to Portugal, after a 2-2 draw. Beckham and Darius Vassell missed their penalties. Michael Owen's goal during the game made him the first England player to score in four consecutive tournaments.

Qualification for Germany

2005 saw Eriksson receive heavy criticism from fans for his defensive strategies and alleged lack of passion, his lack of communication with the players from the bench, and a perceived inability to change tactics when necessary in a game, as witnessed against Brazil in 2002. A 4-1 loss to Denmark in a friendly was followed by a humiliating 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland in a 2006 World Cup qualifier, David Healy scoring the goal in the 73rd minute, which despite a previously excellent qualifying record led to further criticism. An unconvincing 1-0 victory over Austria did nothing to relieve the pressure. However, despite these criticisms England qualified for the World Cup finals with one match to spare, and travelled to Germany as group winners following a 2-1 victory and a much improved performance against Poland.

Eriksson hands in his notice

Despite this, following revelations made in the "News of the World" during January 2006, the Football Association decided to come to an agreement with Eriksson over his future and on 23 January 2006, it was announced that Eriksson was to stand down after the 2006 World Cup Finals. A number of possible successors were linked with the job; after a series of interviews that was widely criticized for its length, Portuguese national team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was allegedly offered the job, but declined due to the belief that accepting the offer before a World Cup would conflict with his managerial duties for Portugal [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/06_june/22/scolari.shtml] , BBC Sport, 2006-06-22] . On 4 May 2006, it was announced that Steve McClaren would succeed Eriksson after the World Cup. His first game in charge would be against Greece at Old Trafford on 16 August.

World Cup 2006

England's 2006 World Cup campaign saw them drawn into Group B alongside Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden. Their opening match of the tournament was against Paraguay in the Waldstadion in Frankfurt on 10 June 2006. The only goal of the game came after 2 minutes and 44 seconds, when a David Beckham free kick was headed in by Paraguayan defender Carlos Gamarra.

The 1-0 win over Paraguay was followed by a 2-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June 2006 in the Nuremberg. The deadlock was only broken in the 84th minute when England took the lead with a Peter Crouch header, and this was followed by a Steven Gerrard strike in injury time. The win secured England's place in the last 16. It also saw the return as a substitute of Wayne Rooney just six weeks after breaking a metatarsal bone in his foot.

England's final group match saw them play Sweden in Cologne. Rooney started the game, but his strike partner Michael Owen was stretchered off with a cruciate ligament injury after less than two minutes, but England still took a first half lead through a wonder strike from Joe Cole. Sweden equalised through Marcus Allbäck before Steven Gerrard gave England the lead again in the 86th minute. England, however, were denied a first win over Sweden since 1968 when Henrik Larsson levelled again in the 90th minute. Sol Campbell's introduction as a substitute made him the first England player to feature in the final stages of six consecutive tournaments, beginning with the 1996 European Championships.

England beat Ecuador in the last 16 on 25 June in Stuttgart courtesy of a David Beckham free-kick. Beckham duly became the first England player to score in three World Cup tournaments, having also found the net at the 1998 and 2002 competitions. The game also saw Rooney's full rehabilitation as he managed to play for the whole 90 minutes.

The quarter-final against Portugal on 1 July, ended 0-0 after extra time. David Beckham was substititued early in the second half with an ankle injury, and then Wayne Rooney was sent off for pushing Cristiano Ronaldo and stamping on Ricardo Carvalho's groin [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060702/6/8ieb.html] in a rough tackle, though Rooney later denied it was intentional.

The draw led to a penalty shoot-out that England lost 3-1, thus being eliminated from the tournament. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher (who had to re-take his initially scored irregular penalty for not waiting for the referee's whistle) all had their attempts saved by keeper Ricardo, with Owen Hargreaves, later to be named man of the match [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060701/1/8hao.html] , the only England player to score his penalty kick. It continued England's woes in penalty shootouts at major championships as well as Sven-Göran Eriksson's poor head-to-head record against Luiz Felipe Scolari. Thus, continuing the streak that England seem to never break. England have never won a penalty shoot-out in the World Cup.

The morning after [http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayItems.asp?id=SES20060706091626&eTitle=Sport&rLink=0/ England's exit] , a tearful Beckham announced that he was stepping down as captain, although he stressed that he was keen to continue playing for England. In his last press conference prior to the flight home, Eriksson said he only wished to be remembered for being "honest", and a coach who "tried my best".

After World Cup 2006, Owen Hargreaves was voted England's "Player of The Tournament" by fans on theFA.com. Hargreaves was an unpopular choice for the squad prior to the competition but the World Cup proved a turning point, going from unpopular to fan favourite.

Recent History

Steve McClaren was appointed England manager after the 2006 World Cup. He was not a popular choice with the media or fans and most said it was a panic choice and called the selection process of the new manager a shambles. He appointed John Terry as captain and chose not to recall David Beckham to the squad following the World Cup for almost a year. He also dropped Sol Campbell and David James, leaving Gary Neville and - from January 2007 - his brother Phil as the only players regularly involved in his first year in charge who were over the age of 30.

England started their euro 2008 campaign well beating Andorra 5-0 and getting a hard thought 1-0 win over Macedonia in Skopje. But after this things started to go badly. England drew 0-0 at home with Macedonia and then suffered a humiliating defeat to Croatia away. The pressure on Steve Mclaren was already starting to build and after a 6 month break from qualifiers England put in another lacklustre performance against Israel away. After this followed what some described as the worst match in England history. England played Andorra away and did win 3-0 but still it took them 60 minutes to break the deadlock and in the first half England barely threatened the part timers. There was a huge chorus of boos going into half time and unpopular England playerwho had to be removed from the stands after getting so much abuse from England supporters due to his recent poor performances.

England played their first match at the new Wembley Stadium against Brazil on June 1 2007 - a game for which Beckham was recalled after 11 months in the international wilderness and which heralded Michael Owen's return from his World Cup injury. In a qualifying game against Estonia five days later, Owen broke Gary Lineker's record for most goals in competitive internationals, which Lineker had held exclusively or jointly for 15 years.

The return to Wembley saw an upturn in form with England beating Israel, Russia and Estonia 3-0 each. After this England played Russia away a game which if they won they would qualify but lose and qualification would not be in their hands. England put in a very good display and took a first half lead through Wayne Rooney. But Russia were awarded a soft penalty and went onto win 2-1. England were relying on Israel to beat Russia to be able to qualify and they did with a injury time winner.

All England had to do after this was get a draw against Croatia who had already qualified. Mclaren had a weakened side out after injuries and suspensions to key players such as Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and John Terry. Also Scott Carson was handed his competitive debut in goal and his mistake letting the ball go through his legs gave Croatia a 1-0 lead and shortly made it 2-0. but Mclaren brought on David Beckham and this seemed to turn the game. Frank Lampard firstly converted a penalty and then Peter Crouch got onto the end of David Beckhams cross to equalise. And after the majority thought it was job done Croatia scored a third and won the game 3-2 resulting in Russia qualifying and England missing out on their first major tournament since the 1994 world cup. After the game Mclaren refused to resign as manager but the next day him and Terry Venables were sacked by the FA

After McClaren's failure to reach the UEFA Euro 2008, The FA began a search for a new manager. On the 12 December 2007, Fabio Capello, former manager of AC Milan, Real Madrid, AS Roma and Juventus, was named as the new manager of England, the second foreign manager to take the post. Like his predecessor, his first major decision upon selecting a squad was to omit Beckham, leaving the former captain on 99 caps and prompting a media frenzy about whether he would ever reach the 100 mark. His first match was a friendly international 2-1 win against Switzerland on February 6, 2008. The Qualifying Campaign for the 2010 World Cup began September 6, 2008 against Andorra who they beat 2-0. England's second game in Qualification for the 2010 World Cup was against Croatia on September 10, 2008 who they beat 4-1 to give Capello's England the perfect start on the road to South Africa.

References