The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever World Cup title and last major trophy at national level till today(2024).
England was chosen as host of the 1966 World Cup in Rome, Italy, on 22 August 1960, over rival bids from West Germany and Spain. This was the first tournament to be held in a country that was affected directly by World War II, as the four previous tournaments were either held in countries out of war theatres or in neutral countries.
All 15 African nations who entered the qualifying later boycotted the tournament in protest after FIFA, citing competitive and logistical issues, ruled that there would be no direct qualification for any African team. Prior to the tournament, the Jules Rimet trophy was stolen, but was recovered by a dog named Pickles four months before the tournament began. It was the first World Cup to have selected matches broadcast via satellite to countries on other continents. The final, which was broadcast locally by the BBC, was the last to be shown entirely in black and white.
Portugal and North Korea qualified for the first time. Portugal would not qualify again until 1986, while North Korea's next appearance was at the 2010 tournament. This was also Switzerland's last World Cup finals until 1994. Notable absentees from this tournament included 1962 runners-up Czechoslovakia and semi-finalists Yugoslavia.
The mascot for the 1966 competition was "World Cup Willie", a lion wearing a Union Jack jersey emblazoned with the words "WORLD CUP". This was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. Willie was designed by freelance children's book illustrator Reg Hoye. The official match ball was produced by Slazenger for the tournament.
West Germany encouraged and covered up a culture of doping across many sports for decades. A 2013 report by researchers at Berlin's Humboldt University on behalf of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, titled "Doping in Germany from 1950 to today", linked the West Germany national team of 1966, which reached the World Cup final, with doping.
The format of the 1966 competition remained the same as 1962: 16 qualified teams were divided into four groups of four. Each group played a round-robin format. Two points were awarded for a win and one point for a draw, with goal average and eventually drawing lots used to separate teams equal on points. The top two teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage.
In the knockout games, if the teams were tied after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time were played. For any match other than the final, if the teams were still tied after extra time, lots would be drawn to determine the winner. The final would have been replayed if tied after extra time; but if still tied after the replay, the champion would have been decided by drawing lots. In the event, no replays or drawing of lots were necessary.
The draw for the final tournament, taking place on 6 January 1966 at the Royal Garden Hotel in London was the first ever to be televised, with England, West Germany, Brazil and Italy as seeds.
1966 was a World Cup with few goals as the teams began to play much more tactically and defensively. This was exemplified by Alf Ramsey's England as they finished top of Group 1 with only four goals, but having none scored against them
Groupstage Summary:
1st Group England and Uruguay qualified for knockout stage the other teams was France and Mexico.
2nd Group West Germany and Argentina qualified against Spain and Switzerland. FIFA cautioned Argentina for its violent style in the group games, particularly in the scoreless draw with West Germany, which saw Argentinean Rafael Albrecht get sent off and suspended for the next match.
3rd Group Portugal and Hungary qualified against title defendings Brazil and Bulgaria. Portugal's Eusebio was first scorer of tournament with 9 goals.
4th Group here was the biggest surprise of tournament when North Korea beated 1-0 Italy and finished above them and Chile. This was the first time that a nation from outside Europe or the Americas had progressed from the first stage of a World Cup: the next would be Morocco in 1986. The other team qualified was USSR(Soviet Union).
Knockout Summary:
West Germany beated Uruguay 4-0 but the South America's had complains about Referee(who was Jim Finney, from England), had not recognised a handball by Schnellinger on the goal line and then had sent off two players from Uruguay: Horacio Troche and Héctor Silva.
Almost miracle for North Korea who led 3-0 at 22th minute against Portugal, but amazing Eusebio scored 4 goals and made one of the biggest turnovers of Football till now before José Augusto added a fifth in the 78th minute to earn Portugal a 5–3 win.
USSR - Hungary 2-1 with Lev Yashin as captain showing his skills.
And the only goal between Argentina and England came courtesy of England's Geoff Hurst. During that controversial game (for more details see Argentina and England football rivalry), Argentina's Antonio Rattín became the first player to be sent off in a senior international football match at Wembley. Rattín at first refused to leave the field and eventually had to be escorted by several policemen. Scoreless when Rattin was dismissed, the game was decided by Hurst's headed goal twelve minutes from the end of normal time. This game is called el robo del siglo (the robbery of the century) in Argentina.
All semi-finalists were from Europe. Bobby Charlton scored both goals in England's win, with Portugal's goal coming from a penalty in the 82nd minute after a handball by Jack Charlton on the goal line. The other semi-final also finished 2–1: Franz Beckenbauer scoring the winning goal with a left foot shot from the edge of the area for West Germany as they beat the Soviet Union.
Portugal went on to beat the Soviet Union 2–1 to take third place. Portugal's third place was the best finish by a team making its World Cup debut since 1934. It was equalled by Croatia in 1998.
Final Summary:
England vs West Germany at Wembley stadium and 98,000 people attended. After 12 minutes 32 seconds Helmut Haller 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 scored, with England appealing in vain for handball as the ball came through the crowded penalty area.
With the score level at 2–2 at the end of 90 minutes, the game went to extra time. In the 98th minute, Hurst found himself on the scoresheet again; his shot hit the crossbar, bounced down onto the goal line, and was awarded as a goal. Debate has long raged over whether the ball crossed the line, with the goal becoming part of World Cup history. England's final goal was scored by Hurst again, as a celebratory pitch invasion began. This made Geoff Hurst the first player to have scored three times in a single World Cup final.
England's total of eleven goals scored in six games set a new record low for average goals per game scored by a World Cup winning team. The record stood until 1982, when it was surpassed by Italy's 12 goals in seven games; in 2010 this record was lowered again by Spain, winning the Cup with eight goals in seven games. England's total of three goals conceded also constituted a record low for average goals per game conceded by a World Cup winning team. That record stood until 1994, when it was surpassed by Brazil's three goals in seven games. France again lowered the record to two goals in seven during the 1998 tournament, a record that has since been equalled by Italy at the 2006 tournament and by Spain's two goals conceded during the 2010 tournament.
England received the recovered Jules Rimet trophy from Queen Elizabeth II and were crowned World Cup winners for the first time.
In this World Cup, the national anthems were played only in the final. They were not played in the earlier matches because the organisers (FIFA and the FA) feared that North Korea's presence – a socialist country that was not recognised by the United Kingdom – in the World Cup would cause problems with South Korea.
All-star team:
Goalkeeper
Gordon Banks
Defenders
George Cohen
Bobby Moore
Vicente
Silvio Marzolini
Midfielders
Franz Beckenbauer
Mário Coluna
Bobby Charlton
Forwards
Flórián Albert
Geoff Hurst
Eusébio
Check this iconic FIFA World Cup 1966 goal:
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